At the informal dinner, which was preceded by a meeting, Hungarian members of the association were present as well. They are businessmen in relations with Asian countries, representatives of science, culture and the press, and the Head of Asia Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The event was opened by Mr Sandor Balogh, president of the African-Hungarian Union. It was with the active support and initiation of Mr Balogh that the Asian-Hungarian Society was started and it is matter of course that at the initial stage they will use the experience of the African-Hungarian Union which has been successfully operating for more than 5 years.
Then the president of the Asian-Hungarian Society, Ms Dilara Csillik informed the guests about the aims and objectives of the society. She said that they are a social organisation which supports the endeavours of the prevailing Hungarian foreign policy; however, they are primarily planning to lean on non-governmental structures in their activities. They are planning to harmonize and inspire the initiatives of the representatives of business, science and culture.
Asia is the most populated and economically fastest-growing continent of the world. In addition, it has cultures of several thousands of years. Based on this, it is in Hungary’s obvious interest to develop its relations with Asia through non-official channels in every field of life. Moreover, Hungary, which is situated in the middle of Europe and plays an active role in Euro-Atlantic institutions, has its roots in Asia, since our ancestors came to the Carpathian Basin from this faraway continent.
Mr Szabolcs Takács, the Head of Asia Department of the Foreign Office assured support to the endeavours of the society. Representatives of the Zsigmond Király College said that they already have exchange students from Turkey and are planning to start similar student exchange programs with institutions of tertiary educations in other Asian countries.
Mr Zoltán Szedlacskó, Chairman of the Vietnamese-Hungarian Business Association; Mr Ferenc Vékony, President of the Association of Small and Medium Enterprises and Mr Zsolt Lengyel representing the Budapest Chamber of Agriculture emphasized that by forming good relationships, friendships and getting to know each other’s culture, we can increase the success of business partnerships too.
All the Asian diplomats present welcomed the foundation of the society and offered their support and contribution. They also indicated that they are looking forward to learning more about the aims, initiatives and program of the society.
They expressed their wish that ASHU (Asian-Hungarian Society) will soon be as well-known a name among Hungarian NGOs as AHU (African-Hungarian Union).
