Universities of medical science and clinics from Hungary and Qatar will be cooperating to test and develop basic pharmaceutical products that could be effective against the coronavirus, it was agreed during a video conference call between Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Péter Szijjártó, his Qatari counterpart and the country’s Minister of Energy and Industry on Wednesday.

In a Facebook post, Mr. Szijjártó said the two Qatari ministers are old friends of his, and accordingly it was useful to review the state of bilateral relations. “The Qatari government is doing a lot to find the antidote to the coronavirus, and accordingly the parties agreed to support cooperation between their medical universities and clinics with relation to testing and developing basic pharmaceutical products that could be effective against the COVID-19 virus”.
“Qatar Airways has been of major assistance in helping Hungarian stranded abroad to return home, thanks to the fact that it kept operating all of its air passenger services to Hungary until mid-April, and continues to operate 4 services-a-week between the two countries’ capitals”, Mr. Szijjártó stated.
The Minister said the two countries have also agreed with relation to cooperation between their respective diplomacy academies, and on the establishment of a scholarship program for Hungarian university students studying Arabic.

“A totally new chapter has also opened on the world’s energy markets, and Qatar possesses one of the world’s  largest sources of natural gas, as a result of which the parties have concluded a political agreement on supporting long-term strategic cooperation between Hungarian energy company MVM and Qatargas.

(Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade/MTI)