Political relations
Diplomatic relations: Diplomatic relations were established on 26 November 1965. Our embassy in Islamabad opened in 1970. An honorary consulate office operates in Lahore and Karachi.
High-level visits:
Major bilateral agreements:
Cultural Convention (1974), Agreement on Technical and Scientific Cooperation (1983), Agreement on the Avoidance of Double Taxation (1992).
Economic-trade relations
Trade related agreements:
The following trade agreements are in place between Hungary and Pakistan: scientific and technical cooperation agreement (1983), cooperation agreement between the chambers of commerce (1987), agreement against double taxation (1992). (Under negotiations: agreement on mutual investment protection.)
Trade volume:
M USD
2005
2006
2007
2008
2009
2010
2011
11/10
Export
131,2
198,5
151,2
87,7
24,3
31,4
41
130,1%
Import
17,7
19,6
17,3
21
13,8
14,8
15
101%
Volume
148,9
218,1
168,5
108,7
38,1
46,2
56
121%
Hungarian investment in Pakistan:
The biggest Hungarian investor in the country, MOL Pakistan Oil and Gas Co., has so far invested around 1.4 billion USD since 1999 (still growing), focussing preliminary on Khyber Pakthunkwa Province. As a result, MOL Pakistan today is covering about 10-11% of the Pakistan’s total gas needs.
Trade priorities (main products and product lines):
· Import : garments, carpet, cotton yarn, textile and leather products, sport equipment, medical equipment, automobile spare parts.
· Export : medical equipment, chemical and pharmaceutical materials, paper products, mobile phones, lamps, vehicle spare parts, office and IT products.
Potential Hungarian export and investment possibilities by sectors / product groups:
· Machinery and equipment
· Renewable energy products and technology
· Water management products and technologies, with particular emphasis on waste water treatment
· Water treatment technologies (mobile, static, and municipal disaster situations)
· Waste recovery technologies (energy from plastic waste)
· Biotechnology
· Food processing machinery, equipment, and technology
· Agricultural technology (integrated-mini projects: feed – poultry farm – slaughterhouse – packing unit / food safety-food security)
· Telecommunication products
· Infrastructure development
· Chemical and pharmaceutical industry
· Port development
· Pulses
Cultural and scientific relations
Culture and Science related agreements:
Cultural Convention (1974); Agreement on Technical and Scientific Cooperation (1983)
Links between Pakistani and Hungarian Culture:
Alexander Csoma Kőrösi (1784-1842)
He was a Hungarian philologist and orientalist, author of the first Tibetan-English dictionary and grammar book. Determined to identify and explore the ancient homeland of the nomadic peoples, who eventually came to be known as the Hungarians, he mastered the Turkish, Arabic, Persian and Bengali languages. Travelling as a poor student from 1819 onwards, he reached India through Iran and Afghanistan. He was falling ill from malaria during his travels and he died in Darjeeling. His tomb is in the shadow of the Kangchenjunga, the third highest mountain of the Himalaya. (Wikipedia)
Gottlieb Wilhelm Leitner (1840 - 1899)
Dr. Leitner was a British orientalist who was born in Budapest, Hungary to a Jewish family.
In 1864, he was asked to become Principal of Government College at Lahore, and soon succeeded in raising its status to the University of the Punjab. He founded many schools, literary associations, public libraries and academic journals, while at the same time dedicating himself to the study of the cultures of the Indian subcontinent. During this period he wrote a scholarly and comprehensive book in Urdu, History of Islam, in two volumes, with the help of an Urdu Muslim scholar, Maulvi Karim-ud-Din, who was at that time District Inspector of Schools, Amritsar, Punjab. These two volumes were later published in 1871 and 1876. (Wikipedia)
Sir Aurel Stein (1862 -1943)
Sir Aurel Stein was professor of Sanskrit language and literature at the Punjab University in Lahore and he was one of the founders of the Punjab University. He dedicated several books to the religions and cultural conditions of Indian history as well as Indo-Iranian ancient geography, as well as he wrote a book about the educational system of the Punjab and the Urdu language. Sir Aurel Stein organised three memorable expeditions to Central Asia (Eastern Turkestan, Afghanistan and Iran) between 1900 and 1916.
(Wikipedia)
Muhammad Iqbal (1877-1938)
He was a philosopher, poet and politician in British India who is widely regarded as having inspired the Pakistan Movement. He is considered one of the most important figures in Urdu literature, with literary work in both the Urdu and Persian languages. The poems and life of Sándor Petőfi Hungarian poet and liberal revolutionary had influence on Iqbal’s poetry and efforts of independence. He wrote a poem to Petőfi as well.
Amrita Sher Gil (1913-1941)
Sher Gil was an eminent Indian painter born to a Punjabi Sikh father and a Hungarian mother, sometimes known as India's Frida Kahlo, and today considered an important woman painter of 20th century India. Not more than a few of her paintings are known to be in Pakistan, but although she painted and exhibited only a short time in Lahore and Simla, she became immensely influential. She was the first artist to popularize common scenes of daily life. (Wikipedia, Contemporary Painting in Pakistan)