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CAIRO, Oct. 1 (Xinhua) -- Egypt and Hungary signed on Thursday a memorandum of understanding (MOU) on energy cooperation, particularly in the field of oil and gas.

Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry and Hungarian Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Peter Szijjarto held a press conference in Cairo following the signing of the MOU, during which they praised the distinguished relations between the two countries.

"We tackled our overall bilateral relations politically, economically and culturally," the top Egyptian diplomat told reporters, adding that he exchanged views with his visiting Hungarian counterpart on regional issues of mutual concern.

Shoukry added that they also addressed Egypt's relations with the European Union, praising Hungary's understanding of the challenges facing Egypt and its support for Egypt's economic reform.

"We also discussed the chances for increasing Hungarian investments in Egypt," Shoukry continued, noting that they tackled the implementation of the huge project to upgrade Egypt's railways through a Hungarian-Russian consortium that will provide Egypt with passenger train cars.

In September 2018, Egypt signed a deal worth 1.16 billion euros (about 1.3 billion U.S. dollars) with the Russian-Hungarian rail consortium to import 1,300 passenger cars for the Egyptian railway authority.

For his part, Szijjarto urged the EU to provide more support to Egypt, while stressing that Europe's security begins in North Africa.

The Hungarian minister lauded Egypt's success in ending illegal immigration through its Mediterranean seashores.

Szijjarto also highlighted the significance of the diplomatic cooperation between Hungary and Egypt, referring to a deal on diplomatic studies signed on Thursday between the two sides. Enditem