Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Péter Szijjártó discussed the business opportunities inherent in Hungarian water-related technologies with the ministers of water of Laos and Kuwait, and North Macedonia’s minister of environment, whom he received in his office on Thursday on the sidelines of the 2019 Budapest Water Summit, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade said in a statement to Hungarian news agency MTI.

There is interest from Asia, the Middle East and the Balkan region in the irrigation, sewage and wastewater treatment systems that have been developed by Hungarian enterprises, and in the engineering know-how they represent, the Ministry said in summary.

According to the statement, during their meeting India’s Minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat explained that a secure water supply and the development of water infrastructure are strategic issues for the Indian government. “Hungary is a frontrunner within the field of water, and accordingly India represents a major opportunity for Hungarian enterprises with relation to water industry products and services. In view of the fact that there are several Hungarian enterprises operating in the region within the fields of wastewater management and water purification, the programme launched by the Indian government in the interests of cleaning the Ganges River could provide a good cooperation opportunity for Hungarian water industry businesses”, the Ministry wrote, quoting Mr. Singh Shekhawat.

At their meeting, Laos’s Minister of Water Sommad Pholsena thanked Mr. Szijjártó for the fact that 3000 people-a-day living in the country’s Attapeu district now have access to clean drinking water thanks to a piece of mobile water purification equipment provided by Hungary.

One of the main topics of discussion at the meeting between Mr. Szijjártó and Kuwaiti Minister for Oil, Electricity and Water Khalid al Mohamed Al-Fadel was the mid and long-term handling of the Middle Eastern country’s water resource management problems. The Kuwaiti party was interested in Hungarian water industry technologies, as well as in the training of Hungarian experts working within the field of water management.

According to the statement, during his meeting with North Macedonia’s Minister for the Environment Naser Nuredini, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Péter Szijjártó also discussed the business opportunities available to Hungarian enterprises within the fields of, amongst others, wastewater management and the development of irrigation and sewage systems.

(MTI)