“A promising opportunity is opening up in Hungarian-Kazakh agrarian relations; Hungary could play an important role in the modernisation of Kazakh agriculture, which is experiencing major development. The agreements concluded with the Central Asian country with relation to university studies and the fields of fisheries and agricultural research also serve to reinforce cooperation between the two states”, Minister of Agriculture Sándor Fazekas said on Hungarian M1 television’s morning program and Kossuth Radio’s “180 Minutes” program on Wednesday.
With relation to his negotiations in Kazakhstan a few days earlier, Mr. Fazekas said: previously, prior to 1990, Hungarian products could be found in Central Asia, and the goal is to reconquer these export markets to the greatest extent possible. Kazakhstan is a quarter of the size of Europe and has huge areas of agricultural land, in which the country is planning major development projects in practically every sector. To achieve this Kazakhstan needs and has a high demand for seeds, agricultural technology, fruit and vegetable propagating materials, the transposition of research results and training, he said.
There are already several programmes underway that serve Hungarian-Kazakh cooperation, one of these important projects being Pannon Breeding, the goal of which is seed cultivation, seed breeding, and the collection and, amongst others, the selective use of the wild plant species found in Kazakhstan for breeding. In addition, we also have an interest in the establishment of fruit plantations, Mr. Fazekas said. With the exception of a few areas, Kazakhstan is not self-sufficient with regard to food, meaning Hungarian agricultural products, premium quality foods, highly developed technologies and our accumulated knowledge also have a place in this region of Asia, the Minister explained.