Prime Minister Viktor Orbán's Speech to mark the Signing of the Strategic Partnership Agreement with Audi Hungaria Motor Ltd.

February 28, 2013 5:04 PM

26 February 2013, Budapest

Ladies and Gentlemen, good afternoon!

As you have just heard, there is no great difference between a Prime Minister's programme speech and an engineer's description of his own life, because the subject of a Prime Minister's programme speech is also that there be as many Hungarian people as possible, who achieve careers as successful as that of Mr. Hoffmann's. It is with respect that I welcome him and the directors of Audi, both Germans and Hungarians, because we have arrived at an important moment, the time has come for Hungary and Audi to sign a strategic agreement. Just to remind ourselves, we sign strategic agreements with large international corporations and multinationals. The reason behind this agreement, and these agreements in general, is the recognition that in the modern world it is not enough for a nation to only conclude agreements with other states, because the world has changed and large, international corporations play at least as important roles as states do. This is why we think there is a cooperation race underway in the 21st century, which revolves around the question of which governments are capable of establishing long-term cooperation with large, international corporations who play an important role in the future of the world economy. Audi is such a corporation. It will play a long-term, outstandingly important role in the world economy, and it is in the interests of Hungary to have a strategic cooperation with such an important and definitively significant international corporation. At least as important and agreements signed with other states.

Ladies and Gentlemen!

These agreements usually set down a few important points. First of all, they clearly indicate that there will be further, large-scale investments and developments. Secondly, all such agreements include some form of commitment to the joint development of education, because these corporations aren't in Hungary temporarily, and don't plan on working with only existing human resources and capital, but will instead require thousands and thousands of new professionals, in whose training, teaching and education they themselves play a part. The third important issue is the development of production centres, meaning primarily logistics development. Although the President [of Audi] has not authorised me to do so, I must nevertheless mention that the directors of Audi and the Hungarian Government held a one-hour meeting prior to this press conference, at which we reviewed some development projects that we had agreed on previously, and which will be needed for this area of Győr to be capable of receiving increasing volumes of capacity. We discussed roads, bridges and similar projects, and in fact have come to an agreement.

Ladies and Gentlemen!

Hungary has signed, and will be signing further strategic agreements with several corporations, but those concluded with car manufacturing companies are always close to our hearts. For the Hungarians remember their own, glorious past, because we too manufactured cars at one time. At the dawn of the industry, Hungary produced not just parts, but whole cars too, but then the Great War swept us away, cars and all, and after the Second World War we were specifically banned from manufacturing cars because the distribution of labour within Comecom did not include car production capacity for Hungary. Since then, having our own car has represented a special value to Hungarians. Looking at the members of the press, they seem quite young, so I'm not sure they will remember what I'm about to talk about. I belong to a generation who still had car allocation documents with which, if one waited patiently for eight-ten years, it was possible to acquire a decent car. I don't wish to advertise the competition, but I had a pre-order for a Skoda Favorit, which counted as something elegant in the second half of the eighties. But the point is that in those days you had to wait eight-ten years. In comparison to this, manufacturing our own car, and even the thought that someone could just go into a showroom and buy a car, and that a world like that could even exist, was freedom itself. It is a symbol of freedom, and for this reason car manufacturing, car ownership and access to a car is for Hungarian people not simply a feat of engineering or the obtaining of a service, but in a mysterious way because of the past, is linked to our sense of freedom and desire for freedom, so being a car owner, and in fact to manufacture a car, is a special thing for Hungarians. We are glad to be able to manufacture not just any old car in Hungary, when we think of Győr and Audi, but that we are manufacturing one of, or I must say the best cars in the world. And if things go according to plan then we will not simply be manufacturing various parts, not just engines, but whole cars, so Hungary will again be manufacturing its own car under the name Audi. I'm not sure if people in Germany know how many cars we have manufactured in Hungary, and which have been bought by Germans who are now driving them. It could be an important element of the image of Hungary abroad if everyone became aware of how many of the devices they use, cars for example, were actually made in Hungary.

Ladies and Gentlemen!

It is also important to note, and this is something I learnt at our meeting earlier, that manufacturing an engine, a car's engine, is power - I heard stated. It means industrial power if someone is capable of manufacturing the most important part of such a modern vehicle, and we have heard huge numbers from our guests with regard to how many engines we have manufactured so far, and how many more we will manufacture in the future.

Ladies and Gentlemen!

In any event, when it comes to Audi, we must mention two things. And these are two manifestations of trust. They clearly indicate that spiritually, concluding an agreement with Audi is not just one out of many such agreements, but perhaps I could say it is the agreement. Back in the early nineties nobody knew what would become of this region, Central Europe, including Hungary. And then Audi arrived in Hungary, which was a great encouragement for Hungarian politics and the Hungarian economy at the time. The second moment came in 2010, when it was clear that Europe was in crisis and it was clear that we would not be climbing out of the crisis quickly, and in 2010, Audi announced further investment in Hungary. This is the second important manifestation of trust. To Hungarians, this means that Audi isn't simply a manufacturer that operates in Hungary, it isn't simply a quickly developing manufacturer, but that Audi is a manufacturer who the Hungarians can trust.

Ladies and Gentlemen!

Of course I also feel it is important that I should mention that there are certain circumstances of which we speak little, I could call them background data, but which shed much light on the importance of Audi to the Hungarian national economy. For instance, few people are aware that Audi purchases around 1.5 billion euros worth of products from suppliers who operate in Hungary. Translated into forints, you will find that this is a value equalling some 450 billion forints, meaning that Audi pays some 1.5 billion Euros or 450 billion forints each year for products that are manufactured in Hungary or are finished in Hungary, that have been created in Hungary. If you calculate the VAT content of this, calculate the effect it has on employment, its contribution to the gross national product, then you will soon see what an important factor Audi represents in the national economy. It is similarly important to note that there are around ten million of us living in Hungary, of whom there are perhaps one million two hundred thousand to one million three hundred thousand whose daily living is linked to German investors. Out of ten million people there are perhaps one million two hundred thousand to one million three hundred thousand whose daily bread is earned by the head of the family, or perhaps by two people in the family, at a workplace that is somehow owned by a German or is related to a German development project. We are talking about three to four-hundred thousand Hungarian employees who work in German-owned factories. If we multiply this by the number of family members, then we get the figure I mentioned. This clearly shows the extremely high significance of German industry to Hungary, not just from the point of view of the Hungarian economy, but also from the perspective of families.

Ladies and Gentlemen!

There is something else that I must mention, and specifically to the respected President [of Audi]. In the nineties we found it difficult to come to grips with the idea that we would be wage-earners in factories that represent a higher level of industrial technology than we do. This, if you think about it, is a good thing in one respect, because we have a place to work, but from another point of view people are always afraid of becoming stuck in the role of wage-earner. And not just the worker himself, but his own nation's economy is also subordinate to another country's national economy, and is incorporated in the international distribution of labour at a less sophisticated level that requires less knowledge. This is why it is very important that Audi sees the future in the same way as we Hungarians would also like to see it. Accordingly, Audi doesn't simply see a large assembly plant in Hungary, and doesn't view Hungary itself as just a huge assembly plant, but also as a thickly-spun network of high-tech enterprises that represent a state-of-the-art level of quality and which work with high added value. Audi doesn't simply offer Hungary a wage-earning opportunity, it also brings to Hungary a network of high added-value, high-tech enterprises that represent a state-of-the-art level of quality. This gives us the opportunity to link to a large production hierarchy, although without doubt supplying a German-owned, international corporation, but not at a wage-earning level, but rather at an increasingly improving level that includes the possibility of achieving the level of research and development.

Ladies and Gentlemen!
In closing, let me also tell you that in the background of the ongoing economic debates in Europe, there is a relationship that we rarely talk about. And this is the way in which Europe and the people living in it view the modern economy. The reason we are very happy to sign an agreement with Audi today is that the view of Audi, and in general the view of leading German industrial corporations, and the view of the Hungarian Government on what the Hungarian economy will be like, correspond. There are those in Europe who think that in the age of modern economies competition should and must be kept in check. We do not believe this. We believe that competition must be entered into, not turned away from, not limited, but entered. Accordingly, we believe that the European economy will certainly continue to see competition with relation to taxes, prices and technology in the future. With relation to taxes it is the Hungarian Government that must be competitive, with relation to price levels, large corporations like Audi and the Hungarian Government must work together to assure competitive conditions, and when it comes to technology, it is Audi and corporations like Audi who must be competitive. The competition involves the future of the European economy: during the upcoming decades we must compete in the fields of taxes, prices and technology, and we believe that through these agreements, and especially the agreement concluded with Audi, Hungary has a good chance of holding its ground in this competition. Finally, if we began with the story of Mr. Hoffmann, let me finish my words with something that is related to his story. It is no secret that it is the Hungarian Governments intent to ensure that never again will children begin life with less opportunities than were afforded to their parents. And the success of each and every young engineer represents the fact that we are building a Hungary, we are constructing a Hungary, in which younger generations receive at least as many opportunities, if not more, than their parents did. Audi is also contributing to achieving this, and this is shown clearly by the fact that the strategic cooperation agreement we have concluded with Audi includes not only an economic agreement, but also a social agreement.

Thank you for your kind attention. And to Audi, thank you very much for your efforts over the past years. I would also like to congratulate both Mr. László Hoffmann and the City of Győr for the successes they have achieved, and for the events that lie in store for them. If things go to plan, we will meet next in June in Győr, when yet another new plant will be inaugurated. Thank you for your kind attention!