CAIRO: Hungarian Culture and Education Minister Hiller Istvan is to arrive in Cairo on a three-day visit Friday. During the visit, Istvan will sign an executive protocol with his Egyptian counterpart on cultural, scientific, and educational cooperation between the two countries, Hungarian Ambassador in Cairo Peto Tibor told Daily News Egypt. The protocol is to cover the period from 2008 to 2010. An agreement of cooperation in cultural and scientific areas had been in tact between the two countries for the last 50 years. More than 500 Egyptian students completed their graduate studies in Hungary in the past, including prominent figures such as Hassan Ghalab, former president of Ein Shams University. The Hungarian minister is expected to offer Egyptian students more academic scholarships to study in Hungary. Istvan will meet with Hany Helal, Minister of Higher Education, Farouk Hosny, Minister of Culture, and Zahi Hawas, Secretary-General of the Supreme Council of Antiquities, Tibor added. The visit also marks 100 years of Hungarian monument excavations in Egypt, the ambassador said, noting that Budapest is interested in celebrating the event as well as organizing an exhibition in Hungary on Islamic and Pharaonic culture. "Hungary gives a priority to its cultural cooperation with Egypt, which hosts the only Hungarian Cultural Center in Africa, the ambassador said. Istvan is to open the renovation works of the Hungarian Cultural Center in Abdeen Street, Downtown Cairo. He will also attend a show by Hungarian artists at the Opera House on Saturday.
