“Africa is the continent of the future, of this there can be no doubt”, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Péter Szijjártó said in a telephone statement to MTI from Praia, the capital of Cape Verde.

“A significant part of global growth in the upcoming period will be occurring on the African continent. What China meant to the global economy a few years ago will be represented by the African continent in a few years’ time. This is also proven by the fact that the world’s states with the strongest economies are present in practically every African country, and are attempting to find ways of profiting from the economic growth”, the Minister stated.

According to Mr. Szijjártó, while taking into account our own capabilities, the Hungarians must select those African countries that are ready to cooperate, and with which we have a better understanding of each other for various reasons, with relation to which he pointed out that the Republic of Cape Verde is a Christian country that takes Christian values and its Christian heritage seriously.

“The county highly appreciates the fact that Hungary has a similar approach to these issues, and this is why there is a fundamental feeling of friendship between the two countries, which provides a suitable foundation for economic cooperation”, he said.

With relation to his visit to Cape Verde, the Hungarian Foreign Minister stated: “Budapest is now laying the foundations for the future of cooperation between the two countries by making available 35 million euros for Hungarian enterprises to realise agricultural, irrigation and water management projects in the West African country”.

“It is a well-known fact that water supply is a difficult issue in Cape Verde, and through desalinating seawater, and processing and treating wastewater, Hungarian enterprises will be producing water that is suitable for the irrigation of agricultural land”, he explained.

In addition, Eximbank is opening a 15-million-euro credit line to encourage market-based cooperation”, the Minister said.

“In the interests of enabling Hungarian enterprises to perform their activities in a secure environment in Cape Verde, Budapest will be signing an investment protection agreement and an agreement on avoiding double taxation with Praia, while the conclusion of an economic cooperation agreement will mean the setting up of a Joint Economic Committee between the two countries, which will provide a permeant platform for business-related talks”, he added.

Mr. Szijjártó drew attention to the fact that suitable foundations can be provided for economic cooperation if it is based on relationships between people. For this reason, Budapest is providing ten scholarship places-a-year for young people from Cape Verde to attend Hungarian universities.

In addition, music and art education in Cape Verde is also important, which are based on the Kodály system in the island nation. Hungary is providing 30 million forints (EUR 95,000) in funding in the interests of training every music teacher in Cape Verde in this system within the next three years, he announced.

“Hungary is calling for closer economic cooperation between the European Union and the Republic of Cape Verde”, the Hungarian Foreign Minister underlined.

(Cabinet Office of the Prime Minister/MTI)