Hungary and Kazakhstan sign memorandum on agricultural cooperation

The Ministers of Agriculture of Kazakhstan and Hungary met in Nur-Sultan, World of NAN reports citing the press service of the ministries.

At the beginning of the meeting, Saparkhan Omarov informed his colleague Istvan Nagy about the priorities of Kazakhstan's modern agricultural policy and stressed that the priority tasks for the country today are processing of agricultural raw materials, as well as the production of high-quality, affordable and competitive food.

"Knowing what successes Hungary has achieved in these issues, we hope to develop our cooperation in this field. Increasing the volume of mutual trade in agro-industrial products. Despite the pandemic in 2020, trade turnover between our countries increased by 33%. In this regard, we note the need to intensify contacts between the ministries and business entities of our countries "- stated the head of the Ministry of Agriculture of the RK.

In terms of cooperation in the field of crop production, according to Saparkhan Omarov, the Ministry of Agriculture is interested in developing the production of corn seeds of Hungarian selection in the Republic of Kazakhstan.

"Corn is one of the highly profitable crops. There is a demand for it not only on export markets, but also in Kazakhstan itself. We have two starch factories that are ready to buy large quantities of corn for further processing," he said.

The Hungarian side is expected to invest in the form of original seeds.

The Ministry of Agriculture says they are ready to support such a project by subsidies and financing. Implementation of a joint seed farming project will saturate not only Kazakhstan's market with high-quality corn seeds, but also Central Asian countries.

In cattle breeding Kazakhstan is considering several directions of cooperation with Hungary - the development of dairy cattle breeding and poultry farming, as well as intensive sheep breeding.

"Hungary is successfully developed in these areas, so the Kazakh side sees the potential for cooperation in terms of the supply of Hungarian breeding stock, technological equipment, dairy product processing technologies, joint scientific work in sheep breeding, as well as the supply of incubation material and training of Kazakh specialists," the Kazakh official said.

Istvan Nagy replied that the desire to develop relations in the field of agriculture is mutual. The Hungarian Ministry of Agriculture also sees good prospects for cooperation in the field of seed production, as Kazakhstan has vast sown areas. In the conditions of actively growing world demand for food the joining of possibilities of two countries can bring big fruit.

"Hungary is the 6th largest exporter of sowing seeds in the world. The level of professionalism of our specialists and the results they achieved are recognized in the international arena, and we hope that we can be useful to Kazakhstan through joint research, training and transfer of technology," Nagy said.

According to him, Hungarian entrepreneurs are also interested in joint activities, because Kazakhstan, thanks to its favorable geographical location and direct access to the large market of China, can play a key role in the development of their exports.

"However, our goal is not only to increase export opportunities, but also to establish a foundation for mutually beneficial cooperation. I am sure that through this meeting, we have not only strengthened our excellent ties based on Kuman-Kipchak historical roots, but also promoted more effective cooperation involving professional and business spheres," said the high guest.

At the end of the meeting, the ministers signed a Memorandum of Understanding on cooperation in agriculture, which among other intentions involves the establishment of the International Kazakh-Hungarian center for the development of innovation in the agro-industrial complex on the basis of KazNAIU. The establishment of the center will allow scientists of the university and research institutes of the Ministry of Agriculture to conduct joint research on all topical problems of agriculture, transfer of new technologies, training and professional development of specialists.

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