Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Péter Szijjártó will be concluding several bilateral agreements on the sidelines of the 72nd Session of the United Nations General Assembly currently being held in New York.

In a statement to Hungarian news agency MTI, the Minister said he would be signing four bilateral agreements on Tuesday.

“Hungary is taking the initiative with relation to cooperation between Central Europe and Central Asia, particularly in view of the fact that the European Union is currently in the process of developing its Central Asian strategy”, he said. “To assure that our interests are also represented in this process, we have initiated a cooperation process between Central Europe and Central Asia, within the framework of which the foreign ministers of the Visegrád Group (V4) and the countries of Central Asia are expected to meet in Budapest at the beginning of next year”, he highlighted.

“As part of this process, an agreement between the Diplomatic Academy of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Kirgizstan and Hungary’s Institute for Foreign Affairs and Trade will be signed on Tuesday, which will enable the exchange of diplomats and training courses for young diplomats”, Mr. Szijjártó stressed.

“Ecuador plays an important role in Hungary’s Southern Opening policy and has one of the most dynamically growing economies in the Latin American region. An agreement on 75 scholarship places will be concluded with Ecuador, enabling students from the country to begin their studies at Hungarian universities”, he explained.

“In addition, an agreement will also be signed regard the fact that the family members of diplomats accredited to each other’s countries will be allowed to find employment in each other’s countries”, Mr. Szijjártó said. “This is important because Hungary opened its Embassy in Ecuador two years ago, and the new agreement will greatly facilitate the operations of the new foreign representation”, he pointed out.

The Foreign Minister also spoke about the fact that the Western Balkans has always been an important target of Hungarian foreign policy, and Hungary maintains close relations with Bosnia-Hercegovina. “The new tourism agreement will mean the start of a professional cooperation that could increase tourism in both directions”, he said.

Mr. Szijjártó told the press that it has become a tradition for him to meet with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov on the sidelines of every UN General Assembly, and on this occasion the parties will fundamentally be discussing bilateral economic cooperation in view of the expansion of the Paks Nuclear Power Plant, one of the largest projects in the history of the Hungarian economy. “In addition, the first Hungarian investment project financed by the International Investment Bank began this week, and since Hungary recently became the third largest stakeholder in the financial institution after Russia and Bulgaria, the bank’s Hungarian activities could significantly contribute to facilitating the financing of investments in Hungary”, he said.

In addition, Mr. Szijjártó will also be holding talks with the foreign ministers of Uganda, Tunisia and Croatia, as well as with the Secretary-General of the Arab League.

(Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade/MTI)