2009. január 15-én Vizi László nagykövet ünnepélyes keretek között felavatta a Magyar Köztársaság Ho Chi Minh városi Tiszteletbeli Konzulátusának végleges irodaépületét.

A megnyitó házigazdája Do Van Thanh, hazánk tiszteletbeli konzulja volt. A fogadással egybekötött rendezvényen a Ho Chi Minh városi hivatalos szervek, főkonzulátusok, tb konzulátusok, a Vietnami-Magyar Baráti Társaság és a sajtó képviselői, vietnami és magyar üzletemberek jelentek meg.

Nagykövetünk avató beszédében megelégedéssel szólt az örvendetesen fejlődő vietnami-magyar kapcsolatokról, amelyekre a remények szerint ösztönzőleg hat majd a néhány éve megszakadt hivatalos jelenlét felújítása. A majd tízmilliós Ho Chi Minh Város Vietnam fő gazdasági központja. Az együttműködés erősítése céljából számos Magyarországról érkező magas rangú vendég kereste fel a metropoliszt az elmúlt időszakban is. A nagykövet kiemelte Sólyom László köztársasági elnök, Mandur Lászó országgyűlési alelnök látogatását, s a Gazdasági Együttműködési Vegyesbizottság ülése keretében tartott sikeres üzleti konferenciát.

A kölcsönösen előnyös lehetőségekre fókuszálva magyar részről a hagyományos gyógyszeripari (l. 2 magyar gyógyszergyár –Gedeon Richter Nyrt. és Egis Nyrt. itteni képviselete), élelmiszeripari együttműködésen túl új területek azonosíthatók az infrastruktúra fejlesztés, vízellátás, hulladékkezelés, szennyvíztisztítás és környezetvédelem terén.

A tb konzulátus új címe és elérhetőségei:

22 Phung Khac Khoan
District 1, Ho Chi Minh City
Tel: (84-8) 3829 0130
Fax: (84-8) 3827 9622

A tb konzulátus megnyitásáról vietnami és angol nyelven sajtóközleményt adtunk ki, ez utóbbi itt olvasható:

Hungarian Ambassador Mr. Laszlo Vizi hosted a reception in Ho Chi Minh City on January 15, 2009, on the occasion of the inauguration of the new premises of the Hungarian Honorary Consulate here in the building situated on  22 Phung Khac Khoan District 1.

The event was also attended by the Honorary Consul,  Mr. Do Van Thanh who has been in his  position and functioning at temporary premises  since  April last year, leaders of HCM City and organizations, Mr. Nguyen Hong Linh, Deputy Director of the Department of External Relations – Ho Chi Minh City, representatives of Consulates General and Honorary Consulates of EU member states, Vietnamese and Hungarian businessmen and the media.

In his opening speech  Ambassador Vizi expressed his satisfaction over the fact that after a couple of years of interruption official Hungarian presence is reestablished in this metropolis so important in the current and perspective development of Hungarian Vietnamese economic cooperation. It is more than symbolic therefore – he added – that the same building will host the newly established representation  of AHEAD Indochina which already has an  office in Hanoi since March last year  with the aim of forging Vietnamese  business ties for Hungarian SMEs.

As to Hungary’s recent ties with HCM City Mr. Vizi mentioned that a bit more than a year ago a successful business conference was held here in the framework of the Joint Committee on Economic Cooperation  and top Hungarian state leaders such as Mr. Laszlo Mandur  the Vice Speaker of the National Assembly of Hungary ( January 2008) then Mr. Laszlo Solyom  President of the Republic  (May 2008) visited  and had talks with  the leadership of HCM City.

On the other hand a cultural group accompanied by the representatives of HCM City Cultural Department had successful performances in Budapest last June at the invitation of the Mayor of Budapest Gabor Demszky, who himself paid a visit to  Vietnam in the preceding summer.
 
August 20 Hungarian National Day activities were also held in HCM City in the past  two years -  in 2008 accompanied by a  cultural program and Hungarian  wine tasting. A very active local  Committee of the Vietnam – Hungary Friendship Association played a major role in co-organizing some of the  above events.  No doubt they – together with the Honorary Consulate – will be crucial in preparing the HCM City events of commemorating the 60th Anniversary of establishing Hungarian-Vietnamese diplomatic relations February next year.

During earlier decades Hungary provided substantial help in education to Vietnam. Almost 4000 young men and women studied in Hungary, which   resulted in having the biggest non-ethnic Hungarian-speaking community outside Hungary. Quite a few of them live now in and around HCM City as well.  We believe – continued the Ambassador -  that their  intellectual capital contributed in its humble way  both to the spectacular development of Vietnam, and to their own individual success. At the same time these fine people act as a bridge between our nations, their personal contacts with Hungarian friends are alive and grow continuously. Many of them are active in the HCM City Friendship Association  and as  emphasized during their meeting with the Hungarian President last May here they  are ready to assist the process of reinvigorating educational ties. This applies to finding suitable candidates not only for the scholarships offered by the Hungarian State in the framework of our 2008-2011 Educational Work Plan but also for those scholarships offered by the Vietnamese State for Phd level.  It feels especially good to know, that more and more Vietnamese families can afford sending their children to local or foreign universities. Education abroad gives the youngsters an opportunity to master languages and gain experiences which could be very useful upon returning home. More and more Vietnamese students arrive in Hungary each year on a fee-paying basis many of them from HCM City as a proof of our traditional contacts and also as a result of the   reputation of the  Hungarian higher  education – the Ambassador went on. He also mentioned  that a new Vietnamese generation is getting acquainted with a renewed Hungary, and the Embassy would like to strengthen this process in the coming years  also through enhanced tourist contacts. 
Putting business ties with HCM City in the overall context of Hungarian – Vietnamese economic relations Mr. Vizi noted   a  new swing and turning-point last year in the  trade relations. Starting  from a low  base of the previous years turnover  increased dynamically already  in 2007 (by 58%, up to 85 million USD), and judging by the further improving trend of the first nine months of  2008 there are  indications to assume they will be around  100 million USD for the whole year. Of course this is still modest if we compare with the potential of the interaction of the two economies – said the Ambassador – and all efforts will be done to further the mutually advantageous  cooperation.

Hungarians are strengthening the presence on the Vietnamese market of various Hungarian pharmaceutical products traditionally well respected here  and being  actively promoted by the representative offices of two major Hungarian pharmaceutical firms in HCM City  the Richter Gedeon and EGIS. Technologies in the  agricultural field and food industry; cooperation in ICT, electronics and machinery by applying advanced methods are  also high on the Hungarian agenda generally in Vietnam and particularly in HCM City.  Areas like   infrastructure development projects from the stages of preparation, design, preparing pre-feasibility studies of projects and consultancy in the fields of public transport¬ation, waste treatment, sewage treatment, environment protection, water supply are in great interest for Hungarian companies.

In conclusion the  Ambassador thanked the leadership of HCM City for their valued assistance and cooperation in the course of setting up the Honorary Consulate and expressed his conviction that all support will be given by them to Mr. Do Van Thanh and his office in the years to come.  

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