UAE President’s historic visit seals landmark energy, AI, and defence deals with Hungary – PHOTOS, UPDATED🔄
Prime Minister Viktor Orbán met President of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan during his first official visit in Budapest on Thursday, the communications department of the prime minister’s office said.
During the visit, Hungary signed 14 agreements with the UAE that will create new opportunities in the two countries’ relations, primarily in the areas of energy, agriculture and food industry, defence industry, telecommunications and new technologies, the statement said.
The Ministry for National Economy signed three agreements with the Emirates, including one on finding new investment opportunities with the global investment company Mubadala, and one on identifying opportunities for cooperation with the UAE Ministry of Investment involving data centres and artificial intelligence projects.
Energy links are expected to intensify as a result of Hungary’s Energy Ministry signing an agreement with the United Arab Emirates’ Ministry of Investment and the Masdar company on cooperation in the area of green and renewable energy, and storage capacities for renewable energy.
An agreement between the Hungarian Ministry of Agriculture and the UAE’s Ministry of Investment is expected to give new impetus to cooperation in the food industry and agriculture, helping Hungarian technologies reach a market in the UAE.
The Ministry of Public Administration and Regional Development signed an agreement with the UAE’s Ministry of Cabinet Affairs on sharing government development and modernisation experiences, and the Ministry of Culture and Innovation signed a memorandum of understanding with the UAE Ministry of Family on deepening cooperation in family and youth policies.
In addition to government agreements, cooperation between companies in the two countries will also be expanded. On the sidelines of the visit, the Budapest Stock Exchange and the Abu Dhabi Stock Exchange signed a cooperation agreement.
DefMin: UAE President visits Hungary
The president of the United Arab Emirates is visiting Hungary for the first time, Defence Minister Kristóf Szalay-Bobrovniczky said on Facebook on Thursday.
“This is not only an important diplomatic event but also a historic moment,” Szalay-Bobrovniczky said. “I was honoured to have received His Majesty, Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the President of the United Arab Emirates,” Szalay-Bobrovniczky said.
Szijjártó: Brussels successfully convinced to pursue one-on-one free trade talks with Gulf states
Brussels has been successfully convinced that one-on-one free trade talks should be pursued with individual Gulf states, instead of talks together, the minister of foreign affairs and trade said on Thursday, adding that Hungary had a vested interest in the talks’ speedy success.
Péter Szijjártó said that the visit of President of the United Arab Emirates Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan to Hungary was an event of “diplomatic history”. It had been the first time that the ruler of a middle Eastern country travelled to Hungary, which he said clearly showed the dynamic development of bilateral relations.
“Hungary absolutely has a vested national interest in building the closest possible cooperation with the UAE. This is true from the point of foreign policy, security and also the economy,” he added.
“The UAE is crucial for the stability of the Middle East, with its wise and well-thought foreign policy it has managed to thwart numerous dangerous situations, and could bring back peace and stability in the Middle East in numerous difficult situations,” he said.
He said the economy of the UAE was one of the most dynamically developing economies in the world, with companies demonstrating increasing interest in investment in Hungary in several areas.
He added that trade between the two countries had gained new impetus and its volume was once again at the level of annual 500 million dollars.
He cited the example of more than 900 tonnes of cheese, at least 15 tonnes of medicine and 18 tonnes of honey having been exported from Hungary to the UAE which he said had not been typical earlier.
“It is important that the EU has finally understood that it was unable to sign a free trade agreement with the Gulf states as a whole. We have managed to convince Brussels that one-on-one free trade talks should be pursued with individual Gulf states,” he said.
He welcomed the start of free trade talks between the EU and the UAE, and said “we are working in Budapest and also in Brussels on making the cooperation with the UAE as close as possible”.
4iG signs MoU with Abu Dhabi sovereign wealth fund
Listed Hungarian ICT company 4iG signed a memorandum of understanding with Mubadala Investment Company, a sovereign wealth fund of the United Arab Emirates, during a visit to Hungary by Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the president of the UAE, on Thursday.
The MoU aims to establish a framework for potential future collaboration in joint exploration of potential investment and acquisition opportunities in Hungary, Central and Eastern Europe and the West Balkans, 4iG said in an announcement on the website of the Budapest Stock Exchange.
4iG also signed an MoU with Emirates Telecommunications Group Company on cooperation in the planning, implementation and operation of submarine cable projects connecting the Middle East, North Africa and Europe; on cooperation in planning and deploying large scale data centre developments in Albania and in Hungary; and on the evaluation of other cooperation possibilities in the field of telecommunications and digital infrastructure.
4iG subsidiary 4iG Space and Defence Technologies signed MoUs with the UAE’s EDGE Group on expanding their technological and business capabilities in Central and Eastern Europe and Africa; on collaboration in the development, production, enhancement and joint business development of drones and advanced air defence systems in Europe; and on identifying potential collaboration opportunities in connection with the applicability and enhancement of the VEGA unmanned traffic management system and the ORION drone fleet management system in Hungary.
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