News

​​Dávid Bencsik head of Directorate General International Relations and Foreign Affairs, the new organizational unit established within the framework of the Hungarian University of Agricultural and Life Sciences on 1 February 2023, called together all the international coordination staff members entrusted with international relations and project development on MATE's five campuses on 25 May to provide information on the new direction, priorities, the international environment and competition as well as MATE's future and strategy at the first staff meeting of the Directorate. The event took place at the Buda Campus.

​​​​​​​At the invitation of the Head of the Directorate General, István Szabó, Vice Rector for Education and International Affairs and the host Diána Nyitrainé Sárdy, Director General of the Buda Campus, honoured the event with their presence and welcome speeches.

The event featured a number of guest speakers who gave detailed presentations on various aspects of the international environment. Gábor Jenei, CEO of the HEPA Hungarian Export Promotion Agency, presented HEPA's operations, the geographical distribution of foreign market growth grants, the most important international trends: the growing number of hungry and malnourished people, climate change, environmental degradation, tightening EU policies, political and ethical issues - insect products, laboratory meat, but also Hungarian foreign trade trends and the potential markets outside the EU for MATE. The programme was also enhanced by a renowned military expert, who drew a broad picture of the geopolitical realignment in the world, with a special focus on the possible outcome of the Ukraine-Russia conflict. Rajmund Kiss, Head of Diplomacy Workshop at Matthias Corvinus College spoke about the challenges and conflict-settlement role of diplomacy and geopolitical processes. Former Hungarian FAO Ambassador Zoltán Kálmán presented the main international trends from the perspective of the World Food Organisation, while also highlighting the UN's engagement and achievements on the way to a solution. András Szabó, Hungary’s Ambassador to Kuwait, spoke about the importance of agricultural diplomacy and the agricultural projects being implemented, as well as the reasons why some projects fail.

Zsuzsanna Tarr, Head of the Centre for International Education, Dávid Békési, Head of the Centre for International Strategy and Coordination, Anita Sarkadi and Olga Galatina, Head and colleague of the Public Procurement and Procurement Department, and Mónika Kocsis-Kiss, Head of the International Projects Department also spoke at the event.

The day-long event set MATE's international relations staff on a new path, networking them to better exploit their synergies.