Hungary to boost cooperation with Kuwait

Hungary and Kuwait have agreed to boost cooperation in several areas, the minister of foreign affairs and trade said on Thursday in Kuwait City.

Hungary-Kuwait cooperation

Speaking after talks with the Kuwaiti foreign, finance and trade ministers, Péter Szijjártó said cooperation was based on “mutual sympathy and the fact that the history of both countries is marked by the fight for freedom and independence.”

According to a ministry statement, the ministers signed a cooperation agreement on exchange programmes between diplomatic academies, as well as on cultural cooperation.

The latter will bring Hungarian music and literature to Kuwait, he said. “We have also signed an agreement on cooperation in cyber protection, a response to an extremely severe modern challenge, as wars and conflicts are now clearly being fought in cyberspace as well as in reality,” Szijjártó said.

Hungary, he added, had already garnered international recognition in cyber protection, “and cooperation with Kuwait will boost our security in cyberspace”. A leading Hungarian company in the field has already set up a subsidiary in Kuwait, and its 50 professionals will start working with local authorities and private clients next year, he said.

Szijjártó welcomed that talks between Hungarian oil and gas company MOL and its Kuwaiti counterpart were “in the home stretch” on Kuwait using Hungarian technologies towards the production of crude oil in a more effective and environmentally friendly way.

An investment protection agreement is also in the pipeline aiming to promote cooperation between Hungarian and Kuwaiti companies, Szijjártó said.

Hungary will also help Kuwait in drafting and implementing strict food safety regulations, he said. “Hungary’s food safety system is the strictest and most effective in Europe. Keeping Hungarian agriculture and food industry GMO-free is enshrined in the constitution,” he said.

Szijjártó praised Kuwait’s “calm stance” in stabilising the Middle East, a region blighted by several armed conflicts and under the serious threat of terrorism.

“So we have strengthened Kuwait and Hungary’s cooperation against terrorism in international forums in order to stop the spread of terrorist organisations…” he said. The ministers also discussed upcoming summits of the EU and the Gulf Cooperation Council.

Hungary is working for the EU to strengthen ties with the region, which could help recover the EU’s competitiveness and economic momentum, he said. “We are calling for re-starting negotiations on a free trade agreement between the EU and the Persian Gulf.”

Read also:

• Hungarian Festipay strategic agreement for cashless payment services in the Middle East – UPDATED
• Hungarian government strengthens education relations with Iraq