During talks in Nairobi, Péter Szijjártó, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade, noted that the EU-Kenya Economic Partnership Agreement was signed last year, and said Hungary would do its utmost to make sure it came into force during the six months of its EU presidency.
According to MTI, the foreign minister noted the expansion of the Education Hungary office and said that as well as the founding universities of Pécs, Debrecen, IBS International Business School and the Hungarian University of Agriculture and Life Sciences, Miskolc and Sopron universities have also joined the scheme that advises students interested in training opportunities in Hungary. Out of the 290,000 people studying in Hungarian higher education, 40,000 are foreign and Kenyans have access to 200 scholarships each year, he noted, adding that they could go on to help develop their country with the knowledge they had gained. Given the popularity of the programme, Hungary is considering expanding the number of participants, he said. “All preconditions are given to develop economic cooperation between Hungary and Kenya,” the minister told a Hungary-Kenya business forum held later in the day, adding that there were no open political issues between the two countries. Szijjártó said the business leaders in his delegation to Kenya represented cutting-edge technologies in farming, food safety, water management and administrative services, whose projects could contribute to Kenya’s economic development. He said representatives of the two countries were set to sign a mutual investment protection accord, while preparations for an agreement aimed at avoiding double taxation were on the agenda. The minister highlighted Kenya’s stabilizing role in the region, noting the country’s efforts to fight terrorism and its accommodating hundreds of thousands of refugees.