“Hungary is among several countries to which Japan is providing a pharmaceutical that has been shown to be successful in treating the coronavirus at no cost”, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Péter Szijjártó said in a Facebook post on Thursday.

Mr. Szijjártó explained that he had held a telephone discussion with Japanese Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi, who had congratulated Hungary on its handling of the epidemic. He thanked his Japanese counterpart for the fact that Hungary has been included among the thirty countries to which Japan is providing the pharmaceutical Avigan, which has shown particularly favourable results in the treatment of coronavirus patients, free of charge. “Hungary will be receiving 12,200 of these tablets, which is enough to treat 100 patients. The pharmaceuticals destined for Hungary have already been manufactured, and preparations for their shipment are currently underway”, the Hungarian Foreign Minister stated. “It is good news that Japan is open to establishing research cooperation between Japanese and Hungarian experts on this issue in future”, he noted.

Mr. Szijjártó also spoke about the fact that the 170 Japanese enterprises currently operating in Hungary provide jobs to a total of 35 thousand Hungarians. “The role of these enterprises in the performance of the Hungarian economy is unquestionable, and accordingly on Wednesday the Cabinet decided to lift restrictions on travel into Hungary on the part of Japanese businesspeople, engineers and economic professionals”, he stated.

He also reported on the fact that a hundred scholarship places are being afforded to Japanese students to study in Hungary each year, with courses in medicine, music and the arts becoming increasingly popular, as a result of which the arrival of further students is expected. The Minister announced that the parties had agreed that following the end of the global pandemic they will be launching a direct air passenger service linking Tokyo and Budapest, and Japan’s Tochigi Prefecture will be affording Hungarian athletes the opportunity to train on site prior to the summer Olympics, which have been postponed until next year.

(Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade/MTI)