HE Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade of Hungary Peter Szijjarto stressed the depth of relations between Hungary and Qatar, which are based on mutual respect through their keenness on the sovereignty of states and non-interference in internal affairs and focus on joint work and cooperation for the benefit of all; noting that the State of Qatar has become an important country at the international level and is distinguished by its rational and impartial stance, which is appreciated by Hungary.
In an interview with the Qatari newspaper Al-Sharq published Sunday, His Excellency said: “We very much respect Qatar’s position in calling for peaceful dialogue and conflict resolution, and we believe that it is a position stemming from a very important political sense in international action, and we agree with this policy.” HE the Minister noted the economic cooperation between Doha and Budapest and said that talks for cooperation in the field of energy started some time ago between the two countries, adding that he was here in Doha last December for discussions in this regard.
There are ongoing negotiations between QatarEnergy and the Hungarian Power Company responsible for purchasing gas in order to see any possible horizon for the Qatari gas to be part of the Hungarian energy mix, he said.
HE explained that there is a new dimension of cooperation between the State of Qatar and two countries and Hungary in light of the ongoing negotiations between the QatarEnergy and the Hungarian Power Company, and it is expected that Qatari gas will be part of the Hungarian energy mix in 2026.
He underlined that there are many areas for cooperation between the two countries, and Qatar is invited to invest in them, including digitization and the information technology-based economy, and “we all know that Qatar has a lot of interest and projects in this field. It is also possible to cooperate in the manufacture of electric cars. We have the fourth largest capacity in the world in terms of manufacturing electric vehicle battery cells.” He noted that Hungary has one of the lowest tax rates in Europe, as the corporate income tax rate (CIT) of 9% is the lowest in Europe, and it enjoys political stability. “We have made important improvements in infrastructure in addition to that our higher education system has become a very high level of scientific standards and provides a qualified, skilled and up-to-date workforce,” he said, adding that Hungary enjoys a strategic location and is located in the heart of Europe, with access to 124 countries. There are Qatari investments in Hungary in the field of real estate and tourism, and “we are working to attract more investments,” he noted.
Regarding the importance of the 5th United Nations Conference on the Least Developed Countries (LDC5) in supporting development and international cooperation, which was held in Doha last week, HE the Hungarian Minister considered that the main objective of his country’s participation is to provide substantial support to the least developed countries, because it is well aware of the serious impact and negative repercussions of the war in Ukraine that affected the world and caused a number of problems such as the energy crisis, the disruption in supplies and food security, adding that all these current challenges have caused enormous pressure on a number of countries, especially the least developed ones, which have become facing more threat of instability, in light of the difficulties in providing energy and food, which may produce a series of crises that may pose serious challenges, and therefore these countries could become sources of more huge waves of migration, which is something Hungary would like to avoid, and the European Union countries may not be able to confront it.
The international community should provide support and assistance to the least developed countries, as Hungary has allocated a Line of Credit of $760 million to enhance economic cooperation with companies in the least developed countries, and announced $250 million in aid programs to improve water management, health and food security, in addition to 715 scholarships for these countries, which is a very popular program with 9.991 applications from these countries, HE said.
“We believe that we are doing our part, and we hope that the rest of the international community will do its part properly in supporting the least developed countries to overcome difficult challenges,” he added.
HE Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade of Hungary expressed hope that the international community would be able to put in place substantial programs to empower these countries, appreciating the role of the State of Qatar in hosting this international conference and providing tremendous support for these international efforts, which is very important, pointing out that his country realizes that Qatar takes the matter seriously to help these countries, and “we will continue to increase rehabilitation programs for these countries in the coming period.”

Source: Qatar News Agency