Speech to mark the series production of the new Suzuki SX4

September 12, 2013 3:58 PM

Prime Minister Viktor Orbán's Speech to mark the Series Production of the new Suzuki SX4 S-CROSS.

06 September 2013, Esztergom

Good afternoon, Ladies and Gentlemen!

A British Member of Parliament once said, I would like to say a few words before my welcome speech; and I feel the same way now. So before I begin my welcome speech, please allow me to also share a few thoughts with you. The first thought is that it is always a special experience to meet Japanese investors. It is a special experience to be here in the Suzuki plant. It is not just special because the launch of a new model is always cause for excitement, but also because it is an opportunity to meet with the Japanese. You too can see that in their culture, the gestures with which respect and distinguished human behaviour are expressed, something that is so lacking or rather disappearing in our culture, still exist. This is one of the reasons I accepted the invitation of the Japanese Government to make an official state visit to Japan in representation of Hungary. Today is also a special occasion for us because we have the chance to meet Mr. Suzuki. We don't usually talk about these things, precisely because in the spirit of the previously mentioned respect and distinguished behaviour they are usually unwilling to speak about their own merits in public, although there would be much to mention. But perhaps I can take this excellent opportunity to thank Mr. Suzuki and express our sincere appreciation. I have experience with many new factories that have achieved European and international success, and I have studied their history; the history of both Hungarian factories, because we too had our fair share of them at one time, and foreign ones. And I can tell you with all certainty that there has never been a great factory anywhere in the world that didn't have a great man behind it. Without great men there is no great industrial performance, and one cannot doubt for a second that we owe the existence of this factory in Esztergom and the existence of Suzuki throughout the world to a great man, Mr. Suzuki. This is one of the reasons why it is right to show him our appreciation. In addition, I would like to reveal the relatively unknown fact that Mr. Suzuki visits Hungary every year, and at such times we not only welcome him with great respect, but we also use him as a kind of consultant and make use of his knowledge about the world economy, often incorporating his thoughts and recommendations into the economic policies that we are seeing through here in Hungary. This is the moment when it is perhaps worth reminding those present that although Hungary is often referred to within the world economy as an experimenting country that applies unique measures and often steps onto new paths, if you compare the novel nature of the economic policies of the Hungarian administration with the almost revolutionary originality of the economic policies currently in existence in Japan, then is becomes strikingly clear that we are not the frontrunners in this field. If there exists an experiment in economic policy in the world today that is searching for unusual, previously uncharted directions, then it is represented by Japan and the Japanese Government. Please allow me, Mr. Suzuki, to pass on through you my wishes to the people of Japan, the Japanese Government and the Japanese economy, that they succeed in completing and carrying out the economic policies with which they are currently astounding the world.

Ladies and Gentlemen!

And now, I would like to give my welcome speech.

Ladies and Gentlemen!

I can safely say that the two-decade cooperation between Suzuki and Hungary, and between Japan and the Hungarian economy, has reached a new milestone. After the fall of communism, Suzuki was one of the first large corporations to enable Hungary to recommence car manufacturing after fifty years. It was one of the international companies that helped us to again put the Hungarian economy onto the global stage. Thanks to the joint efforts of the past twenty years, every new car that rolls off the production line in Esztergom means more to us that just a car. Suzuki really is our car. Behind every single Suzuki lie hundreds of Hungarian jobs. It is also our car, because Suzuki is a committed partner to Hungarian small and medium sized businesses. 25 percent of Magyar Suzuki Corporation's suppliers are Hungarian, which, Ladies and Gentlemen, means that in addition to the company's employees, Suzuki provides a livelihood to a further 30 thousand Hungarian families. And it is hoped that this number will continue to rise in the future. Accordingly, we can safely say that this factory is one of the engines of Hungarian economic growth and contributes to keeping Hungary on the path of growth.

Respected Mr. Suzuki, Mr. Ambassador, Madame Mayor, Ladies and Gentlemen!

It has been hard work pulling Hungary's economy out of the gutter over the course of the past three years. And so please allow me, with due modesty, to not go on without mentioning the excellent performance of Hungary and the people of Hungary, which is a source of great pride. Things were far from good for the Hungarians prior to 2008, and so the emergence of the global economic crisis had a compounded, crushing effect on us. We were faced with a huge government debt and budget deficit, unemployment, skyrocketing utility charges and a tax system that penalised work. This is the world we were living in only three and a half years ago. I can happily state that in 2012 we decreased our government debt, something only six out of the 28 member states of the European Union were capable of achieving, and our budget deficit will be below 3 percent for the third year running, which also contributes to keeping our debt on a downward course. We are capable, once again capable, of controlling our finances and standing on our own two feet. We have created a balanced and reliable economic environment, leading to an increase in investments in the last quarter. It is with respect that I can tell Mr. Suzuki that we can now present to him a work-based Hungary that relies and builds on the production industry. It is a special joy for us that the Japanese companies that have invested in Hungary are important allies in this struggle. Since 2010, Japanese companies have realised 1.36 billion euros, 400 billion forints in Hungarian currency, in development projects here in Hungary. These investments have created exactly 2,683 new jobs. This is an exceptional feat on the part of the Japanese if we take into account the fact that these Japanese companies have committed themselves to investing in Hungary and creating Hungarian jobs in the midst of the economic crisis. It is partly thanks to them that the employment rate in Hungary has achieved another new record, with almost 4 million people in employment during the May-June period, which is 56 thousand more than a year ago and 200 thousand more than at the time of the 2010 elections.

Ladies and Gentlemen!

At least as important, however, is the fact that not is the number of people in employment increasing, but so is the number of people who are actively looking for work. Because everyone in Hungary has understood that it is only through work that we can be capable of providing a stable and dependable future for our families.

Mr. Suzuki!

We, the Hungarians, and this is clear from this data, have committed ourselves to increasing the number of sustainable workplaces and have set an objective of creating one million new jobs over a period of ten years, and this is a goal that we will achieve.

Ladies and Gentlemen!

Hungary and Suzuki have recognised that their goals are similar and that our paths lead in the same direction. This recognition was reinforced by our strategic cooperation agreement, to which a new element has now been added with the launch of this new Suzuki model. The foundations for this alliance, and this, Ladies and Gentlemen, is the essence of what I have to say, was not in fact laid down by Mr. Suzuki, or by Hungary. The foundations of this alliance were laid down by those Hungarian people who have been performing excellent work at the Suzuki plant for many years now. It is thanks to their expertise that Magyar Suzuki has become one of the important members of the Suzuki Motor Corporation. It is also thanks to them that Suzuki's latest model will be mass produced here, in Hungary. The parent company has every right to be proud of its Hungarian subsidiary and of the people of Hungary. I am positive that the mass production of the new model is happening in the best possible place and will achieve similar or even greater market success than the Swift, which was launched in 2004 and which is so popular that the total number sold worldwide has exceeded three million. For this reason, Mr. Suzuki, we will endeavour to further deepen the alliance that exists between us, with which we shall be able to open newer and newer chapters in the joint success story of the Hungarian and Japanese economies here in Hungary, in Europe. And for this reason, Mr. Suzuki, I would like to inform you that in accordance with our earlier agreement, all preparative work has been completed: the new bridge across the Danube at Komárom will be completed by the end of 2017 with the technical parameters as requested by Suzuki, and I would also like to inform you that the new highway connecting Esztergom to the M1 motorway will also be constructed by 2017, the preparation of which is already underway.

Thank you for your kind attention.