Hungary to simplify visa regime for Kazakhstan

Hungary plans to simplify the visa regime for Kazakhstani citizens, Tengrinews reports citing the Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban. 

"We have reached an agreement on a new visa regime. President (Nazarbayev) agreed that Kazakhstan could introduce a visa free entry for Hungary's citizens. And Hungary will try to ease the entry for Kazakhstan's people as much as possible within the frameworks of the Schengen regime,” Viktor Orban said at the Kazakh-Hungarian business forum that took place in Astana on April 1.  

“We also agreed to sign documents in the field of aviation, which is a necessary condition for launching direct flights between the largest cities of Kazakhstan and Hungary. Today we also launched a joint capitalization fund – 20 million from each side – to facilitate business contacts between Kazakhstan and Hungary,” Hungarian PM informed.

Besides, Hungary will open a credit line of $50 million for Kazakh companies willing to work in Hungary.

He also mentioned an increase in the number of eduction scholarships from 44 to 200 for Kazakh students to study in Hungary. 

The business forum was also attended by Kazakhstan's Prime Minister Karim Massimov. "Cooperation between Kazakhstan and Hungary has reached a high level, and the business forum demonstrates a growing interest of business circles of the two countries. I am sure we now have good conditions to bring bilateral cooperation to a higher level," he said.

Over the last 10 years, the trade turnover between Kazakhstan and Hungary has grown by 63 percent and exceeded 200 million dollars. But both Viktor Orban and Karim Massimov believe there is still a huge untapped potential for expanding the bilateral ties.

In this context, the Kazakh PM invited Hungarian companies to long-term and mutually beneficial cooperation. "I am sure Hungarian companies can operate in all the sectors of our national economy from the mining industry to processing of agricultural products. In addition to that, Kazakhstan could become a hub for Hungary to access to regional markets," Karim Massimov said. 

"Thanks to the partnership, we can achieve ambitious goals and make a significant contribution to the economic development of the two countries," Massimov concluded.

"Kazakhstan has a bright future. There is a significant potential for development of business relations between the two countries. Therefore, the Hungarian government will continue strengthening economic cooperation with Kazakhstan in all areas," Viktor Orban said.

At the end, Kazakh and Hungarian companies signed a number of memorandums on bilateral business partnerships.

By Assel Satubaldina (Renat Tashkinbayev contributed to the story)