5 March 2015, Esztergom
Honourable Mr. Suzuki, Madam Mayor, Honoured Citizens of Esztergom, Employees and Executives of the Factory,
Allow me, first of all, to extend a special welcome to Mr. Osamu Suzuki. Naturally, you know him primarily as an industrialist; but he comes to Hungary every year and shares his experiences in the realm of the economy with the Government. He is nothing short of a kind of internal secret advisor. There are, indeed, lessons that we may learn from him. We may learn from the Japanese people and from Mr. Suzuki in person how to be successful, strong, influential and modest, all at the same time. The key to this probably lies in respect: everyone must be given the respect they deserve. This is perhaps something that Hungary, too, may learn from the Japanese people.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
I also extend a special welcome to our host because, if I have read correctly, this January he completed his 85th year. God bless him. And as you may have seen in the pictures just now, prime ministers come and prime ministers go, but Suzuki and Mr. Suzuki remain. Long may this continue! Allow me to also welcome the Mayor of the City of Esztergom. We are all aware of the stormy politics of Esztergom’s recent past. I can announce here that in the first half of this year I shall come back to you – to the Mayor’s Office, to be more specific – to jointly sign with the Honourable Mayor an agreement between the Government and Esztergom. This will guarantee a path of development for the citizens of Esztergom – also in the longer term – which the city and its people deserve.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
We met here a year and a half ago; at that time, too, the factory was starting production of a new model. By my reckoning, this is now the eighth Suzuki model made at this factory. To date, more than 2.5 million cars have rolled off the production lines of the Esztergom plant. Congratulations to you all! And this new model seems to be just like the company itself: a strong, dynamic, modern and reliable ally. According to a Japanese saying, there is no better mirror than an old friend. For us Hungarians, the success story of Suzuki in Esztergom is a mirror that we are happy to gaze into. The history of this Suzuki factory is closely entwined with Hungary’s recent history; over the past 25 years the company has accompanied us along an extremely difficult path. Looking back, it seems almost incredible that when Suzuki came to Hungary more than twenty years ago, there was effectively no automobile industry in the country. There was a car manufacturing industry in Hungary before the Second World War, but it was swiftly ended by communism; we Hungarians only had the chance to tinker with our own COMECON cars at home in the privacy of our garages, so as to create the impression that they had something to do with us. It is no surprise that on the roads of Hungary Suzuki would become a symbol of the fall of communism. After forty years of Zhigulis, Trabants and Wartburgs, with Suzuki Hungarian families could at last own a “western” car – which through an irony of fate is actually from the Far East. This is why we Hungarians still regard each and every model made by the company as our own.
Honourable Mr. President,
We look upon Suzuki as our automobile factory, our very own automobile factory, because you were among the first to support us in the renewal of the Hungarian automobile industry. We also regard Suzuki as our automobile factory because it gave Hungarian people jobs during a period – at the beginning of the nineteen-nineties – when the Hungarian economy had collapsed and unemployment was soaring. Your factory, Honourable Mr. President, directly provides 3,100 Hungarians with employment, and indirectly another 30,000. We also look upon Suzuki as our very own because it has been a partner of the Government for five years now in a programme developed for people living with disability, and has helped the Government make life easier for people with reduced working capacity. And we also regard Suzuki as our own because it has taken our reputation to Japan and has, as a flagship, attracted a number of other major corporations to Hungary.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
We are proud that, with its total investment worth EUR 3.5 billion, Japan is the largest Asian green-field investor in Hungary. At the same time, Honourable Mr. President, your country is a major trade partner for Hungary, and our second most important export market in the East. Japan is one of the most significant investors in Hungary. Today, 149 Japanese companies operate in Hungary, and these 149 Japanese businesses give jobs to 25,000 workers directly, and consequently provide a living for 25,000 Hungarian families.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
There is another saying which I heard in Japan from the executive of a large corporation when I visited your country the year before last. It goes like this: “No hardworking person is poor.” We Hungarians are not as sure about this as the Japanese, but we know for certain that we, too, would like to head in this direction. We would like everyone who works to truly prosper. And as I see it, Honourable Mr. President and Dear People of Esztergom, the Hungarian people are able and willing to work hard. If we Hungarians start something, if we start something in earnest, we are able to make anything thrive; the best proof of this is none other than Hungary’s automobile industry. If there is work, there is everything. This is how we see the future. Work alone can bring about long-term advancement and prosperity for the inhabitants of the country.
Mr. President,
We have set out to reach full employment in Hungary, and I believe that we shall be able to reach this goal by 2018. You yourselves may have seen in the international news that Hungary has taken the world by surprise. Though of course we realise that one should not count one’s chickens before they are hatched, we seem to be on the right track: in 2014 the Hungarian economy grew by 3.5%, well above the EU average. I would like to mention here before you, Ladies and Gentlemen, that Suzuki Hungary has 74 Hungarian suppliers, and consequently Hungarian businesses represent around one quarter of the company’s suppliers. This, too, has contributed to the fact that in Hungary now, 455,000 more people are in employment compared with 2010; this also amply demonstrates the fact that we must not accept unemployment as an inevitable phenomenon. This week alone three Japanese companies have announced that they are investing in Hungary, and this investment means hundreds of new jobs.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
I also have to talk about some personal pledges which I made on my last visit here. If I did not, no doubt the Honourable President would call me to account at this afternoon’s meeting, so to avoid that eventuality I shall bring them up myself. We have agreed on two important things. First of all, we shall commission a new high-capacity bridge across the Danube at Komárom. Let me reassure you that preparations are well underway, and we shall be able to deliver on our undertaking on time. Our other commitment was to build an express road connecting Esztergom with the M1 motorway, opening this road to the public by as early as 2018. The chances of this happening are still good, and I am fighting for it in every way I can. Perhaps I should not mention this here, but I am fighting to make the bureaucracy of the Hungarian government – our own government – understand that the works should be accelerated in order to complete this project on time, because it is of the utmost significance not only for the residents of Esztergom and people who live in the vicinity, but also for the whole of Hungarian industry. We have a good chance, Mr. President, of honouring our undertaking.
Finally, Ladies and Gentlemen, allow me to thank the tens of thousands of Hungarian people who work in this factory, and the company’s suppliers. They are our most important argument. When we have to present arguments in the face of international competition in favour of a new investment being brought to Hungary, our number one argument is that of Hungarian workers – including those of you working in this factory. The determination, precision, discipline and commitment of the Hungarian workforce are the most important arguments influencing investments coming to Hungary; therefore, on behalf of the rest of Hungary, I would like to thank the people working in the Esztergom factory for the results achieved in recent years.
Esteemed Ladies and Gentlemen,
Finally I would like to remind everyone that we need three things for economic success: we need workers, we need businesses and we need government. We need people who work well, we need good businesses, and we need a government that functions well. If any one of these is missing, Hungary’s economy ceases to operate. The economy does not function of its own accord; it is like a bicycle that needs to be pedalled, because if we do not, it will fall over. I wish for all of us in the years to come that Hungarian workers, Hungarian businesses and the Hungarian government can continue to find a way to reach agreement and accord, in the interest of continuing Hungary’s economic success into the future.
Thank you for your attention.