On 26-31 March 2017, Madagascar’s Deputy Foreign Minister for International Cooperation Bary Emmanuel Rafatrolaza was on an official visit to Hungary at the invitation of Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Dr. László Szabó.

The primary topic of their discussions centred on placing bilateral relations between Hungary and Madagascar onto new foundations. Madagascar was one of the world’s developing nations in which a Hungarian bus assembly plant was established in the 1970s within the framework of development funding. Madagascar is again showing interest in acquiring buses developed in Hungarian to expand its public transport system.

Mr. Szabó and Mr. Rafatrolaza determined further sectors for possible cooperation, including water, water management, agriculture, game management, energy, infrastructure development projects, education and tourism. Madagascar primarily has an interest in the transference of innovative Hungarian technology within the fields of modernising the country’s water supply and water purification system, and applying renewable energy sources, and particularly solar energy, and accordingly the delegation also met with Hungarian representatives of the aforementioned sectors.

Madagascar would be glad if Hungary was prepared to accept Madagascan university students within the Stipendium Hungaricum programme in the near future, as is did in the ‘70s nd ‘80s, as this would significantly contribute to reducing the shortage of trained professionals in the country. Mr. Szabó stressed that one of the prerequisites of including Madagascar in the student scholarship programme was the development and conclusion of a bilateral agreement on education cooperation, which the Hungarian party supports.

In the Hungarian Parliament Building, the Madagascan delegation met with the Chairman and Deputy Chairman of the National Assembly’s Hungarian-Sub-Saharan Inter-parliamentary Union (IPU) Friendship Group. The Madagascan Deputy Foreign Minister gave a lecture entitled “Diplomacy in the service of Economic Development: Madagascar’s Experiences” at the Institute for Foreign Affairs and Trade, which focused on the role of economic diplomacy as an instrument of international development and cooperation.

In addition, Mr. Rafatrolaza met with officials from the Hungarian Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Eximbank and Hungarian Trading House Cls., as well as visiting the Hungarian Chamber of Agriculture and several Hungarian institutions of higher education including the National University of Public Service and the Szent István University in Gödöllő, where a Madagascan student is currently studying. The Hungarian-Madagascan Friendship Association, which commemorates 18th century Hungarian explorer Count Móric Benyovszky, organised a reception in honour of the Madagascan delegation.

(Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade)