Prime Minister Viktor Orbán met with Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoyev in Samarkand on Thursday where they discussed economic and energy cooperation as well as the deepening of bilateral cultural and education relations.
According to MTI, PM Orbán said that in the current crisis caused by the war and the related sanctions, the entirety of Europe, including Hungary, was fighting to maintain its economic momentum. “But even in the current situation we aren’t slowing but rather increasing the intensity of cooperation with our strategic partner in the region, Uzbekistan,” PM Orbán said. “We’re strengthening the joint projects we’ve launched in the areas of nuclear energy, the chemical industry, finance and telecommunications.” Because the global energy crisis will last a long time, Hungary is exploring opportunities for joint gas extraction with Uzbekistan, PM Orbán said. He also said Hungary will increase the number of scholarships granted to Uzbek students from 120 to 170 a year. Uzbekistan welcomes Hungarian businesspeople and companies and is prepared to provide them with any help needed for their investments to be successful, Mirziyoyev said.