To mark 50-year diplomatic ties, Hungary wants cooperation agreements with Malaysia
Published on: Saturday, November 17, 2018
Kuala Lumpur: Hungary hopes to ink several cooperation agreements next year with Malaysia to commemorate their 50-year diplomatic ties.Hungarian Ambassador to Malaysia, Attila Kali said economic, science and technology, as well as agricultural cooperation were among the highlights sought by Budapest in the cooperation agreements with Putrajaya."We feel that by signing these agreements, it can give additional opportunity and platform for the private sector and research institutions to cooperate.
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"Give them a platform where they can work together while the governments set the framework for the cooperation," he told Bernama in a recent interview.Kali said his embassy was also planning cultural events and continued to promote education programmes next year to celebrate the 50th anniversary ties, and was hopeful a political (official) visit could materialise between the two countries.Therefore, he said it was symbolic to conclude the cooperation agreements by next year, which was also an important milestone in Hungary-Malaysia relations."My biggest hope is the (fulfilment of) economic cooperation as it would set a right framework for our trade and investment ties. In agricultural cooperation, we are planning to set up a joint commission for the experts from two parties to discuss and transfer technology, share experiences in different fields, and also bring the latest innovative technology and solutions to each other," he explained.
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According to Kali, the economic cooperation was initiated by the Hungarian Government a few years ago. However, negotiations were halted and then re-started, and currently, are on the verge of being concluded."So, hopefully in the coming months, we can finalise the text and then find a good opportunity to sign it, hopefully by some high level officials from the two sides," he said.
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Kali said there was high emphasis on economic cooperation, especially on high value-added areas where technology-intensive investments were vital, given that Malaysia was beefing up its commitment to accelerate the development of Industry 4.0.He said Hungary and Malaysia could work together, along this commitment, considering that science and technology in Hungary is one of the country's most developed sectors, and the creative nature of the Hungarian people.On education cooperation, Kali said his government also hoped to continue promoting its scholarship programmes and hoped the 40 quotas could be filled up next year by raising awareness on the opportunity, as well as participating in high education fairs.In February this year, Malaysia and Hungary signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) on cooperation in higher education, whereby the Hungarian Government offered 40 scholarships to Malaysians. The first batch of 15 Malaysian students received the scholarships.Stay up-to-date by following Daily Express’s Telegram channel.
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