OREANDA-NEWS  A bilateral strategic council was established, concrete business deals were concluded, energy-related issues were discussed and MoUs on tourism, healthcare and employment were signed in Kazakhstan during a three-day official visit of a Hungarian delegation led by Economy Minister Mih?ly Varga.

The Minister was accompanied by some 60 Hungarian business people, some of whom concluded concrete deals, for example on the production of health research equipment, partnership with Rail Cargo Hungary and the instalment of small wind power facilities.

The Kazakh-Hungarian Strategic Council was also established, which is expected to deal with the major issues of long-term cooperation. The group is headed by two co-presidents: the Kazakh Foreign Minister and Mih?ly Varga.

Speaking of energy cooperation, the Minister said that MOL has been active in Kazakhstan since 2004, and the Hungarian company has hitherto invested some USD 200 million in the exploration of crude oil and gas fields. Test drillings have proven to be successful and the discovered field hides massive reserves for MOL. The company plans to extract oil jointly with their Chinese and Kazakh partners, the Minister added. An energy working group is to be formed later this year for the promotion of Kazakh-Hungarian atomic energy cooperation.

He visited the site of the EXPO 2017 in Astana, which is also the area for a large-scale urban development project over 170 hectares.

Some 5 million visitors are expected at the EXPO, the main theme of which is “Future Energy”, and it will provide a good occasion for Hungarian enterprises to present themselves, the Minister stressed.