Trade, health and education will top the agenda during the bilateral meeting between Foreign Minister Dr AK Abdul Momen and his Hungarian counterpart Péter Szijjártó, who is due to arrive in Dhaka at the wee hours on Thursday on a day trip.
The foreign minister of Hungary is scheduled to arrive in the Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport by a special flight at 12:30am on Thursday and due to leave Bangladesh in the evening of the same day, sources at the foreign ministry familiar with the visit told Dhaka Tribune on Wednesday.
He is going to be the most high profile international dignitary to visit Bangladesh after the outbreak of coronavirus in early March.
The main event of the visit of Szijjártó will be the bilateral meeting with Dr Momen at the state guest house Padma at noon.
About the topics of discussion between the two ministers, the sources said that the entire gamut of bilateral issues will be discussed, but the emphasis will be given on trade, health and education.
Besides, international issues, including the Rohingya one, are most likely to be discussed.
“We will talk about how to increase trade between Dhaka and Budapest. We will also explore how we can benefit from the health expertise of the European nation,” a senior Foreign Ministry official told this correspondent.
About cooperation on education, he said, “Currently, Hungary provides scholarships to 100 Bangladeshi students every year. We will see if this number can be increased.”
A new avenue of cooperation with Hungary has opened with respect to nuclear science, said the senior official.
“Hungary has offered to train 30 of our officials on nuclear science and we have accepted it,” he said.
Two bilateral instruments to be signed
Following the meeting between the two ministers, two bilateral instruments will be signed, said the official.
One is a joint communiqué while the other one is on collaboration, including training, between the foreign service academies of both the countries, he said.
Schedule of the Hungarian minister
Szijjártó will visit the Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman Memorial Museum in the morning and pay tribute to the memories of Bangabandhu and his family members who were murdered on August 15, 1975.
After that, he will meet Commerce Minister Tipu Munshi.
Foreign Minister Momen will host a lunch in honour of the dignitary.
The two ministers will interact with the local press.
