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The reopening of Hungary’s embassy in Ecuador in 2015 was a good decision, as shown by the 74 percent increase in trade turnover between the two countries last year, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Péter Szijjártó said in Quito, Ecuador on Thursday. He added that a bilateral cooperation agreement on defense and hydrocarbons had been signed between the two countries.
At a joint press conference with Ecuadorian Deputy Foreign Minister Luis Vayas Valdivieso, the Hungarian minister stressed that the world is facing serious difficulties today, and that countries with the broadest partnerships are best placed to tackle these crises. In this context,
he praised Hungarian-Ecuadorian relations and said that the reopening of the embassy eight years ago in the Ecuadorian capital, Quito, was the right decision.
“We are proud that more than 170 Ecuadorian students are studying in Hungary. We are proud that Hungarian companies are also active in the food industry, food safety, and water management in Ecuador,” he said.
Szijjártó underlined that a bilateral cooperation agreement on defense and hydrocarbons had been signed earlier in the day. He pointed out that the deterioration of security conditions has always been one of the main causes of migration flows. “The Ecuadorian-Hungarian defense cooperation agreement is aimed at preventing the emergence of new security threats and preventing the emergence of new large flows of illegal migration, which would destabilize security globally,” he said.
Presenting the hydrocarbons cooperation agreement, the minister said that Ecuador would be able to use Hungarian technology to improve the efficiency of oil extraction. He also said that
in the event of a disruption of oil transit from Ukraine, the government would take into account the fact that Ecuador is one of the largest oil producing countries in Latin America as a contingency solution.
The minister added that the cooperation has a second leg, as the Ecuadorian government has decided to increase the efficiency of the extraction of existing oil fields, which requires technologies in which Hungarian oil company MOL is a world leader, rather than exploring new ones. Discussions have already started on the use of MOL’s technology, he said.
Ecuadorian Deputy Foreign Minister Luis Vayas Valdivieso thanked Hungary, and personally Peter Szijjártó, for being the biggest supporter of Ecuador’s Schengen visa-free regime in the European Union. He stressed that Ecuador sees Hungary as one of the gateways to Central and Eastern Europe for the export of goods, and wishes to further develop bilateral cooperation.
In Ecuador, Szijjártó met with the Archbishop of Quito, Father Alfredo José Espinoza Mateus, who participated in the World Eucharistic Congress 2021 in Hungary. The event will be hosted by Ecuador next year, and Hungary is trying to help the Latin American country with its experience, the Foreign Minister said.
He also met with Ecuadorian Vice President Alfredo Borrero Vega, Defense Minister Luis Lara Jaramillo, and Energy and Mines Minister Fernando Santos Alvite, among others.
Szijjártó is currently on a regional journey in Latin America, having visited Cuba before Ecuador. From Ecuador, he traveled to Mexico, Hungary’s largest trading partner in the region. According to Szijjártó, the trade turnover last year between the two countries exceeded 1 billion dollars.
Featured photo via Facebook/Péter Szijjártó