Orbán: Uzbekistan strategic partner in Central Asia

Uzbekistan welcomes Hungarian businesspeople and companies and is prepared to provide them any help needed for their investments to be successful, Bertalan Havasi cited Mirziyoyev as saying.

Orbán said that in the current crisis caused by the war and the related sanctions, the entirety of Europe, including Hungary, was fighting to maintain its economic momentum.

“But even in the current situation, we aren’t slowing, but rather increasing the intensity of cooperation with our strategic partner in the region, Uzbekistan,” Orbán said. “We’re strengthening the joint projects we’ve launched in the areas of nuclear energy, the chemical industry, finance and telecommunications.”

Because the global energy crisis will last a long time, Hungary is exploring opportunities for joint gas extraction with Uzbekistan, Orbán said. He also said Hungary will increase the number of scholarships granted to Uzbek students from 120 to 170 a year.

Szijjarto: Uzbekistan excellent market opportunity for Hungarian companies

Uzbekistan offers excellent market opportunities for Hungarian companies using advanced technology, the minister of foreign affairs and trade said in Samarkand on Thursday, where he opened an Uzbek-Hungarian business forum. The governments of Uzbekistan and Hungary have provided the conditions for mutually beneficial cooperation and “there are no political disputes between the two countries”, Peter Szijjarto said in his address.

He called the bilateral strategic partnership agreement signed last year important especially “in the current recession environment” for Hungary, one of the world’s ten most open economies.

Szijjarto noted that the business forum is attended by representatives of 44 Hungarian companies and its schedule includes 180 business meetings. With the aim to boost cooperation between Hungarian and Uzbek companies, Hungary’s Eximbank has opened a 110 million dollar credit line, he said.

Speaking about ongoing projects, Szijjarto noted the construction of a gas-fuelled power plant and the modernisation and management of water and sewage systems with Hungarian participation. He said that Uzbekistan would authorise a simplified licensing procedure for Hungarian medicines.

Szijjarto said he hoped Uzbekistan would decide in favour of a Hungarian technology for the cooling system of a nuclear power plant it is building.

Turkic Council ‘forum of peace’

Hungary sees the Turkic Council as a “forum of peace”, where all members stand for a diplomatic solution to the war in Ukraine, in opposition to the “escalation rhetoric” prevalent in international politics, Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto told the foreign ministers’ meeting in Samarkand on Thursday. At the Turkic Council, the common aim is an immediate ceasefire and peace talks, he said.

Turkey has so far been the only successful mediator between Ukraine and Russia, and the agreement on relaunching crop deliveries showed that “steps towards peace are possible even in seemingly hopeless situations,” the ministry quoted Szijjarto as saying.

The council stands for cooperation between East and West, and as such, is key to global security, he said.

Szijjarto noted that Hungary, an observer in the Council alongside Turkmenistan, is eager to amp up its role in the group. The government has opened embassies in all six member states, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Turkey and Uzbekistan, he added.

Hungary is also offering a total of 990 grants for students from the six Council participants wishing to study there, he added.

Trade turnover between Hungary and the six Turkic Council states has grown two-and-a-half-fold in the past 12 years to 4.5 billion euros, he said.

The Hungarian foreign ministry and the Turkic Council have signed an agreement on setting up an Institute for Drought Prevention in Budapest.