Kenya and Hungary on Tuesday signed MoUs on agriculture and education in Budapest.
The two deals were signed during Foreign Affairs Minister Musalia Mudavadi’s official visit to Budapest.
During the visit, Mudavadi met with President Tamas Sulyok at Sándor Palace in Budapest.
During the talks, Mudavadi said he reaffirmed Kenya’s commitment to deepening ties with Hungary since the bilateral partnership began in 1964.
“I expressed gratitude for Hungary’s continued support, particularly in education through 200 annual scholarships, as well as investments in agriculture and health.
“In business, I encouraged Hungarian investors to explore opportunities in Kenya’s hospitality, infrastructure, energy, and agriculture sectors, assuring them of Kenya’s open financial systems that allow seamless profit repatriation,” he said.
Speaking earlier during the joint media briefing with his counterpart, Péter Szijjártó, Mudavadi noted that Hungary is a valued partner to Kenya.
Mudavadi’s first visit to Hungary and Foreign Minister was reciprocal to Minister Szijjártó’s in October 2024.
He said the signed MoUs will promote bilateral partnerships in education and agriculture and further open up new avenues for collaboration in these areas and many others.
He said Kenya and Hungary, the sixth country to open a mission in Nairobi, are working together on the two agricultural projects that are supporting rural folks in Kenya.
He added that Hungary was a close partner in the education sector.
Some 521 Kenyans students are studying in Hungary and 200 more will join through the Stipendium Hungaricum scholarship, according to Minister Szijjártó. Some 4,300 students applied for the scholarship.
“I appreciate the government of Hungary for the 200 scholarships offered to Kenyan students annually the through the Stipendium Hungaricum Programme,” PCS Mudavadi said.
He noted that the scholarships had enhanced people-to-people cooperation, and revitalized substantial positive transformations across multiple sectors of the two economies.
On agriculture, Mudavadi the two sides agreed to cooperate on the exchange of expertise and best agricultural practices to enhance agricultural productivity.
“I am confident that once we implement the outcomes of the discussion we have had on this sector, we will witness higher levels of Foreign Direct Investment from our respective companies in diverse fields of our economy, especially in the agricultural value addition industries,” Mudavadi said on his part.
Szijjártó also noted that agriculture is one of the key areas of cooperation, and that Hungarian companies are planning to invest in irrigation in Kenya.
He said the Hungarian government had established a Demo Farm in one of the agricultural productive counties in Kenya, which is designed to showcase Hungarian agricultural technology and innovation.
It also serves as a model for modern and sustainable farming practices.
Kenya and Hungary also resolved to revitalize relations in the energy sector in bid to strengthen resilience and adaptive capacity by prioritizing green growth while ensuring energy supply and sustainability.
“We have, therefore, resolved to implement the MoU on Cooperation in the Field of Training and Education of Atomic Industry on the Peaceful Uses of Nuclear Energy that we signed during his visit to Nairobi early last year,” said Mudavadi.
He said Kenya and Hungary had agreed to exchange capacity on the use of nuclear energy as an alternative source of clean renewable energy.
On ICT, the two states agreed to amplify relations in the sector, noting their area of priorities were on business, finance, and cloud mapping sectors.
This, Mudavadi said, will help in attracting investments in the respective countries.
