As the director of the Contemporary Arab World Center, it is my pleasure to present you the services of our newly founded center located in Budapest, Hungary.

In the heart of Europe, Hungary serves as a bridge between regions, cultures, and religions. Our center aims to maintain these connections and strengthens the cultural and scientific exchange between Hungary and the Arab countries. We have a strong research profile focusing on the relations between Hungary and the Arab world.

With its rich cultural and historical heritage, Hungary is a member of the European Union, a gateway to the West, and has strong and positive relations with the East at the same time. Although Hungary is a small country, it is a home of many high-quality educational facilities. The country has high potential in the information and technology sector as universities provide education of Western quality at a reasonable price. Hungarian higher education is especially excellent at medical sciences, humanities, aquaculture, and engineering.

In this productive environment, the Contemporary Arab World Center serves as a bridge not only in the cross-cultural sense but as a point of connection between the theory and practice of many fields, a link between policymakers and the academia, in addition to young scholars and well-established experts. As our Center is affiliated to Eötvös Loránd University in Budapest, we are situated in one of the best knowledge centers of Central Europe. We organize events of various kinds that help facilitate knowledge transfers between East and West. You can individually make benefit from our different orientation services and graded language programs. It is our task also to help prospective students to find the best higher educational institutes suitable for their studies. I believe that ambitious students from the Arab world will be one day representatives of their countries in Hungary or representatives of Hungary in their respective countries in the fields of politics, business, science or culture.

I myself also represent a bridge between two cultures: with my Hungarian and Lebanese roots, I have been working on strengthening the ties between Hungary and the Arab world by teaching a new generation of Arabic-speaking Hungarians. Achieving this level of awareness (knowing the language, people and traditions of a different culture) is crucial for effective cross-cultural communication and greater cooperation among people with a diverse background. Our Center looks forward to playing an important role in strengthening the networks of international education exchanges, fostering cooperation beyond communities and broadening the knowledge of people arriving to Hungary from the Arab world.

On behalf of the Contemporary Arab World Center, I look forward to welcoming you to Hungary any time in the future! I can assure you that Hungary is a great place to live, work, and relax – it is a safe, vibrant, green and prosperous country, valued for its friendly and hospitable people.

Best regards,