Hungary has gained much by boosting ties with Uzbekistan in parallel with engaging with central Asia, Péter Szijjártó, the foreign affairs and trade minister, said after meeting Sardor Umurzakov, Uzbekistan’s deputy prime minister. Szijjártó said cooperation in nuclear energy has opened up opportunities for Hungarian technology exports worth 300 million US dollars.
Also, a Hungarian seed plant and a vegetable oil plant will be built in Uzbekistan, and the University of Debrecen will set up its own campus there.
Umurzakov said the talks could open up 76 new opportunities for cooperation between the two countries.
Szijjártó earlier told a bilateral business forum that Hungary’s government was providing all financial and institutional conditions necessary to develop economic cooperation with Uzbekistan. Hungary’s Eximbank has established a 100 million US dollar credit line for promoting bilateral trade, running joint ventures and financing joint tenders in third markets, he said. Umurzakov expressed hope that 2021 would be a year of historic importance in bilateral relations. There is no EU member state with which Uzbekistan has better relations than with Hungary, he said, adding that economic ties should not fall behind the development of political relations.
MTI
