BUDAPEST: The Ambassador of the State of Qatar to Hungary HE Abdullah bin Falah bin Abdullah Al Dosari stressed that the visit of His Highness the Amir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani to Budapest represents a milestone in the path of strengthening and consolidating relations between the two countries and accelerating the pace of cooperation in various fields.
Al Dosari said that the visit of HH the Amir comes in response to an official invitation from the Hungarian leadership within the framework of advancing the growing cooperation relations between the two countries, adding that HH the Amir's visit coincides with the activities of the World Athletics Championship, which will be hosted by Budapest during this month.
He added that HH the Amir's visit to Budapest will contribute to supporting and strengthening relations between the two countries, which witnessed continuous growth and great development over the past two decades, thanks to the keenness of the leaderships in both countries to communicate and expand the horizons of cooperation in various fields.
The ambassador explained that the Qatari-Hungarian relations date back to 1990 at the level of non-resident embassies, but they witnessed a major shift with the opening of the embassies in 2004.
He added that this step represented a true translation of the mutual keenness to develop relations between the two sides and build bridges of cooperation and joint work, which has taken a growing course over the past years.
He said that in light of this, Qatari-Hungarian relations advanced in many fields, and the two countries exchanged official visits at various levels, the most recent of which was the visit of Hungarian Prime Minister HE Viktor Orban to Doha in May in the context of advancing the process of joint cooperation at all levels.
He explained that during the visit of HH the Amir, several memoranda (MoU) of understanding will be signed in the fields of youth, sports, health, agriculture, environmental protection and nature conservation. Additionally, there will be discussions related to enhancing joint cooperation in various fields and exchanging views on the most important developments of common interest at the regional and international levels.
He stated that there are a number of other agreements and MoU that are being worked on to be signed during the coming period, including the agreement to encourage and protect investment between the two countries, which will represent an important step towards opening broad horizons for investors in the two countries.
The ambassador pointed out that Hungary also seeks to enhance cooperation with the State of Qatar in the field of energy and has a remarkable interest in this vital file, as it seeks to import Qatari gas within the framework of diversifying its energy sources in light of the current challenges.
In a related context, he noted that education is one of the important areas in which cooperation between the two countries is witnessing remarkable growth, pointing out that the past few years witnessed the graduation of a number of Qatari students from Hungarian universities, in addition to the presence of a number of others still studying, in addition to Hungary allocating around 100 scholarships for Qatari students.
He also referred to other areas of cooperation that the two countries seek to enhance and develop, such as trade, investment, air transport, education, and others, saying that the two countries are moving forward in developing economic cooperation, and there is a joint economic committee that contributes to accelerating the pace of this cooperation.
In this context, he mentioned that last July, Budapest hosted the work of the third session of the Joint Qatari-Hungarian Committee, which was chaired by the Minister of Commerce and Industry HE Sheikh Mohammed bin Hamad bin Qassim Al Thani and the Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade of Hungary HE Peter Siarto, where they reviewed aspects of cooperation and ways to enhance it and develop it in priority areas and sectors.
Ambassador Al Dosari affirmed that Qatari-Hungarian relations will witness a new shift during the next stage, whether at the economic level to serve the common interests of the two countries, or at the political level in light of the close positions and common visions on many regional and international issues.
