Zsolt Semjén received Kyrgyz Foreign Minister Erlan Abdyldaev, who is paying an official visit to Hungary, in the Parliament Building.
The Hungarian Deputy Prime Minister stressed at the Wednesday meeting that relations between Hungary and Kyrgyzstan have recently undergone a dynamic phase of development, and both countries are committed to remaining on this course.
Mr Semjén pointed out that we continue to seek ways to improve our relations under formal agreements: through the conclusion of an economic cooperation agreement, the establishment of an economic mixed committee and within the framework of an educational agreement. Hungary regards Central-Asia with major reserves of minerals and raw materials as one of the future’s world economic centres. This is why we support the development of cooperation between the EU and Kyrgyzstan as well as between the EU and the Eurasian Economic Union.
The Deputy Prime Minister highlighted during the course of the meeting that Hungary looks upon Central-Asia, including Kyrgyzstan, with great interest due to our common cultural roots and nomadic past. Hungarian orientalists visited this region on a number of occasions: György Almássy’s expedition in 1900 was one of the most significant scholarly visits. His detailed account of the expedition is an important source for Kyrgyz ethnographers. We shall celebrate the 150th anniversary of the renowned traveller’s birth next year which presents a good basis for common cultural and academic programmes.
Mr Semjén reiterated that the objects collected by György Almássy during his travels are in the custody of the Hungarian Museum of Ethnography. This collection may constitute the foundations of a cooperation in Turkology, and would additionally also significantly contribute to the research of the ancient past of the Hungarian people. The Deputy Prime Minister announced that, as part of cooperation between the two countries in education, within the framework of the Stipendium Hungaricum scholarship programme, Hungary offers education to twenty-five Kyrgyz university students in the areas of technical higher education, medical education and tertiary training.
The Kyrgyz party also greatly appreciated the common roots of the history of the two nations which they look upon as the foundations of Hungarian-Kyrgyz cooperation. Foreign Minister Erlan Abdyldaev pointed out that Kyrgyzstan is open to and welcomes Hungary’s policy of easterly opening. They see great opportunities in our countries’ economic and cultural relations which they will seek to develop as part of the closest possible cooperation in the future.