Szolnok, 18th April 2013
Good Afternoon Ladies and Gentlemen. Your Excellency, Mr. Ambassador.
Respected CEO Spuhler. Although I was welcomed with the words, the Prime Minster has come here to Szolnok, I've really just come home to Rózsa Street, meaning that I've always been a little biased towards the city for understandable, personal reasons, and so it is especially joyful for me that I may now participate in the inauguration of a project that has come about here in Szolnok. I follow the lives of the people of Szolnok closely. I follow the history and development of the city, and it is a well known fact that even in communist times there were attempts to bring industry to this city that would be competitive both domestically and internationally. And not unsuccessfully, because there was a time when the chemical industry, the paper industry and MOL all had large operations here. And so there was a period when Szolnok began moving in the right direction to becoming a modern, industrial city. And then it transpired that this wouldn't be enough and if Szolnok wanted to stay afloat then it must modernise its industry; if it wished to stay on its feet then it needed new industries and new development projects. But the people who live here, and I say this also from personal experience, have always had the willingness and bravery to begin something new; it can be said of the people of Szolnok that, after a temporary relapse, they have in fact always liked to work. And so the only question that remained was would we succeed in finding large-scale investors in the near future, large industrial investors who are capable of providing employment for those people of Szolnok who wish to work, and who would modernise the industrial background and infrastructure that already existed here. Today's event is important because it confirms that these endeavours were successful. Szolnok now has a good chance of becoming a modern, industrial city and the fact that our hosts are here and that a company such as this one has settled in Szolnok, and has not simply settled down in exchange for a state order, but continues to develop its initial investment, shows that one of the worlds largest corporations sees an opportunity not only in Hungary, but in Szolnok and the people of Szolnok.
This of course requires suitable city leadership, ladies and gentlemen! And for this reason I would like to thank my friend Mayor Ferenc Szalay for successfully establishing an environment that makes industrial investors want to come to Szolnok. A little earlier we heard a few words from the Mayor that, knowing the situation in Hungary I'm sure caught not just my attention; he said that this production hall was built in just five months. This, ladies an gentlemen, means that bureaucracy worked, the town hall worked, and the leaders of the city succeeded in becoming partners to a world-class corporation in such a large-scale development project. This is a great achievement, and I would also like to congratulate the Mayor on this success.
Ladies and Gentlemen!
When we speak of expansion, and we are talking about the expansion of a factory now, then of course we can talk about the fact the Mayor has done a good job, the planning permission system worked efficiently, the local directors of the factory have worked well, and the owner has made a wise decision when deciding to invest here. There is one thing that we rarely talk about, although it is an important issue, and these are the factory's workers. These are the people who, as Hungarians, have proven capable of providing competitive performance of a world-class standard in a Swiss-owned world-class standard factory. Just to be clear: it is not the railway vehicles that are competitive; it is the engineers and workers who manufacture these vehicles. And when a factory is expanded, it means that the workers there have done such a good job that the investor feels that it is worth not simply continuing operations with these workers, but to take cooperation to a higher level of magnitude, and for this reason I think that our having gathered here today should also be about acknowledging the workers of Szolnok.
Ladies and Gentlemen!
I also feel that it is important to note that the company that is investing here is a Swiss company. The Hungarians have always respected the Swiss, and I am glad that His Excellency, the Ambassador is also here with us. We learned in school that the Swiss are a freedom-loving people who have never given up their independence, horribile dictu did not even join the European Union, and provided the first example of the fact that there is life outside the EU, so nobody should have cause for concern. The other reason we are happy that this investor has arrived from Switzerland is, as you too are perhaps also aware, that family-owned businesses are strong in Switzerland and there is an advantage in knowing who you are dealing with, or rather who you are doing business with: they have a name, a face and standing that has been accumulated through several generations. It is also easier for the Hungarian Government to cooperate with family-owned businesses than with faceless corporations. And it is also important that we are celebrating the success of a family-owned company here today because we would also like family-owned businesses to gain strength here in Hungary. It is not easy to move from a communist system built on the sole propriety of the state to an economic system in which family assets, investment, plants and performance dominate. I would like more and more Hungarian families, tradesmen families and also families who work in agriculture to believe that it is possible to achieve the level of competitiveness, development and success that a Swiss, family-owned company was capable of achieving in recent times.
Ladies and Gentlemen!
This day is also important to us for another reason, although we rarely talk about it; we're Hungarians and usually talk more about failure than success. There are countries that do things the opposite way, and maybe they have the right idea. There are some who are capable of fabricating a huge success out of a relatively small one. We instead make small successes out of large ones by always looking at the negative side of things. But there is something here that we should view at face value. And this is the fact that if we look at the countries of Europe and examine what percentage of each country's gross national product is made up of industrial production, then you will see that the first three names on the list are Germany, the Czech Republic and Hungary. And while we are proud of the fact that we are originally an agriculture-based society, that we are talented at agriculture and have no intention of giving up these roots, we rarely speak of the fact that we are also a successful industrial nation. In the case of other countries these figures, the ratio of industrial production within the gross national product, the GDP, are usually around 10-11-12% within the European Union. In Hungary it is over 20% and will soon exceed 25%! The reindustrialisation programme that we have begun and the idea that Hungary must make a living through work, i.e. through production and manufacturing, is viable. This idea works, and it would seem that we have correctly recognised: this is, in fact, the way forward for Europe. Those who work, will remain standing, those who produce, will stay standing; those who speculate, will fall, and those who wish only to provide services, will be unable to survive. Those who stand on a single pillar cannot face the challenges of the future. And so it is very important that Hungary must also become a modern, industrial nation. This new production hall is also very important to us because it is related to the railways, and there can be no modern industry without rail. And so our being together today is also proof of the fact that rail has a future in Hungary. Szolnok has great traditions in this regard. This is, I could say, also a railway city, and the development projects currently underway will increase the city's role as a rail hub and, we hope, will provide further opportunities and workplaces for the city's inhabitants.
Ladies and Gentlemen!
The fact that we are inaugurating newer and newer plants and factories not just here, but elsewhere throughout the country, shows that after two and a half years of difficult struggle against debt, Hungary is moving towards economic growth. Everybody knows that growth cannot be built on unstable foundations, and so putting the country's finances in order is the first step. I can tell you that the country's finances are in order. I can't claim that they are perfect, nor that there remains no work to be done, but they are stable. We are not living off other people's money, we are not staying afloat with aid from the IMF or the European Union, but instead the country is standing on a pillar constructed solely of the performance of the Hungarian economy. And we are able to generate the resources required for the operation of the country without fail both this year and next year. If we hadn't managed to work off part of our debt, it would have crushed us. And to once again mention a minor Hungarian success, there are only five countries of the twenty-eight within the EU who were last year capable of decreasing their level of government debt, and Hungary succeeded in achieving this to the greatest extent. And we are one of only eight countries within the EU who were capable of keeping their budget deficit below the 3% level required by the European Union, and we are the only country, ladies and gentlemen, who were capable of exiting an aid programme, the IMF-EU aid programme that had been necessary because of an earlier financial collapse – and I'm talking about 2008 – and stand on its own two feet. The situation is just the opposite throughout Europe. Everybody needs an aid package, but Hungary has succeeded in exiting an aid package. This is a great achievement. It is my belief that this is thanks to the efforts of the past two-and-a-half to three years.
Ladies and Gentlemen!
And now please allow me to say a few words about our host, because after all he represents an amazing story here, and his person is a kind of lesson or teaching for us. When I first read the figures, I wasn't sure if the story I was reading was true, but it turned out that it was. Is it possible that someone buys a company in 1987, begins working with 18 employees, and by today, twenty or so years later, employs 4,500 people all over the world? Is it possible for a family-owned business to generate 4.5 million Swiss franks in turnover and then, twenty or so years later create turnover of 2.2 billion Swiss franks? This is no miracle, but reality, an amazing achievement, and our host, the company's CEO teaches us, the Hungarians, that in today's world success can only be achieved through strong and courageous will. The age in which we live is not an age for the cowardly, and is not an age for cowardly nations, ladies and gentlemen! We must think bravely and must act with determination if we want to succeed, and above all we must collect allies, allies who think like we do, who believe in the future, who are brave, who have plans and who want to cooperate with Hungary. These are the companies and these are the people who we seek out throughout the world. It is a great pleasure for us that we have found such a ally in Switzerland and we are happy to have been able to sign a strategic partnership agreement with Mr. Spuhler previously, something that shows that it is not just we Hungarian who believe in Hungary, but so do others, including foreign companies.
Ladies and Gentlemen!
CEO Spuhler! Please allow me to congratulate you in the name of the Government and express my acknowledgement of the huge task you have completed here. I would ask you to also pass on my kind regards to the factory's workers. We also congratulate them on this fantastic achievement and wish the company, the company's owners, directors and workers much strength, success and good health!
Thank you for your kind attention!
(Prime Minister’s Office)
