The consultations of the Deputy Director-General for European Affairs of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan in Budapest.

Mr Yamada Jun, Deputy Director-General for European Affairs of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan had official discussions in Budapest about the bilateral relations between Japan and Hungary and the upcoming visit of the Hungarian Prime Minister to Japan.

Mr Yamada Jun had a meeting with Mr Levente Magyar, Deputy State Secretary for Foreign Affairs of the Prime Minister’s Office, Mr Péter Wintermantel, Deputy State Secretary for Global Affairs of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and had discussions in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs about the Hungarian Presidency of the V4 countries that started on 1st July 2013.

During his meetings, Deputy Director-General Yamada Jun highlighted that Hungary is an important partner for Japan in Europe and at the same time he expressed his satisfaction that upon the invitation of Japanese Prime Minister Mr Abe Shinzo, Prime Minister Orbán will pay an official visit to Japan in November 2013. He said that the visit would also be on occasion to follow up on the meeting of the Prime Ministers of the V4 and Japan held in Warsaw on 16th June 2013. He highlighted that as President, Hungary had a responsible role in the cooperation between the V4 countries and Japan since 2014 will be the year of exchange between the V4 countries and Japan, providing greater visibility for Central Europe and Japan as well.

During the bilateral discussions, Deputy State Secretary Péter Wintermantel said that Hungary is looking forward to the Prime Minister’s visit to Japan with great expectations. Both parties attach high importance to the upcoming V4 plus Japan meeting of the Foreign Ministers in November as well.

The Deputy State Secretary added that the cooperation between the V4 countries and Japan enriches the strategic relationship between the EU and Japan and it represents a cooperation of added value and Hungary during its V4 presidency will do its best  to amplify this collaboration.  Both parties acknowledged the rapid development of bilateral economic relations, particularly last year’s announcement of new Japanese investments in Hungary worth 700 million Euros. Péter Wintermantel said that Hungary attaches great importance to the strong relationship with the Japanese companies that have settled down in Hungary. In this spirit, the Hungarian government has signed strategic partnership agreements with three Japanese companies, namely Suzuki Magyarország Kft., Bridgestone Tatabánya Termelő Kft. and Denso Gyártó Magyarország Kft. He also highlighted that the Hungarian side, besides the favourable economic environment and investment climate, keeps in mind the improvement of the labour conditions and therefore supports the signing of the Social Security Agreement with Japan in the near future.

The two sides, referring to the meeting of the two Prime Ministers in June in Warsaw, confirmed that the investment authorities of the two countries would sign an agreement during the official visit of Prime Minister Viktor Orbán to Tokyo in November 2013. They agreed that the Working Holiday Scheme agreement, helping the employment of young Hungarian and Japanese people, could further strengthen the bilateral relationship between the two countries as well.

In the field of education and culture, Deputy State Secretary Péter Wintermantel said that higher education is a priority in our bilateral relationship, so in order to become more familiar with each other’s cultures and to deepen the mutual sympathy between the two countries, the Hungarian side plans to provide more public scholarships to Japanese students. Currently about 200 Japanese students are pursuing medical studies in Hungary.

Deputy State Secretary Wintermantel referred to the forming co-operation between Hungary and Japan in the field of energy policy as very promising. He added that Japan could be a valuable partner for Hungary because of its leading role in the renewable energy and the nuclear technology sectors. Considering the importance of the co-operation in the field of renewable energy, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Hungary is planning to organise a Hungarian–Japanese energy policy seminar in the autumn.

(Ministry of Foreign Affairs)