30.03.2021

The President of the Republic of Uzbekistan Shavkat Mirziyoyev and Prime Minister of Hungary Viktor Orban continued negotiations with the participation of official delegations of the two countries.

The President was pleased to note that the arrival of a large Hungarian delegation, despite the pandemic, demonstrates the firm friendship and mutual respect of our countries.

The common historical roots and close partnerships bind the peoples of Uzbekistan and Hungary. Today Hungary is one of the important partners of Uzbekistan in the European Union. Owing to mutual efforts and practical interactions, this partnership is strengthening year by year.

Over the past four years, the volume of trade between the two countries has almost tripled. Despite the challenging circumstances of the pandemic, this positive trend was maintained last year.

An important factor here is the close interaction of business people and regions. In particular, in February this year, a regular meeting of the Intergovernmental Commission on Economic Cooperation and a Business Forum took place in Budapest. The first meeting of the Uzbek-Hungarian Business Council was held in Tashkent yesterday.

During the talks, it was noted that there is a large amount of opportunities to be explored for cooperation. The issues of further strengthening the trade, economic, investment and financial ties were accorded a special attention.

President Shavkat Mirziyoyev noted the importance of increasing trade, eliminating imbalances in bilateral trade and undertaking mutual supplies of products in demand.

The need for effective use of the opportunities of the Uzbek-Hungarian Trade House, which is being established in Budapest, was emphasized.

The industrial cooperation is another priority for cooperation. It was agreed to implement in Uzbekistan the new projects in the field of food industry, pharmaceuticals, agro-processing, chemistry and mechanical engineering in accordance Hungarian best practices.

The interregional cooperation is also developing. Thus, in Samarkand and Jizzakh regions, it is planned to introduce the Hungarian experience in modernizing the economy and social sphere, industrializing agriculture and increasing export potential. For this purpose, a group of highly qualified experts arrived from Hungary.

The President of Uzbekistan proposed to establish partnerships among the regions of the two countries and hold an annual Forum of regions.

The Hungarian side expressed its readiness to share best practices and technologies in the field of agriculture, storage and processing of fruits, fish farming and seed production.

A special attention during the meeting was paid to the development of cultural and humanitarian cooperation.

Our countries have established an exchange of experience in the spheres of healthcare, science and education. This academic year, the students from Uzbekistan received more than 100 scholarships to study at Hungarian universities. The Debrecen University will start its work in Tashkent this year.

At the talks, an agreement was reached on the consistent continuation of cooperation in this direction, further strengthening of ties between the institutions of science and culture.

The parties closely interact and support each other within international and regional structures, such as the United Nations, the Turkic-Speaking States Cooperation Council.

The responsible persons were instructed to develop a «road map» for the full-scale implementation of the agreements reached at the talks.