Prime Minister Viktor Orbán and Israeli counterpart Benjamin Netanyahu agreed at a meeting last summer that the two countries would deepen their cooperation in innovation and education, the statement said.

A joint meeting by the Hungarian Rectors’ Conference and the Association of University Heads in Israel, which was attended by Palkovics, demonstrated the new level of cooperation at the level of universities, it added.

Fifty scholarships offered by the Hungarian government to talented Israeli students as part of the Stipendium Hungaricum programme also helps cooperation between universities.

Additionally, the Milton Friedman University of Budapest (formerly Zsigmond Kiraly University) signed a cooperation agreement with Bar-Ilan University in Tel Aviv during Palkovics’s visit.

As a co-leader of the Hungarian-Israeli Cooperation Mixed Committee, Palkovics held talks with companies working in the area of innovation about cooperation with Hungarian researchers and companies, the ministry said.

Republished with permission of Hungary Matters, MTI’s daily newsletter.