The fourth meeting of the Hungarian-Israeli Joint Economic Cooperation Committee was held on 28-29 March 2017, in Jerusalem. The Hungarian delegation was led by Dr István Mikola, State Secretary for Security Policy and International Cooperation of Hungary’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade, while the Israeli delegation was headed by Ohad Cohen, Head of Foreign Trade Administration at the Israeli Ministry of Economy and Industry, Chair of the Israeli section of the Committee.
The priority topics of the committee meeting featured issues concerning energy, agriculture, water management, research and development, infocommunication, health care, the healthcare industry and tourism. State Secretary István Mikola focused especially on Hungarian interests in areas such as knowledge transfer in the field of the energy industry, food safety, the exchange of water and environmental technologies, the improvement of synergies in research and development, and the formulation of joint international development cooperation schemes in third countries.
On the occasion of the committee meeting, Mr Mikola had bilateral talks with Special Envoy on Energy Ron Adam, where he stressed that Hungary has a vested interest in effectively using the available Hungarian expertise and the Stipendium Hungaricum scholarship quota available in Hungarian higher education, in particular, in the field of energy.
Mr Mikola received Alon Ushpiz, Political and Diplomatic Director of the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs within the framework of a bilateral meeting. At the meeting, the parties reviewed security policy challenges and the possible directions for their management.
Both Hungary and Israel are attractive destinations for tourists. In 2016, Israel was Hungary’s 14th most important tourism market based on the number of guest nights spent at commercial accommodation facilities in Hungary. The fact that Wizz Air operates regular direct services between Budapest and Tel-Aviv – 7 services a week during the summer period – greatly contributes to the increased visitor numbers.