26 September 2013
Good Afternoon, Ladies and Gentlemen!
I am glad to be here with you once again. It is with great respect that I greet the company's Vice President who is here from Denmark, the Managing Director and His Excellency, the Danish Ambassador. A special welcome to the Mayor [of Székesfehérvár] and the factory's workers.
Ladies and Gentlemen!
We are gathered here today to jointly give the people of Székesfehérvár some good news: 350 new jobs are being created in Székesfehérvár in an ascending system. When I asked the Vice President during the meeting, or rather our negotiations that preceded this inauguration ceremony, why they had once again chosen Hungary in 2011 for the realisation of a 12 billion forint investment that creates 350 new jobs, his reply was: for the same reason as in 1999. At the time, Grundfos made us one of the European headquarters of motor and pump manufacturing because of Hungary's central position and the well-trained Hungarian workforce. In 1999, Hungary was able to provide an ideal environment for the growth and development of a world famous company like Grundfos. In view of all that has happened to us here in Hungary since 1990, and what has occurred in Europe since 1999, it is especially gratifying for us, the Hungarians, that this investment has once again been realised here because the favourable conditions mentioned previously still exist here in Hungary. It is an honour for Hungary to be the object of such confidence and it makes the Government committed in the sense that we aim to expand as much as possible the range of favourable conditions. We all know that we have our ancestors and not ourselves to thank for Hungary's excellent and favourable position, this is perhaps obvious here in our coronation city. It was after all they who acquired this homeland for us, and it was our grandparents and parents who defended and maintained it; our task is to continue their work. However, Hungary's highly trained, flexible, hard-working and professional workforce is the result of our labours and is our responsibility, not that of our forefathers. It is we, the Hungarians, Ladies and Gentlemen, who in the face of difficulties sometimes posed also by Europe react to these problems and challenges with work, performance and commitment. It is our responsibility - that of all of us, as parents, as mayors, as Prime Minister or as members of the Government - to ensure that Hungary has a training and education system that guarantees hard-working and committed young people with the will to work will continue to be brought up in Hungary for decades to come.
Ladies and Gentlemen!
Grundfos has only said out loud what we Hungarians have always known, because here in the heart of Europe we have always had the impression that it was no accident that the Turks were here for 150 years, the Habsburgs for 400 and the Russians for 40 odd years, because such accidents rarely occur in history. Deep down, we Hungarians have always known that Hungary is in an excellent geographical position and the Hungarians are talented and also like to work, and that if we can exploit these conditions then we will be capable of great things. We have always known, Ladies and Gentlemen, that in Hungary and the Hungarian people there has always been the potential to play an important role in regional growth, and through that in the growth of the whole European economy. Strangely, it was through the 2008 crisis that we reached the stage whereby we are able to exploit our homeland's hidden potential. Because of you think about it, the crisis was a shock to every Hungarian, but this shock also made us realise that our homeland must be renewed. This crisis and the shock it caused made us realise that we cannot continue living as before. It made us realise it would be more worthwhile to travel our own path and follow our own ideas. And in 2010, the solidarity of the Hungarians created the historic opportunity to finally enable us to decide what should happen, how things should be and how Hungary should operate. The people of Hungary wanted a country that made use of its capabilities, that travels its own path, and which as a result will be one of Europe's economic and growth success centres. The Hungarians wanted a country, and things are no different today, in which work does not just enable one to make a living, but to thrive.
Ladies and Gentlemen!
The people of Hungary prove day after day that our homeland is a place which footsteps not only lead away from, but also lead to. And to achieve this task, or rather for this to remain so, our greatest allies are those companies that provide work for the Hungarian people. Let's look at the numbers! It has been almost a decade and a half since Grundfos forged a strategic alliance with the people of Hungary. If I have added up the figures correctly then since 1999 the company has realised a total investment of 68.7 billion forints in Hungary, creating 2,107 jobs. Factories in Tatabánya and Győr, a distribution company in Törökbálint and a financial and information technology service company in Budapest provide a living to thousands of Hungarian families. I would like you all to know that Grundfos, and this is something for which the Hungarian Government is especially grateful, is also heavily involved in the training of talented young Hungarians. It provides funding to technology-related higher education institutions, and as a result, countless young Hungarians are able to perform modern and up-to-date studies at technical higher education institutions because these institutions receive funding from Grundfos.
Ladies and Gentlemen!
I would also like you to know that the Danish company does not only want a production centre here in Hungary, but has also established a research and development division, so perhaps we will also soon become an R&D centre. The Research and Development Division currently employs 60 research engineers here in Hungary, and their number could double in the near future. They are among the top language-learning, language-speaking professionals in Hungary. I clearly remember, Ladies and Gentlemen, it was towards the beginning of the nineties, István Balsai was still Mayor. The younger generation do not remember this, but perhaps the older people among you remember that this was a depressed area. When communism came to an end and the planned economy collapsed, Székesfehérvár suffered a severe downturn and the whole city fell into a state of depression. Nobody knew how we would exit this state of affairs. And then, with the Mayor at the helm, the city began to establish a large industrial park, foreign companies were attracted here and I remember it was in the mid-nineties, '94-'95, when I congratulated the Mayor on having conquered the feelings of apathy, low morale, resignation, and hopelessness in Székesfehérvár. And then István, I mean Mayor István Balsai, turned to me sadly and said yes, we may have conquered them, here are these factories, but look at the simple tasks that people have to perform in these plants. And then I felt in his voice the injustice that it is often so easy for one of Christian faith to evoke, that it is after all unfair that a people of such talent is forced to perform unskilled labour. I felt in his voice the disappointment, that this is not what people expected after the regime change, that the relatively mediocre Hungarian manufacturing industry capable of operating at an average level internationally would be replaced by assembly lines where we have to press buttons -- one green, one red --, but that we yearned for more. And today, when I entered the factory, this conversation came to mind. I don't know if István is here, I hope so, but if he isn't he will see in the news that we have succeeded. After two decades of hard work we have eventually succeeded in achieving a level at which investors no longer come to Hungary to perform relatively primitive assembly-line activities and for the cheap labour, although such investments do still exist of course, but there are an increasing number of investments for which the level of training is important, the quality of work is important and expert knowledge is important. And the work that needs doing is also not a simple added half-skilled labour value, but real, tangible, serious value-creating work. Grundfos plays an important role in this story; it reinforces our belief in the fact that we have been moving in the right direction for almost twenty years, provided that the story of Grundfos will not be unique in Hungary, but more and more similar, state-of -the-art factories establish a presence in Hungary. And so I send word to Mayor István Balsai: there is no need for disappointment; we Hungarians are getting the job done; development centres that employ engineers and researchers are also coming to Hungary.
Finally, Ladies and Gentlemen,
I would also like to tell you that in Grundfos the Hungarian Government has come to know a company that maintains two very important philosophical principles. One is sustainability and the other is taking on responsibility. The northern peoples tend to be more sensitive to the treasures of nature than we are. They are somehow more committed to the sustainability of nature than we are here in Central Europe. And so it is perhaps no surprise that a company that has arrived from such an environment behaves in a similar manner here in Hungary. But what is perhaps even more important from our perspective is that over and above its employees, this company has a feeling of responsibility towards all of Hungary. Such companies must be especially appreciated. The responsibility felt by this company towards Hungarian society is mirrored by the fact that 80 people out of its workforce of 2107 are disabled. This stance is also underlined by the fact that, my colleagues have added up the numbers, through various channels Grundfos has provided 179 million forints in funding for the development of Hungarian sport, education and local communities. I would like to respectfully thank the directors of the factory for this.
Ladies and Gentlemen, Mr. Vice President, Managing Director!
In the summer of 2011 you decided on Hungary, and I can safely say that you have made the right decision once again. We have discussed the prospects for economic growth. Hungary is now performing better and is once again capable of becoming a strategic partner to large, dynamic European companies that wish to grow. I trust that this investment will result not only in the company's further growth and development, but will also provide the Hungarian people who work here with a dependable future. I wish you much success, strength and good health for your continued work.
Thank you for your kind attention.
(Prime Minister’s Office)
