Parallel to the 5th session of the Kazakh-Hungarian Intergovernmental Commission on Economic Cooperation, a strategic council was established in order to strengthen bilateral economic relations, Minister for National Economy Mihály Varga said after the first meeting of the group.
The Hungarian Minister also visited the location where the 2017 EXPO is to be held in June next year. As the Minister stressed, a successful début of Hungarian enterprises at the EXPO may help these companies penetrate Central Asian markets.
The main mission of the Hungarian-Kazakh Strategic Council is to discuss cooperation-related and strategic issues as well as to formulate forward-looking proposals and recommendations, Mihály Varga said. In addition, they will place special emphasis on bolstering bilateral economic relations and examining options for obtaining national and international funds. The two countries are represented by three delegates each in the Council. The Kazakh and Hungarian delegations are to be headed by Foreign Minister Erlan Idrissov and Economy Minister Mihály Varga, respectively.
Speaking of the 5th session of the Kazakh-Hungarian Intergovernmental Commission on Economic Cooperation, Mihály Varga stated it was a major achievement that the Kazakh-Hungarian Agricultural Investment Funds had been set up, as it can open up new perspectives in economic relations. The Minister also signed two Memoranda of Understanding: one on medical tourism and health industry cooperation with the Ministry of Healthcare and Social Development of Kazakhstan and the other on employment policy with the Ministry of Healthcare and Social Development of Kazakhstan.
A third agreement was concluded between the Hungarian State Treasury and the Treasury Commission of the Finance Ministry of Kazakhstan, under which the two countries may exchange information of development of treasury systems.
Mihály Varga visited the building site of EXPO 2017, which was given the title “Future Energy”. The EXPO is to take place in June-September 2017. Organizers are anticipating that more than one hundred countries are going to participate, and at least five million guests will visit the event. At the world expo, Mihály Varga stressed, participants aim to show how versatile Hungarian innovations are and present achievements of various research and development projects.
The municipality of the capital city of Astana has allocated a plot of land of ha170 in the south-western part of the city to build an expo complex of ha25 as well as a new quarter with hotels and other facilities. The building to house the Hungarian pavilion is structurally complete.
(Ministry for National Economy)
