The Cook Islands and Hungary formalized diplomatic relations in 2018 and whilst the two countries have had minimal prior engagement, the accreditation by Hungary of Ambassador Hetesy to the Cook Islands opens opportunities for the Cook Islands to explore possible future co-operation with Hungary.
“We welcome the accreditation of Ambassador Hetesy as Hungary’s first Ambassador to be accredited to the Cook Islands and look forward to working closely with him to explore possible future areas of co-operation on the bilateral and multilateral fronts,” said Foreign Secretary Tepaeru Herrmann. “His visit is very much about sharing our respective national priorities and approaches to development so we can explore where we might focus future cooperation in a manner which is beneficial for the people of the Cook Islands and Hungary.”
Hungary assumes the Presidency of the Council of the European Union from Belgium in the second half of this year and the Cook Islands along Pacific members of the African Caribbean Pacific Group look forward to the implementation of the Samoa Agreement, signed in Samoa in November last year with development initiatives to be funded from the Neighbourhood Development and International Cooperation Instrument, a global European Fund.
“While Hungary is a long way away from the Cook Islands, and we’ve had minimal dealings, it is a country who in recent years has reached across to the Pacific in search of new partnerships and to explore possible areas of co-operation,” said Secretary Herrmann. “For our part, we’ve observed with interest Hungary’s economic growth and expansion including most recently, significant financial investments by world leading electric vehicle manufacturing companies from Asia, including China who are setting up large manufacturing plants in Hungary. These developments in Hungary are of interest to us given our own current and future investments in the exploration of our deep sea minerals.”
Ambassador Hetesy is based in New Zealand and accredited to New Zealand, the Cook Islands and a number of Pacific countries. His visit this week is the second by Ambassador Hetesy, who had visited last year with his family on holiday. In addition to presenting his letter of credence to the Kings Representative Sir Tom Marster, Ambassador Hetesy met with Foreign Minister Hon. Tingika Elikana, officials of the Sea Bed Minerals Authority and other senior officials.
Queries regarding this media release can be directed to [email protected]