New Hungarian opportunities in Sudan

The international sanctions against Sudan were in effect for exactly two decades – but now that they have been dissolved, the country became one of the most promising destinations in Africa. And this offers many new opportunities to Hungarian companies as well, GLOBS Magazine said.

The autumn of last year was a milestone in the history of Sudan, because the country suffered from American sanctions since 1997.

The United States of America didn’t only dissolve the entry ban concerning Sudanese citizens that was introduced during the presidency of Donald Trump, but also dissolved the trade embargo and other sanctions that had been in effect since 1997. All of this was done in such an international environment, where the USA rather tightens its policies with the other countries of the region. The justification of the dissolution of the embargo states that the USA appreciates the economic and political opening Sudan accomplished recently. One of the reasons why the State Department dissolved the embargo was that the Sudanese government “helped reach humanitarian organisations in Sudan”.

So the settling of Hungarian-Sudanese relations is not a “guerrilla action” – it was preceded by the dissolution of international sanctions. However, it must be admitted that Hungarian diplomacy took the first step right away – the Sudanese Foreign Minister visited Hungary not long after the American decision. The aim of Prof Ibrahim Ghandour’s visit was the strengthening of economic and technological cooperation between the two governments. Besides the hosting Hungarian delegation, Foreign Minister Prof Ibrahim Ghandour, his head of cabinet Mr Fadoul Mohamed, Mr Khalied Musa Dafalla and Mrs Sahar Mohamed Ishag were also welcomed by the Sudanese diplomatic delegation accredited to Hungary by the Sudanese Department of European Affairs. Despite the strict schedule of the delegation, the members were taken on a short sightseeing tour and also visited Sudanese representations. The head of the Trade Department of the Republic of Sudan’s Embassy in Budapest, Mohamed Salaheldin Hag Ali hosted the Sudanese Foreign Minister in his branch office located in the impressive historic Castle District. The Hungarian and Sudanese parties previously held talks at the UN General Assembly in New York several times before the visit to Budapest in order to establish efficient economic cooperation. The result of the negotiations was the visit last October, during which the representatives of the two countries signed a bilateral document, according to which the Hungarian-Sudanese economic joint committee would be established soon, thus creating the institutional frameworks for the goals documented in the agreement.

Not long after the talks held in Budapest, István Mikola visited Khartoum, where several important agreements were signed. István Mikola highlighted health care as one of the most important fields of cooperation. The Sudanese Minister of Health Care said that the politics of sanctions of the previous years caused serious damage in the health supplier system of his country. At the same time, he expressed his hopes that

the restoration of hospitals could speed up in the current situation and Hungary could play an important role in this task.

Because the Sudanese health care is in deep trouble. There are no PET CT machines in the country populated by 40 million people, because hospitals couldn’t purchase them due to the embargo. But there’s also shortage of medical devices, and the ones they have don’t function due to the lack of spare parts. Now that there’s a chance to replace the shortcomings, the country counts on Hungary in many aspects, for instance, the training of experts. Until then, patients who can afford it come to Hungary. They mainly resort to oncological treatments that are not available in Sudan. Hundreds of patients have come to Hungary with this aim in the past years. This doesn’t only increase the patients’ chances of survival, but also signifies an outstanding income for Hungarian health care. The Hungarian diagnostic centre to be established in Khartoum will help further develop this field. Miklós Kásler, leader of the National Institute of Oncology, who also visited the capital of Sudan as the member of the delegation, said that curing is inconceivable without diagnoses, therefore the development of the centre is a highlighted goal of the Hungarian party.