On November 5 this year, ISRS hosted a meeting with the Director General for International Affairs of the Ludovika University of Public Service of Hungary Liliana Śmiech and the Chief Advisor, Senior Research Fellow of the Hungarian Institute of International Affairs László Vasa.

The main topic of the talks was the discussion of prospects for the development of Uzbek-Hungarian relations, cooperation within the framework of the Organization of Turkic States (OTS) and strengthening the role of analytical centers of the two countries in this process.

The meeting participants highly appreciated the current state of relations between Uzbekistan and Hungary, which was raised to the level of strategic partnership in 2021. "In recent years, Hungary has shown increasing interest in Central Asia, especially Uzbekistan, which is seen as a long-term and key partner in the region," Liliana Śmiech said.

It was noted that multifaceted cooperation between the two countries is developing rapidly. Today, Hungarian companies are actively investing in such areas as industry, pharmaceuticals, agriculture, fish farming, logistics, real estate construction and other areas. In turn, Uzbekistan seeks to export its goods and services to the European market, where Hungary occupies a special place. According to Eurostat, by the end of 2023, the growth of the Hungarian economy was 4.6%, which is higher than the EU average.

The interlocutors also paid special attention to the development of multifaceted interaction within the framework of the OTS on the eve of the Organization’s summit at the highest level in Bishkek on November 6 of this year. The guests acknowledged that Hungary, as an observer state of the OTS, remains committed to its strategy of "Openness to the East", which prioritizes strengthening partnership with Turkic-speaking countries.

At the end of the discussions, an agreement was reached to continue active dialogue and exchange of opinions between the think tanks of the two countries on a wide range of issues of cooperation and multilateral interregional interaction.

Ludovika University of Public Service is a higher education institution and think tank in Hungary (Budapest), established in 2011. It ranks 8th among 34 Hungarian universities.