On 15-17 November, Hungary hosted the 3rd Hungary-Latin America Forum at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade, providing further impetus to our relations with the Latin-American region.

The motto of the Forum was “Knowledge and Development: Investing in the Future”, indicating that Hungary is giving preference to new, long-term and modern forms of cooperation and wishes to further reinforce the wide-ranging relations between Hungary and Latin America already achieved within the framework of the Government’s Southern Opening strategy.

The meeting attracted an unprecedented level of attention, with some 220 participants, 100 of them from abroad. The rank and significance of the event was raised by the fact that the Columbian Foreign Minister, Ecuador’s Minister of Telecommunications and the President of the EU-Latin America Foundation were all present at the Forum.

During the course of the meeting, recognised Hungarian and Latin American experts discussed future forms and sectors of cooperation, including within the fields of education, the health industry, water management and agricultural technologies, the role of infocommunications and start-up enterprises, and opportunities for trilateral cooperation. A business forum was also held on the sidelines of the conference, in addition to which the participants had the opportunity to become acquainted with Hungarian enterprises that are achieving success in the Latin-American region, and enterprises form the region that have established a presence in Hungary, during a series of field trips. This provided an excellent opportunity for forging relations and for identifying concrete cooperation opportunities on site within a business framework.

The participants also held several bilateral talks on the sidelines of the Forum. Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Péter Szijjártó held talks with Columbian Foreign Minister María Ángela Holguín who also gave a speech at the Forum. A memorandum of understanding on hydrocarbon industry cooperation was signed following Mr. Szijjártó’s meeting with Ecuadorian Minister of Telecommunications Guillermo León Santacruz. Minister of State for Public Administration Dr. Csaba Balogh received President of the EU-LAC Foundation and former President of the Dominican Republic Leonel Fernández. Deputy State Secretary for the Southern Opening policy Szilveszter Bus held talks with his Guatemalan and Ecuadorian counterparts, the head of the European External Action Service’s American section and the Director of the EU-LAC Foundation. The Hungarian presidency of the Visegrád Group (V4) also organised a V4+Brazil meeting of deputy state secretaries, and the Hungarian-Mexican and Hungarian-Brazilian joint committees also held their biannual sessions in Budapest on the sidelines of the Forum.

The success of the Forum also confirms the results achieved in the Latin-American region since the launch of the Government’s Southern Opening policy. Since 2015 wer have re-opened four diplomatic representations and now have 40 honorary consuls operating in the region. The success of the measures introduced so far in the interests of expanding relations with the region is also indicated by the trade figures: Hungarian exports to the Latin-American region increased by 49 percent during the first eight months of this year.

(Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade)