ONGC to partner Hungary's MOL in oil exploration

State-run Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) has signed an oil exploration agreement with MOL of Hungary. The Hungarian oil company will have 35 per cent stake in the joint operations.

India and Hungary have also agreed to strengthen cooperation in the IT sector. The Hungarian association of IT companies and Electronics and Computer Software Export Promotion Council (ESC) of India will soon enter into a memorandum of understanding (MoU) detailing the areas of cooperation.

These were decided at a meeting of commerce and industry minister Anand Sharma with Hungarian prime minister Gordon Bajnai and his cabinet colleagues Istvan Varga minister of national development and economy and Viktor Orban, the leader of opposition and former prime minister of Hungary in Budapest.

Besides, the two countries will soon operationalise the Euro 2 million per annum India-Hungary S&T fund for the promotion of joint research projects select bilateral S&T projects for funding.

India and Hungary signed a social security agreement on the sidelines of the India-Hungary Joint Commission on Economic Cooperation (JCEC), which would address the issues on social security tax particularly in the case of IT sector.

The two countries also signed an agreement on trade and investment cooperation while the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) and ITD Hungary also signed an agreement on arbitration.