General Directorate of Water Management

The General Directorate of Water Management (hereby OVF) participates in bilateral, water agreements in four ways; through the superior institute of OVF that is the Ministry of Energy, via the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade, by accepting invitations, direct request and  on its own initiative.

Participation in the ministerial, bilateral cooperation

The leaders and also the experts of OVF participate in this type of cooperation. The water related experts give information about various professional themes that belong to the General Directorate of Water Management or its competency. The water related experts also share their experiences or knowledge, or they give a hand in solving critical issues. They participate in the elaboration and implementation of common or individual work programs, they review professional materials and they take part in welcoming delegations arriving from abroad and from the water related field.

At the moment, Hungary has 39 Memorandum of Understanding. The map shows the list of participating countries 1 – Europe, North Africa and some countries of Asia (blue arrows) and the neighbouring countries participating in the transboundary cooperation (red arrows)

At the moment, Hungary has 39 Memorandum of Understanding. The map shows the list of participating countries 2 – Central and South Africa and some countries of Asia, with Brasilia, Cuba, Mexico and Cape Verde and Palestine

Source: Google maps

[1] The date (year) and place of undersigning the Memorandum of Understanding (Cooperation Agreement).

Participating in the ministerial meeting – events from the previous years

• Hungarian-Egyptian water cooperation

Undersigning a joint Memorandum of Understanding

The Ministry of Interior of Hungary and the Egyptian Ministry for Water and Irrigation undersigned a joint Memorandum of Understanding in the subject of water management and irrigation in June, 2015.

On 26 May 2021, the joint Hungarian-Egyptian Expert Group held an online meeting. Here, main tasks of the two countries were introduced and the experts exchanged experiences.

As a next event of the cooperation, delegation of Hungarian water experts took a visit in Egypt between 14 and 18 February. Members of the delegation came from the Ministry of Interior, the General Directorate of Water Management and the Middle-Tisza valley Water Directorate. The main topics were specifying the direction of the cooperation in the field of integrated water resources management, elaborating the joint working program and mapping the possibilities of cooperation arising during the development of navigation on the Nile.

• Hungarian-Sierra Leone water cooperation

On the occasion of the Hungarian event called „Planet 2021”, a Sierra Leonean water delegation led by Minister Philip Karimu Lansama (Ministry of Water Resources) visited the General Directorate of Water Management  (OVF) on 2 December 2021. Currently, Hungary does not have a water related cooperation with the country, but the water experts from Hungary were happy to present the activities of OVF and to explain the main national water management issues, which were received with great interest by the delegation.

• Hungarian-Pakistani water cooperation

Undersigning a joint Memorandum of Understanding

The Ministry of Interior of Hungary and the Ministry of Water Resources of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan signed the "Memorandum of Understanding on Cooperation in the Field of Water Management" on 13 July 2020 in Islamabad.

The meeting of the expert group scheduled to visit Pakistan in 2021, according to the work plan of the cooperation agreement with Pakistan, was postponed to the first quarter of 2022 due to the coronavirus situation. Instead of the face-to-face meeting, an online meeting was held on 9 June 2021.

As a follow-up, Hungarian water experts met with Pakistani water experts in Pakistan between 15 and 18 May 2022, where expert discussions took place in order to define tasks and objectives and to review best practices in water management in Pakistan and Hungary.

After this event, Pakistani water experts visited Hungary on 10 June 2022. The experts were received by the Deputy Director General responsible for Technical Issues of the OVF and were given technical presentations by the former Head of the International Department.

• Hungarian-Palestinian water cooperation

On June 26, 2021, the Hungarian-Palestinian Joint Expert Group also met online, where the Hungarian side presented the draft Cooperation Agreement. On the margin of Planet 2021, a Palestinian delegation led by Minister Mazen Ghunaim (Palestinian Water Authority) visited the OVF. There, Hungarian water experts introduced the national management of issues of high importance to them, and the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed on 3 December 2021.

Within the framework of the newly signed MoU, the second meeting of the Hungarian-Palestinian Joint Expert Group was held in Palestine on 9-13 May 2022 with the participation of Palestinian water experts and experts from OVF (General Directorate of Water Management) and KÖTIVIZIG (Central Tisza Province Water Management Directorate). The meeting focused on defining the direction and work plan for cooperation between the two countries in the fields of integrated water resources management, irrigation and water scarcity management.

• Hungarian-Indian water cooperation

The Hungarian-Indian Water Cooperation Agreement was signed on 16 October 2016 by the Parties (Ministry of Interior of Hungary and Ministry of Water Resources, River Development and Renewal of Ganga River of the Republic of India) in Budapest. In this frame, a Joint Water Expert Working Group was established. However, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the first meeting could only be held on 20 November 2020 in the virtual space via video-conference with the participation of expert group members and the Embassy.

The delegation of Hungarian water experts in India

from left to right: Mr. Jenő Lábdy, Deputy Director General responsible for Technical Issues (Gneral Directorate of Water Management - OVF), Mr. Péter Kovács, Head of Delegation (Minsitry of Interior), Ms. Réka Gaul, Head of Department (Ministry of Interior), Mr. Márton Pesel, Head of Department (OVF), Mr. Miklós Rácz, Director (North Hungary Water Directorate - ÉMVIZIG)

The first face-to-face meeting took place in India, between 24 and 27 April 2023. Here, the partners presented their achievements in water management and made suggestions for joint work. Interestingly, the Indian side presented one of their latest water development projects, the “India Clean Ganga River programme”, and in connection with this, the Hungarian water delegation was taken to Vananasi, the high capacity, automated urban wastewater treatment plant in Dinapur, which is part of the programme, and the Ganges River, where its significant progress has been made in cleaning the river.

At the meeting, the joint work plan for 2023-25 was also defined, and the Hungarian side invited the Indian side to Budapest in 2024, which is still in process.

• Hungarian-Uzbek water cooperation

Undersigning a joint Memorandum of Understanding

The Hungarian-Uzbek water cooperation also started with the signing of the Memorandum of Understanding in October 2018 in Astana.

The first Expert Working Group Meeting was held in Uzbekistan on 14-17 April 2022, with a focus on development of irrigation and subsurface storage planning. The experts foresee an active participation of the Hungarian side in this field in the future, which could be a new basis for future cooperation. On behalf of the Hungarian side experts, from BM (Ministry of Interior), the OVF and KÖTIVIZIG (Middle Tisza District Water Management Directorate) attended to the Expert Working Group Meeting.

• Hungarian-Ghanaian water cooperation

Undersigning a joint Memorandum of Understanding

In 2019, the Government of Hungary and the Government of the Republic of Ghana signed a Memorandum of Understanding on Water Cooperation in Brussels.

In the framework of this cooperation, the first joint Expert Group meeting of the Hungarian-Ghanaian Cooperation took place in December 2023 in person, in the framework of the opening event of the “Hungarian-Ghanaian-Zambian twinning programme”.

During the meeting, the delegations discussed and agreed on a planned programme of twinning cooperation and discussed possible areas of cooperation, which were set in a three-year work programme.

Hungarian-Mongolian water cooperation

History

The Hungarian-Mongolian water relationship is the oldest cooperation of OVF. In the period 1957-1990, the Hungarian water service cooperated with the Mongolian water authorities on the basis of Hungarian governmental loans and subsides. The cooperation started with the activities of the well drilling and geophysical expedition.

However, a new era of Hungarian-Mongolian water cooperation began in 1971. It was then that Hungarian water experts elaborated Mongolia's National Water Management Framework Plan and several regional river basin plans. These frameworks served as a basis for establishing the long-term development objectives of Mongolian water management.

Despite a break in the cooperation on water after the regime change, the Mongolian government, the Great People's Hural, awarded the Mongolian Water Management Framework Plan the title of "Best Scientific Document of the 20th Century" and "Project of the Century" in 2005. On 15 October 2008, at a ceremony held in the OVF building, the Mongolian side gave commemorative certificates to the Hungarian experts who participated in the preparation of the national and regional water management framework documents prepared in Hungarian collaboration.

Undersigning a joint Memorandum of Understanding

It was a further step in the Hungarian-Mongolian water cooperation the undersigning of a cooperation agreement between the Mongolian Water Bureau and the Central Directorate for Water and Environment Protection (VKKI), the predecessor of the OVF, on 15 May 2008, in order to continue the successful period of 1957-1987.

The continuation

In the framework of the agreement, in December 2008, the predecessor of the OVF took part in the preparation of the programme of the Mongolian ministerial delegation and hosted Mongolian water experts with the aid called the NEFE (International Development Cooperation) subsidy provided by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade.

In 2009, Hungarian water experts travelled to Ulanbaator, Mongolia, to survey the possibility of developing a river basin development plan for the Herlen River, and then in June 2010, the Mongolian Water Resources Agency organised a study tour to the Herlen, Halhin gol, Uldz and Onon river basins to visit sites in eastern Mongolia. The Mongolian side proposed to prepare a project proposal entitled "Integrated Water Management Model for Eastern Mongolia".

The project proposal was not finally developed, but decades of cooperation continued with the opening of a new chapter. One of the most promising results of the sector's development, a unique drought monitoring system in Europe, was demonstrated with the aid of a working model by VIZITERV Export Ltd, managed by OVF, in a country with extreme water stress problems. The company has won funding for the installation of a complete monitoring station through a tender. This facility could also play a role in promoting other water management developments in the future.

In order to discuss the details of the project and the renewal of the Hungarian-Mongolian water cooperation, the General Director of OVF, the head of VIZITERV Export Ltd. and VIZITERV Environ Ltd. visited Mongolia between 23 and 27 May 2022. During the visit, the Parties agreed, among other issues, to jointly seek support for the continuation and expansion of the station installation of the Hungarian drought monitoring system adapted to Mongolia in order to implement drought forecasting in Mongolia.