State Secretary for Rural Development Zsolt V. Németh held talks on widening cooperation with relation to land affairs in Peking between October 17-21 with his Chinese counterpart Wang Shiyuan, Deputy Minister of the Ministry of Land and Natural Resources. The Hungarian model of land administration, which is based on a unified property registry system and over 40 years of experience, may be successfully applied in China, stressed Zsolt V. Németh.

The State Secretary said that the new act on surveying and mapping activities introduces the three-dimensional property registry, which may be especially significant in highly urbanised areas such as eastern China. He also presented the proposed new land act, which protects Hungarian farmland by providing a suitable legislative background.

Wang Shiyuan stressed that the protection of farmland is one of the most important tasks in China also, since it is the central element for the provision of an adequate food supply.

photo: Ministry of Rural Development

The representatives of the Hungarian Ministry of Rural Development and the Chinese Ministry of Land and Natural Resources signed a declaration of intent in June 2011 with regard to future cooperation in land administration. Based on this declaration, the parties then agreed on the joint development of agricultural, environmental and land-related applications.

On October 19, Zsolt V. Németh inaugurated the virtual Science and Technology Centre jointly established by the Chinese Ministry of Agriculture and the Hungarian Ministry of Rural Development in Hohhot in the Inner Mongolian Autonomous Region. On the basis of the agreement signed previously, it will be possible for business relations to be established with Inner Mongolia based on the characteristics and level of technological development of Hungarian agriculture. At the inaugural ceremony, Zsolt V. Németh stressed that opportunities for cooperation are available within the fields of animal husbandry, feed production and goose breeding, which is already underway, as well as with regard to agriculturally important crops such as potatoes, rapeseed, wheat and soy, and in addition within the field of irrigation. The bilateral, high-level meetings and professional discussions are achieving the expected result; more and more agreements are being concluded between institutions and business players from the two countries.

Continuing his series of meetings in East Asia, Zsolt V. Németh held talks in Seoul between October 21-23 with Deputy Minister for Commerce of the South Korean Ministry of Food, Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Kim Jong Jin.

Kim Jong Jin stressed that trade relations between the two countries have increased fourfold since 2005. He highlighted the importance of the free trade agreement between the European Union and South Korea, which came into force on July 1 2011. Thanks to the agreement, customs duties on products exported from the EU to South Korea will decrease.

Zsolt V. Németh emphasised the fact that South Korea is the third largest importer of GMO-free corn from Hungary. It is important to South Korea that Hungary's Fundamental Law guarantee's the country's freedom from GMOs.

Director of the Hungarian Institute of Geodesy, Cartography and Remote Sensing Bence Toronyi concluded a cooperation agreement with the director of the Korean Cadastral Survey Corporation. The parties will greatly increase their cooperation within the fields of land administration and three-dimensional property registry management.

(Press Office of the Ministry of Rural Development)