The bilateral Science and Technology Agreement between South Africa and Hungary was signed on 24 November 1997. Seven Joint Committee Meetings took place to facilitate the bilateral cooperation during the period 1998 to 2007. Key decisions taken at these Joint Committee Meetings included the approval of the joint research projects; an agreement to participate jointly in the European Framework Programme; the establishment of trilateral research cooperation in the area of Biotechnology; and aligning the cooperation with the DST's 10Year Innovation Plan.
To date, 10 calls for proposals have been launched, with over 100 projects being supported thus far. An amount of more than R10 million was allocated to the research proposals between 1998 and 2008. No fewer than 40 research proposals were received during the 2006 call for proposals, signalling the value that SA researchers attach to cooperation with Hungarian researchers. However, only 26 research grants could be allocated, all of which were in the areas of the "grand challenges".
Minister Mangena visited Hungary in 2006. During this visit, the need arose to elevate the cooperation from a focus on the mobility of individuals (reciprocal visits) to one from which a number of substantive projects would develop.
It comes at no surprise that South Africa and Hungary have agreed to cooperate in the area of Biotechnology. Interestingly, the term "Biotechnology" was originally coined in 1917 by Károly Ereky, a Hungarian agricultural engineer. In addition, Hungary has 50 core Biotechnology firms, five Biotechnology-related university knowledge centres and three bio-incubators clustered in four academic towns, with 13 institutions dedicated to Biotechnology-related research and development. This makes it logical that the two countries cooperate in this research field, amongst others.
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