Following the meeting on Monday between the ministers of Iraq and Hungary, responsible for environmental issues, Hungarian Minister for Rural Development Sándor Fazekas told reporters, "Issues regarding climate change, environmental protection and water management were on the agenda at the meeting.

Our relations with the near eastern region, cooperation with Arab countries and therefore also with the Republic of Iraqi are of great importance for Hungary."

Iraqi Minister for the Environment Sargun Lazar Sulaywah arrived in Budapest for a two-day visit at the invitation of Sándor Fazekas.

The Minister for Rural Development stated, "It is up to the two country's experts to work out the bilateral agreement on the broadening of cooperation within the issues of the environment and water management that will form the framework for future cooperation." He also referred to the fact that Hungarian-Iraqi economic relations had already been intensive and high level.

In the words of the Iraqi Minister for the Environment, "This meeting has brought us much closer to signing an inter-ministerial agreement, which would provide the framework for cooperation". He also signalled that the relationship between Hungary and Iraq has a long history, which Iraq wishes to renew.

The Iraqi Minister called his experiences gained while visiting the water treatment facility at Csepel and the Budapest Waterworks useful. Sándor Fazekas expanded on this, adding that the General Manager of the Budapest Waterworks Csaba Haranghy had also offered the Iraqi party the organisation's cooperation, for example in training professionals.

(Press Office of the Ministry of Rural Development)