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The handling by the Austrian Embassy in Hungary of tasks related Austria’s EU Presidency had a lot of challenges but the overall feedback was18010 positive, according to Austrian Ambassador Elisabeth Ellison-Kramer. In an extensive interview, she also talks to Diplomacy&Trade 771558 980700 about the importance of cross-border 977155898070018011 cooperation in bilateral economic relations, ties that are supported by the European Union 18011 through various programs.

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Painting with the Heart

This December, the lifetime exhibition of painter Pál Sárközy opened in the Abigail Gallery in Budapest in the presence of the artist and his family.

Opened by internationally known Hungarian cinematographer, Lajos Koltai, the exhibition gives a comprehensive picture of how the artist, also known as the father of former French president, Nicolas Sarkozy, sees the world see article on page 19 around him.

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letter from the publisher It’s a pleasure to welcome in the New Year that begins our 16th year of publication!

The country in focus in this January issue is Austria, Hungary’s western neighbor that held the rotating presidency of the European Union in the second half on 2018. Austria is Hungary’s second most important trading partner and one of its biggest investors. Our Focus features an interview with Ambassador Elisabeth Ellison-Kramer on the achievements of the Austrian EU Presidency as well as the aspects of good neighborly relations. Economic cooperation is discussed with the President of the Austro-Hungarian Business Council and the representative of the Austrian Economic Chamber while cultural ties are highlighted in an interview with the head of the Austrian Kulturforum in Budapest.

Our international affairs analyst looks at the (lack of) results at the recent G20 summit in Argentina and is of the view that the only tangible achievement was a freeze agreed on in the trade war between the U.S. and China.

The business page this month features a product show by Lebanese producers supported by the presence of the Lebanese and Hungarian agricultural ministers.

The WittyLeaks column is authored this by the Charges d’Affaires of the Colombian Embassy who recalls his childhood when Hungarian soccer players were the idols of his father and other Colombians.

In culture, we have an interview with a Hungarian artist who was recently in Budapest for the opening of his lifetime exhibition. 90-year-old Pál Sárközy deserves attention on his own merits but he is even better known as the father of former French President Nicolas Sarkozy.

Our wine page reports on the 9th Prestige Reserve Award ceremony - an event co-sponsored by Diplomacy&Trade. Of course, we also have our program guides, gastronomy offers and society picture compilations, as well.

On behalf of all of us here at Diplomacy&Trade, I wish you a Happy and Prosperous New Year for 2019!

Lebanese product show at the Hungarian page 20 Ministry of Agriculture

­­ contents 05 ON THE RECORD 06-07 COMPANY BRIEFS 08 ANALYSIS

20 BUSINESS

08 YEAR IN PICTURES 10-17 AUSTRIAN FOCUS

22-23 SOCIETY 24-25 WHAT’S ON

G20 summit in Argentina

PUBLISHER

Interview with Ambassador Elisabeth Ellison-Kramer; Advantage Austria; Rail Cargo; SPAR Hungary; Austro-Hungarian Business Council; Kulturforum

AND DON’T FORGET

d’Affaires of Colombia

Concerts, festivals, events and exhibitions in and out of Budapest

27 WINE

Prestige Reserve Award ceremony

THAI FOCUS - COMING SOON

CONTRIBUTORS: Sándor Laczkó, Tamás Magyarics, Réka A. Francisck, Duván Reynerio Ocampo PHOTO CONTRIBUTORS: BMW, Gyula Bartos, Palsternakka/Wikipedia, Gergely Botár/kormany.hu, Museum of Fine Arts Budapest, Erik Meza/Javier Otaola

Diplomacy&Trade is preparing a special Focus section on Thai-Hungarian relations in recognition of the opening of the Royal Thai Embassy in Budapest 30 years ago.

For Thailand, Hungary is the second most important trading partner in East Central Europe. Our Focus features an interview with Ambassador Jakkrit Srivali on the aspects of bilateral relations which will also be the subject of our interview with the Hungarian ambassador in Bangkok, Szilveszter Bús. Thailand is one of the most popular destinations for Hungarian tourists in Asia and is a new participant in the Hungarian government’s Stipendium Hungaricum program. Our focus will also highlight Thai gastronomy and sports in Hungary.

(Cover), Depositphotos.com (Cover), Chris Lofting, Tamás Szigeti/MTA, Depositphotos.com, Misibacsi/Wikipedia, Nestlé, Budapest Airport, Mária KasznaiNehrebeczky, MandiEmese.hu, Prestige Reserve Club, Embassy of Slovenia, Embassy of Japan, András Mayer, Embassy of Kazakhstan, Carter Bowman, Bolshoi, Dezső Korniss, Frank Maddocks, Müpa Budapest, Orsolya Véner, Zoltán Kerekes, Estudio Fotografico Andres Diaz/www.andres-diaz.com, Family Archives of Duván Reynerio Ocampo, Gábor Dorcsák, Zsolt Reviczky, BKA/Andy Wenze, Rail Cargo Hungaria, Zoltán Író, Zsolt Molnár, SPAR Hungary, MTI Photos: Balázs Mohai, Lajos Soós, Attila Kovács, Zoltán Balogh, Noémi Bruzák Copyright 2004-2018 DUAX Kft., all rights reserved | ISSN 1589-8075 This magazine is produced by DUAX Kft. The opinions published in the magazine do not necessarily reflect the opinions of DUAX Kft.

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21 WITTYLEAKS by the Chargé

Lifetime exhibition – interview with Pál Sárközy

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Lebanese product presentation

19 CULTURE

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The conclusions of the recent G20 summit in page 8 Argentina

Peter Freed

COPIES ARE AVAILABLE AT SELECTED RELAY AND INMEDIO OUTLETS IN MAJOR HUNGARIAN CITIES.

The 9th Prestige Reserve Award cermony – co-sponsored by Diplomacy&Trade

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on the record

BUDAPEST UNIVERSITY IN WINNING INNOVATION CONSORTIUM

The European Institute of Innovation and Technology (EIT) has announced the winning teams that will set up Innovation Communities: EIT Manufacturing and EIT Urban Mobility. These two pan-European partnerships bring together leading organizations from business, education, research and the public sector to tackle challenges through innovation and contribute to sustainable growth and job creation across Europe.

GRIPENS: TEN YEARS OF CONTROLING HUNGARIAN AIRSPACE

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CHRIS LOFTING, TAMÁS SZIGETI/MTA, MISIBACSI/WIKIPEDIA, GYULA BARTOS, DEPOSITPHOTOS.COM, BUDAPEST AIRPORT

It was ten years ago, on December 22, 2008, that new Swedish JAS-39C Gripen fighter planes began to take over the assignment of QRA (Quick Reaction Alert) responsibilities over Hungarian airspace from a fleet of Russian-made MiG-29s. Also, on that day, two Gripen fighters took off from Kecskemét to provide armed standby protection for the first time.

Flight crews and ground staff, deployed since 2006, had by then reached the level of training they needed to be ready 24 hours a day to fly, even under difficult weather conditions, and to intercept aircraft that violate the airspace or the rules. Since then, Gripens have performed ‘Tango’ (practice) take-offs 1,200 times, and carried out concrete ‘Alpha’ tasks 80 times but, fortunately, mainly because of communication deficiencies in passenger carriers.

With the introduction of the Gripens, the Hungarian Air Force successfully transitioned into a modern and effective NATO air force.

In September 2015, four Hungarian Gripen fighters and about 80 crew members were deployed to undertake the Baltic Air Policing (BAP) mission. The Hungarian contingent assumed responsibility for the air defense of Latvia, Estonia and Lithuania for four months, ensuring the security of the region and the NATO Alliance.

Recently, the Hungarian Air Force has started to train for night flight missions using newly-delivered night vision goggles (NVGs).

This capability will further enhance the combat readiness of the Hungarian Air Force and boost the contribution of Hungary’s Gripens to international missions. Hungarian Air Force has 14 Gripen aircraft (two of them under repair after accidents in 2015).

The consortium ‘MOBiLus’ – the winner of EIT Urban Mobility – has 48 partners from 15 countries, including BMW Group, Czech Technical University, City of Copenhagen, TomTom, Automotive Technology Center of Galicia, Siemens and the Budapest University of Technology and Economics. With more than 70 % of Europeans living in urban areas (representing more than 25 % of EU territory) and approximately 85 % of EU GDP generated in urban areas, there is a real need to invest in up-to-date urban transport systems. MOBiLus – with the motto of ‘Mobility for Livable Urban Spaces – stresses that the demand for shared, clean and on-demand transport solutions for people and freight in urban areas is also rapidly increasing as a result of many European cities setting ambitious climate targets to fulfil the goals of the Paris Agreement. This trend is set to continue with urbanization in Europe expected to rise to 83 % by 2050. EIT Urban Mobility will help ensure a greener, more inclusive, safer and smarter urban mobility system. Lluis Gomez from the City of Barcelona, the key coordinating partner, said: ‘Absolutely delighted! As EIT Urban Mobility, we will reimagine collective and individual mobility, shaping it according to local needs, supporting communities and stimulating the economy.’

EUROPEAN AWARD FOR THE PRESIDENT OF THE HUNGARIAN ACADEMY OF SCIENCES

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HUNGARIANS REMEMBERED ON HERTZ ANNIVERSARY As Hungarians have left their mark in various places all over the world from Hollywood to Shanghai, it may come as no surprise that one of the best known car rental companies, Hertz bears the name of a Hungarian, Sándor Herz.

He immigrated to America with his family as a child and grew up in Chicago. In 1915, he founded the Yellow Cab Company there as a means of providing affordable transportation to average citizens and then introduced the iconic ‘yellow cabs’. In 1923, Sándor Herz – bearing the name John D. Hertz by then – bought a rental-car company from Walter Jacobs, who had founded the Chicago-based business in 1918 with a fleet of Ford Model Ts, cars that had been designed in large part by another famous Hungarian, József Galamb.

József Galamb sailed to the United States to attend the 1903–04 World Fair in St. Louis, Missouri. Then, he stayed in the US and worked as a toolmaker. On a trip to Detroit in December, 1905, he met Henry Ford, who convinced Galamb to work for the then two-year-old Ford Motor Company. He worked in various positions before taking part in the Model T project. He is credited with designing the Model T's clutch, transmission, drive shaft, and differential. He also designed much of the chassis. In his town of birth, Makó, SE Hungary, a vocational school is named after him.

In order to honor these two Hungarians, the two companies, Hertz and Ford, held a joint press conference this December.

MEXICAN EXCELLENCE AWARD TO STUDENTS OF SPANISH IN HUNGARY

Mathematician László Lovász, the President of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences has become the first recipient of the Hypatia European Science Prize. From the 23 candidates put forward, the award’s evaluation committee, organized by the Barcelona City Council and the Academia Europaea – Barcelona Knowledge Hub (AE-BKH), awarded the prize, at the 30th Annual Conference of the Academia Europaea, to Dr László Lovász in recognition of his devotion to high quality international research and the return generated for Hungarian society and the rest of the world by promoting mathematics as a scientific discipline to serve citizens.

The Prize that comes with a sum of EUR 30,000 takes its name from the philosopher and astronomer, as well as the first known female mathematician, the tragic-fated Hypatia who lived in ancient Alexandria between 355 and 415.

László Lovász was born in Budapest in 1948. His field of research is combinatorics and graph theory together with their application in computer-science and operation theory. He has to his name ‘the local lemmas according to Lovász’, ‘the teta function according to Lovász’, and the ‘Lenstra-LenstraLovász algorithm’. He has had a great role in one of the main fields of Hungarian mathematics, i.e. combinatorics, which has become a defining field of modern maths. Recently, he has dealt with the mathematic bases of large networks as well as working out a theory of graph lines. László Lovász earned a Bolyai Prize in 2007 and a Széchenyi Grand Prize in 2008. Of the great international prizes, he has received the Kyoto and Wolf Prizes. w w w . d t e u r o p e . c o m

UPCOMING NATIONAL DAYS

Hungary and Mexico have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) that will endorse the Excellence Award ‘Mexico’ to be given every year to the best Hungarian gymnasium-level students learning Spanish as a second language. On December 6, the document was signed by State Secretary of the Ministry of Human Capacities of Hungary, Dr. Orsolya Pacsay-Tomassich and the Mexican Ambassador to Hungary, David Nájera, accompanied by the Heads of Mission of the Latin American and Caribbean Embassies in Hungary acting as honorary witnesses. This meritorious Award is intended to enhance and boost the interest of Hungarian students to learn Spanish, given Hungary’s cultural and economic approach towards Mexico and Latin-America. Also, the proficiency of this language will allow them to access to a vast range of academic and job opportunities in Spanishspeaking countries. The MoU is a confidence vote of the Mexican Embassy in Hungarian Youth and the potential of their talent to face a competitive and challenging world, a statement by the Embassy says.

In May, 2018, the Mexican Embassy recognized the achievements of 34 youngsters studying Spanish in Hungarian high schools. Many of these students are expecting to develop a career in cultural affairs, diplomacy, law, international relations, social science, marketing, business. Their enthusiasm and tenacity has been one of the most important reasons to endorse this cultural initiative, the statement concludes.

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ART PHOTO EXHIBITION AT THE AIRPORT The latest exhibition in the ‘BUD gallery’ series opened in December at Ferenc Liszt International Airport, featuring pictures of the airport by Emese Mándi, a young Hungarian photographer, in her very first public exhibition. The 24 photos that comprise an artistic presentation of life at the airport are on display on the arrival level. This exhibition, of no less than five years of airport photography, is on display for three months.

In this unique exhibition space, Hungarian press photo competition submissions, passengers’ snapshots of foreign destinations, and most recently, the special tourist attractions of China have been presented. Emese Mándi started to compile her set of airport art photos in 2013, for which technical support was provided by Budapest Airport. It is partly due to these pictures that the young photographer was admitted as a full member of the artistic photography section of the National Association of Hungarian Creative Artists. After getting two university degrees, Emese Mándi entered the world of photography initially as an event and wedding photographer. She won a prize with her pictures for the first time in 2008 at the photo competition of Panasonic Lumix (in the category of rendering people’s images), and in 2009, she won the first prize in the National Geographic competition in the category of ‘Travel and cultures’.

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­company briefs VESTFROST TO UPGRADE ITS SOLE UNIT OUTSIDE DENMARK

NEW BOSCH DEVELOPMENT IN MISKOLC

FLYDUBAI TO OPEN BUDAPEST ROUTE Discount carrier flydubai, registered in the United Arab Emirates, is scheduled to operate flights between Budapest and Dubai with a daily frequency from June next year. Although, flydubai does not directly belong to the Emirates group, passengers from Hungary transferring in Dubai may book seats on Emirates flights, and their hold baggage will be automatically transferred, according to a communiqué by Budapest Airport.

Flydubai will operate the Budapest flight with the most modern Boeing 737-8MAX planes in its fleet of sixty aircraft.

On this plane, the airline offers ten business seats and 156 economy seats.

“It is a great pleasure for us to welcome yet another airline to Budapest. What’s more, with flydubai, a dynamically developing quality airline is added to our offer which can satisfy passenger needs quite flexibly,” the chief commercial officer of Budapest Airport, Kam Jandu said. The new flight to Budapest was announced in conjunction with the launch of the Naples route of flydubai. As flydubai CEO, Ghaith Al Ghaith pointed out, “these destinations provide our passengers with more choice within our network while reaffirming our commitment to the vision set by us to create free flows of tourism and strengthen direct air links with the UAE.”

HANON SYSTEMS EXPANDS IN HUNGARY Korean automotive supplier Hanon Systems is engaging in comprehensive development in Hungary. Through an investment exceeding EUR 117 million, the leading South-Korean automotive supplier is extending its current capacities in Székesfehérvár, SW of Budapest, moreover, it is establishing new plants in Rétság, north of Budapest, and in Pécs, in the south. In addition to increasing production volume, the investment will feature the extension of the scope of activities by aluminum founding, as well as the creation of 516 new jobs over the three locations.

Hanon Systems, in business for over three decades, is one of the largest automotive suppliers in South-Korea, having a 13% share on the market

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Robert Bosch Power Tool is establishing a European battery manufacturing competence center worth EUR 44 million in Miskolc, NE Hungary, while expanding its current capacity. In the new production hall of 20,000 square meters, as many as 1,200 people will be employed and it will supply state-of-the-art batteries for the hand-tool and electric bicycle divisions of Bosch.

Bosch has become one of the biggest employers and largest foreign investors in Hungary. The revenue of its Hungarian subsidiaries exceeded HUF 1,300 billion in 2017, following an increase of 13.5%. The group employs more than 13,500 people in Hungary and has established 1,000 new jobs in the last year. Bosch launched several investments recently, which made the Miskolc plant the biggest hand-tool factory of Europe as well as the largest plant of the Bosch Group.

of automotive climate control systems. The key products of the company include, among others, automotive climate control and heating systems, blowers, compressors and sleeves, front modules, exhaust gas recirculation modules, electronic coolant

pumps and valves and electronic choker valves. Their products are manufactured in 40 plants located in 20 countries worldwide; research and development takes places in 18 engineering centers employing a total of 16,500 employees.

Hanon Systems Hungary Ltd. was established in 1990 and has been operating under its current name since November 2015. Its headquarters are located in Székesfehérvár, and their main activities feature the production of public road vehicles and vehicle motor components, which include air-conditioning compressors, coolant lines, fuel lines, fuel pumps, fuel pressure regulators and heat exchanger valves. The products are mounted into the vehicles of the PSA Group as well as Audi, BMW, Ford, MAN, Renault and VW models, among others. In addition to the production of climate control compressors, a compressor design and development unit is also already located in Székesfehérvár.

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Established in 2001 in Miskolc, Robert Bosch Power Tool Ltd. employs 2,400 people in Hungary. In the last year, its profile of developing and manufacturing electric hand-tools was expanded to include a new operational unit, the Regional Service Center, which is engaged in packaging activities, among others.A report by the Hungarian Investment Promotion Agency (HIPA) says that by transferring a part of its activities to a new production hall, Bosch can continue manufacturing on a larger area, thus reducing complexity and costs. Besides, this reorganization provides further opportunity to grow. Batteries are going to be manufactured not only for electric hand-tools but for electric bicycles (eBikes), as well in this new production hall of 20,000 square meters which can host 1,200 employees. As a result, the hand-tool factory of Miskolc will become the competence center of the European battery manufacturing of Bosch.

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NESTLÉ, BALÁZS MOHAI/MTI, BUDAPEST AIRPORT, MÁRIA KRASZNAI-NEHREBECZKY, LAJOS SOÓS/MTI

In order to allow the northeastern Hungarian town of Szerencs to “proudly cherish” its chocolate production tradition, Nestlé Hungária Ltd. has decided to terminate the manufacturing of confectionery products under the name ‘Szerencsi’ and hand over, to the local company Szerencsi Bonbon Ltd., the right to use this trademark. The announcement made this December points out, however, that this contract does not include cocoa products, for which Nestlé Hungária Ltd. continues to have the right to use the trademark ‘Szerencsi’.

Nestlé bought the long-standing chocolate factory in Szerencs in 1991 and restructured it, at the end of the 1990s, into a regional coffee and cocoa powder production center. “It was at that time that I decided to carry on the tradition of chocolate production in Szerencs. That is why I founded the Szerencsi Bonbon Ltd. and Nestlé continuously supported me in my efforts over the years," the director of Szerencsi Bonbon Ltd., István Takács said. He added that "to my knowledge, no such gesture has ever been made by any large company in Hungary, but perhaps, we would not find another example anywhere in the world, either. It is a great honor for me that Nestlé entrusted me and my colleagues with the ‘Szerencsi’ trademark and thus, the care for – and continuation of – the traditions of chocolate production in Szerencs."

As the Managing Director of Nestlé Hungária Ltd., Péter Noszek pointed out, his company is committed to seeing the importance of the Szerencs unit grow in the long run as a Central European coffee and cocoa powder manufacturing center. “With this, it can be ensured that Szerencs will continue to be the stable northern bastion of the Hungarian food industry in the next decades.”

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NESTLÉ TRANSFERS ‘SZERENCSI’ TRADEMARK TO LOCAL COMPANY

Denmark-based cooling equipment manufacturer Vestfrost is developing its only production unit outside the homeland. With an investment worth EUR 14 million, the company is planning to build new processing and warehouse facilities in its plant in the town of Csongrád, SE Hungary. The company will also improve its production technology and create some 100 more jobs, partly in the field of research and development. As a result of the advancements, the wine cabinet manufacturing capacity is expected to triple.

Vestfrost Co. Ltd. was formed in 2010 with the acquisition of Frigolux in Csongrád. Its core business activity involves the production of non-domestic cooling and ventilation equipment, which practically covers the manufacturing and sales of commercial and catering refrigerators and deep-freezers, along with their accessories, just like that of medical refrigerators. Due to the technology, which is built on a combination of decades-long manufacturing experience and the most modern, state-of-the-art manufacturing equipment, the products in the Hungarian factory are made of environmentally friendly materials only, especially in the case of soft drink distributors.

The company's latest development is the production of wine cabinets, a market that is dynamically growing. Through this new investment, production is expected to triple due to equipment and technology related advancements, which will be coupled with a significantly higher storage capacity. According to plans, until 2019, the plant will be extended with workshop and warehouse facilities on 5,600 square meters, also giving home to new activities such as plate machining and powder coating.

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c­ ompany briefs LINAMAR: EUROPEAN E-MOBILITY BASE IN HUNGARY

With the construction of its third site in Hungary, Linamar establishes its European electromobility center in Békéscsaba through an investment of HUF 17.6 billion (EUR 54 mn), of which more than one fifth, HUF 3.9 billion (EUR 12 mn) is provided by the Hungarian government.

The Canada-based automotive company is orienting towards electro-mobility and in the 10,000sqm new production hall, it will be manufacturing – with 250 new employees – its self-designed electric power trains for Daimler’s new cars. “Linamar provides 1.500 Hungarian small and medium-sized businesses with purchase orders, and has signed dual training agreements with the universities of Debrecen, Szeged and Miskolc, and its latest investment proves that Hungary has successfully transitioned to the new, automotive industry era,” the Hungarian Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade, Péter Szijjártó highlighted.

The Canadian group operates in the field, among others, of the manufacturing of automotive and mobile industrial equipment and of light, heavy and other vehicles. With more than 29,000 employees, Linamar Corporation has 60 factories, eight development centers and 25 commercial offices in 17 countries in North- and South-America, Europe and Asia, the Hungarian Investment Promotion Agency (HIPA) reports.

According to the CEO of Linamar Hungary Co. Ltd., Csaba Havasi, the company has been suffering from a lack of space in Hungary because of the expansion of the automotive industry. He explained that the company expects HUF 127 billion (EUR 390 mn) in increased turnover over a period of six years thanks to the investment, while hundreds of new workplaces could be created at the company’s various suppliers. “The Békéscsaba plant is Linamar’s third production center and fourth factory in the region, and assures long-term competitiveness as an e-mobility base of operations”, he added.

A member of the biggest aviation and military corporation of Europe, Airbus Helicopters will establish its next manufacturing center in Hungary. The Hungarian government is providing nonreturnable funding of an undisclosed amount to Airbus towards the project.

In the production unit to be constructed by the investment, high precision mechanical parts for helicopter dynamic systems will be produced from 2021, creating several hundred new jobs.

The Airbus Group produces passenger aircraft, helicopters, military and defense machinery and helicopters as well as tools used in space research and space voyages. The Group is active in more than 180 venues throughout the world and has a value chain consisting of more than 12,000 suppliers.

The sustainable and integrated new plant will be placed in a hall of 15,000 square meters. Two undisclosed Hungarian cities are shortlisted to be the site of the new plant.

The aviation industry has grown in Hungary recently since Lufthansa Technik added an engineering center to its aircraft maintenance activities, Diehl Aircabin established another engineering center following its capacity expansions in Hungary, while Swiss-based RUAG Aerostructures now has as many as three manufacturing units in Hungary.

As a result of this, the production value of aircraft and spacecraft production and repair was HUF 50.3 billion in 2017. It amounts to a 48% growth compared to 2016. The export-related price revenue grew by 62%. Its weight in the total price revenue reached 93.1%, the Hungarian Investment Promotion Agency (HIPA) reports.

Japanese carmaker Nissan has decided to expand its Central and Eastern European regional network. Operating as the center of this network, for as long as one year, the Budapest office will support the financial, accounting and invoicing processes of the two European manufacturing units of the company. The move entails the employment of an additional 71 employees in the first half of 2019.

With its 85 years of tradition, the Yokohama-based Nissan Motor Co. has developed into a leading car manufacturer of Japan and the world. It sells its vehicles in more than 160 countries and manufactures its products in 20 countries. Nissan established an automotive alliance with the French Renault and the Japanese Mitsubishi in 1999.

According to their own data, this ‘Alliance’ sells the most cars throughout the world.

Established in 2017, the Budapest business service center (BSC) is the first and only financial service center of Nissan in Europe. Also supervising the service center of Nissan in India, it provides full accounting services for the subsidiaries of Nissan Europe in close cooperation with the Indian center in all major European languages. (Nissan sold 756,000 cars in Europe in the 2017/2018 business year).

The activity of the center, which was established barely a year ago, is expanded to include the full financial support of the Sunderland and Barcelona manufacturing units. Further successful operation may result 100 people, or even more, to be employed in the Hungarian center in just a few years.

According to Managing Director of Nissan Sales CEE Tomasz Latala-Golisz, the company is well aware of the business opportunities offered

by Hungary: “The ambitious attitude of the young generation had a great influence on our decision.

Another important aspect was the immediate availability of skilled labor.”

EIB LOAN FOR THE DEVELOPMENT OF BUDAPEST AIRPORT Continued expansion and upgrades of Hungary`s main international airport are at the core of the EUR 200 million loan agreement signed in December between the European Investment Bank and Budapest Airport, the company operating Liszt Ferenc International Airport.

The EIB loan, backed by the European Fund for Strategic Investments (EFSI), the heart of the Investment plan for Europe (or Juncker plan), will allow Budapest Airport to continue investing in major infrastructural upgrades, in particular a significant expansion of its terminal facilities and related infrastructure.

The investments will increase the capacity of the airport in order to accommodate expected future demand growth. The new terminal will be a state-of-the-art facility and will ensure a world-class travelling experience for passengers, a statement by the company says.

In addition to the above investments, Budapest Airport is undertaking many other significant projects, including a new cargo facility, a multi-story car park and a range of projects aimed at ensuring a continued high service level.

These developments will ensure that Liszt Ferenc International Airport continues to be a worldclass airport serving a world-class destination while also maintaining the highest airport safety

photos by

ATTILA KOVÁCS/MTI, MANDIEMESE.HU, ZOLTÁN BALOGH/MTI, HIPA

AIRBUS AND HUNGARY: A LONG-TERM COOPERATION AGREEMENT

NISSAN TO DEVELOP ITS EUROPEAN FINANCIAL CENTER IN BUDAPEST

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and security standards. According to EIB VicePresident, Vazil Hudak, "the EIB is supporting the expansion of Budapest Airport as one of the fastest growing airports in Europe. Together with our partners, we will sustain and create jobs in and around the airport, support economic growth in Budapest and Hungary as a whole, and help improve the passenger experience."

Budapest Airport CEO, Jost Lammers said that "with plans to invest over EUR 700 million during the next five years, Budapest Airport will implement a series of important projects that will provide a continued high quality service level for passengers while ensuring a safe and secure environment for all travelers and thus improve the aviation connectivity of Hungary."

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analysis

A ROUTINE EXERCISE IN MULTILATERALISM

Others, for instance, former U.S. Ambassador to NATO, Alexander Versbow resented the missed opportunity to discuss such outstanding issues as the INF treaty and the separatists in Eastern Ukraine. Instead, the Western leaders confronted the Russian President over the seizure of Ukrainian naval vessels and crews; as far as one can see, Vladimir Putin was not very much impressed (or amused) and, as of today, there are hundreds of Ukrainian ships waiting to be allowed to sail through the Kerch Strait as the Russians allow through only one a day. Further sanctions against Moscow are not likely to force President Putin to back down either; in principle, economic sanctions are not extremely efficient weapons, especially against a country like Russia.

THE G20 MEETING IN ARGENTINA

BY TAMÁS MAGYARICS

A controversial participant The first closely watched event was the arrival and the acceptance of the Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (MBS) after revelations of the murder of Jamal Khashoggi. The lame explanations offered by the Saudis about the outrageous event convinced very few people, and the Crown Prince was publicly shunned by the other leaders – except Vladimir Putin. However, even others, who are generally known as having a tendency to take the high moral ground and lecture on ethical standards, were rather muted in their criticism (it was only Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau who allegedly raised the issue publicly during a session), while President Trump, who is not one for moralizing, said what others are likely to think for themselves: geopolitical and geostrategic interests are more important than the ignominious murder of an individual. So, what is likely to happen is that the Saudis will try to sit out the storm, and – despite

Yogi Berra’s warning – it seems to be quite safe to say that the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia remains one of the most important partners of the world’s major powers in the future, as well.

Second meeting canceled The meeting that did not take place was between Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin. This was the second time that the U.S. had cancelled a meeting between the two leaders: first on the margins of the 100th anniversary celebrations of the end of World War I in Paris, and now, in Buenos Aires.

The cause is the same: the Russian-Ukrainian conflict in the Sea of Azov and the Kerch Strait.

Moscow and Kyiv are accusing each other for the escalation of the hostilities between them which started in 2014 – and most likely both of them are playing with loaded dice (a.k.a. lying unabatedly). President Trump simply could not afford to have another ’Helsinki’; moreover, U.S. strategic interests clearly demand an independent Ukraine no matter who is power in Kyiv, and a friendly handshake and an exchange of pleasantries with Vladimir Putin would have been made life even more miserable for Donald Trump at home at this critical stage of the Mueller investigation. The cancellation of the meeting was met with mixed reactions. On the one hand, some – including Nina Khrushcheva (Nikita Khruchshev’s granddaughter) – called attention to the different treatments of Vladimir Putin and Mohammed bin Salman, and concluded that Saudi Arabia is more important for U.S. strategic interests than Russia, which Washington would like to reduce to and keep as a second-rate power.

Freezing the trade war The only tangible result of the bilateral meetings on the margins of the G20 summit was an agreement between Presidents Donald Trump and Xi Jinping. In fact, a word of caution is in order here, too: actually, only a freeze was agreed on in the trade war between the U.S. and China.

The negotiating teams have a tall order: they are expected to agree on questions like the theft of intellectual property by the Chinese, as well as cyber theft (again by the Chinese), and forced technological transfer in China imposed on some American companies operating there. There have been matters of debate between the two countries for a long time. In a broader context, the two sides may also discuss Chinese complaints about Beijing’s treatment in the WTO because the U.S. and the EU still treat China as a nonmarket economy with regard to, among others, anti-dumping investigations. Another quid pro quo in the bilateral talks may be stronger Chinese pressure on North Korea so that the ’Hermit Kingdom’ (better to say the ’Kim family fiefdom’) would be willing to make more compromises during the presumably forthcoming second Trump-Kim Jong Un meeting in early 2019.

Tamás Magyarics is a foreign policy analyst

photo by DEPOSITPHOTOS.COM

As baseball legend Yogi Berra once put it, “it’s tough to make predictions, especially about the future.” However, one may venture to predict that the latest G20 meeting in Argentina will not be remembered as a memorable event in history. At least not for what it was supposed to do, that is, to facilitate international trade and address outstanding economic and financial issues. On paper, a potential agenda shared by the members – the 19 most industrialized countries in the world plus the European Union, which together account for 85% of the world’s economic output and include two-thirds of the world population – has the potential to chart the road ahead for the whole world. In reality, the leaders assembling in the capital of Argentina were able to agree on some pious generalities and paid lip service to questions such as the long overdue reform of the World Trade Organization (WTO), climate change, revitalizing trade, etc. On the other hand, not much was said about such controversial issues such as the potential fragility of the world’s financial structure, the growing inequality between the highly industrialized and the less industrialized nations (a North-South problem), or the new challenges posed by the technological revolution. The communiqué issued at the end of the meeting was quiet about protectionism (presumably under pressure of the U.S.), while Washington again distanced itself from the Paris climate accord in a separate statement.

Even the anti-globalist and neo-leftist protests that regularly accompany the G20 meetings were relatively low key; the real clashes in the streets of Buenos Aires occurred in the days before and after the G20 summit between the football fans of Boca Juniors and River Plate – the Superclásico seemed to attract more attention and generate more emotions among the Argentinians than the presence of world leaders. The fact is that the show was stolen by bilateral meetings on the fringes; or, in one case, the cancellation of a meeting between the Presidents of the U.S. and Russia.

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year in pictures 2018 INCREASING FOREIGN INVESTMENTS

HISTORIC GOLD MEDALS FOR HUNGARY

According to the Hungarian Statistical Office (KSH), the volume of foreign direct investments (FDI) that fell back in 2015 and 2016, grew in 2017 and this increase continued in 2018. What is more, at the end of July, the German automotive giant BMW Group announced it would expand its production network in Europe with a new facility in Hungary close to the eastern city of Debrecen. It will be an investment of approximately EUR one billion, offer production capacity of up to 150,000 cars a year and create over a thousand new jobs.

The largest automotive investor in Hungary, fellow German auto maker, Audi celebrated its 25th anniversary in the country last year. Over this quarter-of-a-century, it has invested over EUR 9 billion in Hungary in the production of engines, chassis and tools, as well as in the assembly of cars. Audi began manufacturing electric engines a week before the announcement of the BMW investment.

The Hungarian quartet of Csaba Burján, Viktor Knoch, Liu Shaoang and Sándor Liu Shaolin won the men's 5,000-meter short-track speed skating event at the Pyeongchang Winter Olympics in February, taking the first ever gold medal for the country in the history of the Winter Games.

Hungary also took the first podium position since 1980 when the ice dancing pair of Krisztina Regőczy and András Sallay became silver medalists in Lake Placid in the United States.

Less than two weeks after the skaters’ victory, shot-putter Anita Márton claimed Hungary’s first-ever gold at the Athletics World Indoor Championships in Birmingham, England, with the best two throws of the year and a new Hungarian record of 19.62 meters. The 29-year-old twotime European champion athlete won the world title ahead of Jamaican Danniel Thomas-Dodd (19.22) and China’s Lijiao Gong (19.08).

25TH BEST OF BUDAPEST & HUNGARY AWARD GALA

GOVERNING PARTIES RETAIN POWER

The 25th Best of Budapest & Hungary Award Gala was held at the Budapest Congress Center on April 14 with 450 guests present at the event, representing Hungary’s and Budapest’s buzzing hospitality sector. The annual gala is one of the leading events on the hospitality industry calendar. Special guests, including Alexandra Szalay-Bobrovniczky, Deputy Mayor of Budapest and Péter Princzinger, President of the Board of Directors of the Hungarian Tourism Association’s Foundation and Tamás Flesch, Vice President of the Hungarian Hotel and Restaurant Association, congratulated the winners alongside Peter Freed, founder of the Best of Budapest & Hungary quality assurance system. Guests enjoyed a lavish fourcourse dinner and a midnight buffet. The evening was complete with a selection of Hungarian and Italian wines followed by a charity raffle to benefit the Magic Lamp Foundation.

The ruling party Fidesz and its satellite partner KDNP won two thirds of the 199 seats in the Hungarian parliament at the general elections held on April 8. The ruling parties now have 133 members of parliament (MPs) in the national assembly – 91 from individual constituencies and 42 from the party list plus the elected representative of national minorities who had been a municipal representative for Fidesz. The right-wing opposition party Jobbik won 26 seats, the Socialist-Dialog coalition 20 (8 + 12), the Democratic Coalition 9 (3+6) and the Green Party LMP 8 (1+7) seats. The Együtt ('Together') party won one constituency as did an independent candidate.

According to the peculiar rules of the Hungarian election system, set by the current governing parties in 2011, Fidesz-KDNP achieved a two-thirds majority in parliament despite the fact that they only received about half the votes in total.

PLACIDO DOMINGO JOINS THE VIRTUOSOS

MUSEUM OF FINE ARTS RE-OPENS

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In the second half of 2018, the Museum of Fine Arts hosted an exhibition – in the Hungarian National Gallery – of the works of the most influential female artist of the 20th century, Mexican Frida Kahlo, who has become an icon. Thanks to the Museo Dolores Olmedo in Mexico City and other major Mexican collections, over thirty paintings and graphics were on display in the Hungarian capital.

The great-niece of the world-renowned Mexican artist, Cristina Kahlo was in the Hungarian capital for the opening of the event. In an interview with Diplomacy&Trade, she opined that the work of Frida Kahlo is the reflection of an artist who is authentic in all aspects of her life, both in her personality and in her work. “As such, through her work, we can see her thoughts and observations on her personal and political life. Being the wife of a great painter like Diego Rivera, she always maintained her own artistic personality,” she said.

HARANGOZÓ

The number of guest nights in Hungary in 2018 is likely to reach 31 million in Hungary, which means the best ever annual achievement in Hungarian tourism. That is according to the CEO of the Hungarian Tourism Agency, Zoltán Guller who spoke about the 2018 results of Hungarian tourism just before Christmas. This prediction was also supported by the booking numbers for the rest for the rest of the year. He pointed out that the number of tourists in Hungary grew by 51% between 2010 and 2017, resulting in doubling the income from this sector.

He added that tourism accounts for 10% of the Hungarian GDP. Quoting the latest numbers available from the Statistical Office, he said that in October alone, the number of domestic tourists grew by close to 10%. Hungarians tend to choose a destination with thermal and/or medicinal water. For foreigners, the top Hungarian destination is still the capital.

For example, there were 30% more people visiting Budapest from the United States in 2018.

FRIDA KAHLO EXHIBITION IN BUDAPEST

photo by DÁVID

THE BEST EVER YEAR OF HUNGARIAN TOURISM

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The Museum of Fine Arts re-opened in Budapest at the end of October after three years of comprehensive renovation.

Parallel to the reconstruction, the permanent exhibitions were also renewed: the collection of Hungarian art before 1800 – which was separated from international art in two stages after 1957 and transferred to the Hungarian National Gallery – ‘came home’ after a long period of absence. As a result, returning to its original concept, introduced at the time of its opening in 1906, the museum is again operating as an exhibition venue presenting Hungarian and international art history to the public.

Besides showcasing ancient cultures thanks to its collections of Egyptian and classical antiquities, the museum has also become home to artworks from before 1800.

WITH SMALL MONKEY 1945.

ERIK MEZA/JAVIER OTAOLA - FRIDA KAHLO/SELF-PORTRAIT

BOTÁR/KORMANY.HU, MUSEUM OF FINE ARTS BUDAPEST,

DÁVID HARANGOZÓ, GYULA BARTOS, photos by BMW,

DEPOSITPHOTOS.COM, PALSTERNAKKA/WIKIPEDIA, GERGELY

In May, the most prominent figure on the international opera scene, Plácido Domingo became a shareholder in Virtuosos Holding Ltd, which has the international rights of the ‘Hungarian-born’ classical music talent show ‘Virtuosos’ and its spin-offs. The Spanish tenor joined the Hungarian founder of the concept and producer of the show, Mariann Peller and the Londonbased television, film and music production company Fulwell 73 hallmarked by the name of the well-known British actor and comedian, James Corden. As Mariann Peller told Diplomacy&Trade, “we are going to work on UK and US versions of the program, while maintaining the main values of the concept – like the importance of talent, professionalism, hard-work and quality; we have to figure out what best fits these different audiences. These series will be our entree to the international world of television.” She added that Placido Domingo, “as an active shareholder in Virtuosos Holding, will help us through his professional experiences and connections.”

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GOOD AND IMPORTANT NEIGHBORS

In the second half of 2018, Austria held the rotating Presidency of the Council the European Union with the motto: ‘A Europe that protects’. Ambassador Ellison-Kramer quotes Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz explanation of this motto that it was up to the European Union to respond to the worries of the population of the EU, including in relation to migration and the need for a strong economy.

“A strong economy must be achieved through modernization, keeping up with the actual developments in technology. As regards digitalization, the EU has to make sure that the European economy is keeping up with this

development. Another priority of the Austrian Presidency was the accession process of the Western Balkans States – or to use another term, Southeastern European states,” she adds.

Brexit An important issue during the Austrian EU Presidency was, of course, the intended departure of the United Kingdom from the European Union.

“The question of Brexit, as we all know, has not been resolved, yet. We were aware from the beginning that Brexit would be a topic. The economy of the United Kingdom being of considerable size, the leave of the United Kingdom will have important influence on various aspects in the EU, from security to the EU budget. We are very pleased that the EU’s chief negotiator Michel Barnier could lead a unified

FACTS COMPARED AREA country comparison to the world POPULATION country comparison to the world POPULATION GROWTH RATE country comparison to the world BIRTH RATE country comparison to the world LIFE EXPECTANCY AT BIRTH country comparison to the world NET MIGRATION RATE country comparison to the world GDP - PER CAPITA (PPP) country comparison to the world UNEMPLOYMENT RATE country comparison to the world TELEPHONES - MOBILE/CELLULAR country comparison to the world AIRPORTS country comparison to the world

HUNGARY

AUSTRIA

93,028 sq km 111 9,825,704 (July 2018 est.)

92 -0.26% (2018 est.)

214 8.9 births/1,000 population (2018 est.)

206 76.3 years (2018 est.)

88 1.3 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2017 est.)

54 USD 29,600 (2017 est.)

68 4.2% (2017 est.)

54 12,030,940 (2017 est.)

75 41 (2013) 103

83,871 sq km 114 8,793,370 (July 2018 est.)

96 0.42% (2018 est.)

160 9.5 births/1,000 population (2018 est.)

199 81.7 years (2018 est.)

24 4.8 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2017 est.)

25 $50,000 (2017 est.)

31 5.5% (2017 est.)

80 14,924,340 (2017 est.)

66 52 (2013) 90

photo by

BY SÁNDOR LACZKÓ

DÁVID HARANGOZÓ

INTERVIEW WITH ELISABETH ELLISON-KRAMER, AUSTRIAN AMBASSADOR TO HUNGARY

Source: The CIA World Factbook

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austrian focus Economic partnership and cross-border cooperation

European Union on this issue and that unity could be maintained. This ensured a stronger negotiation position for the European Union. Austria did everything to support Mr. Barnier in his task. The United Kingdom might leave the European Union, but it is not going to leave Europe. The UK will still be part of Europe, we as Austria certainly want to assure a good cooperation in the future,” she points out.

DÁVID HARANGOZÓ

BKA/ANDY WENZE, DEPOSITPHOTOS.COM, ZOLTÁN KEREKES, DÁVID HARANGOZÓ

photo by

photos by

Challenges and numbers ”A presidency is a huge logistical challenge with many meetings to be prepared for by the Austrian capital and the Brussels Mission. It also kept the team of the Austrian Embassy in Budapest busy”, the Ambassador notes.” It was Austria’s third EU Presidency. “The last time Austria chaired the Council was in 2006, which was, of course, before the Lisbon Treaty, so, the whole situation was different. Let me give you a few numbers to illustrate the task: altogether 2,722 events and meetings took place under the Austrian Presidency.

This included four meetings of heads of state or government, 36 Council of ministers meetings in Brussels and Luxembourg, 2,062 sessions of Council preparatory bodies, 161 trilogues with the European Parliament, seven European Parliament plenary sessions, 14 informal meetings of the various Council configurations and 363 other Presidency events. A total of 53 political agreements were reached with the European Parliament and 75 agreements were achieved in the Council. 56 conclusions and recommendations were adopted, a further 509 decisions were taken by the Council and 52 legal acts were signed by the Council and the European Parliament,” she adds.

“With regard to migration, an agreement was reached under the Austrian Presidency to strengthen the Frontex mandate for the protection of external borders and cooperation with third countries. During the Austrian Presidency, the EU succeeded in once again placing greater focus on the Western Balkans

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and initiating a new dynamic in the process of rapprochement for all countries with an EU accession perspective. Good and substantial progress was achieved on the next Multiannual Financial Framework of the EU budget for 2021 2027. Let me also mention the conference ‘Europe beyond anti Semitism and anti Zionism – securing Jewish life in Europe’ that took place in November in Vienna. A High Level Forum Africa Europe in December brought together almost a thousand companies as well as heads of state or government from both continents to strengthen long term partnership. Progress could also be achieved in environment and climate protection,” she points out.

As regards economic relations, Austria is Hungary´s second most important trade partner (the 2017 trade volume was about EUR 8.8 billion) and the third biggest investor in Hungary (with 9.94% of direct investments with a value of EUR 8 billion). According to the latest (2017) figures, imports to Hungary from Austria amounted to EUR 4.8 billion, and exports from Hungary to Austria totaled about 4 billion. The Ambassador notes that in Hungary there are nearly 3,000 Austrian companies operating, they employ about 60,000 people and she believes that intense economic relations are underlined by the fact that the Hungarian government has strategic partnerships with four Austrian companies.

Austrian firms also take part in future oriented projects such as in the fields of digitalization and autonomous driving, she says.

Here, ties between bordering regions also play an important part. “The border region of Western Hungary (counties Győr-Sopron-Moson and Vas) maintains an exceptionally good cooperation with the region of Burgenland. The EU-funded program Interreg V-A Austria-Hungary has been supporting cross-border cooperation projects in this border region since 1995. The aim of the program is to intensify the cross-border economic, social, cultural and ecological contacts within the border region,

to strengthen the regional competitiveness and to reduce the differences between the regions. The current INTERREG V-A 2014-2020 program includes 27 ongoing projects in the fields of education, labor market, support for SMEs, railway projects, water management, environment protection and even the cooperation between the wrestling federations. In July 2018, the Hungarian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade and the region of Burgenland confirmed in a new joint declaration the cooperation at governmental level that started five years ago. In the cooperation, infrastructure projects still have an important role and at the same time new areas of cooperation are identified,” the Ambassador stresses.

Cultural ties The Ambassador points out that cultural relations constitute another good example of cooperation between Austria and Hungary – “ties that can only be characterized by the words ‘large’, ‘manifold’, ‘very close’. From our side, the official point for cooperation is our cultural forum (Österreichisches Kulturforum Budapest) located in the embassy building. It is headed by Regina Rusz who is an Austrian career diplomat. The Cultural Forum is very active in organizing in-house exhibitions of modern artists, usually featuring Austrian and Hungarian artists together. There is also good cooperation in literature and in the field of universities and colleges.”

Events in Hungary Elisabeth Ellison-Kramer stresses that in Budapest there was an excellent opportunity for them to enhance the already existing good working relationship with the Hungarian government and its offices on all levels. “As Austrian ambassador, I was invited to present and discuss the priorities of the Austrian Council Presidency in Hungarian Parliament, to organize and participate in panel discussions with Hungarian universities and think-tanks.

Among the events organized by the embassy was an evening with the Minister for Innovation and Technology, Dr. Palkovics together with the Budapest-based European Institute of Innovation & Technology on ‘Building Bridges for Innovation – creating a stronger innovation ecosystem in Central and Eastern Europe’ and a conference ‘Translation and beyond’ on the challenges of – and new trends in – translation in the EU. It was a pleasure to mark the beginning of the Presidency with a big opening event featuring the modern dance company Europa Ballet from St. Pölten, Austria in July. In December, we were very pleased to invite, together with the Austro Hungarian Business Council and the Ambassador of Romania, guests to an outdoor winter reception, to thank them for their support during these busy months and hand over the important task of leading the EU Council. All in all, we received very good feedback on logistics and achievements on the European level as well as here in Budapest.”

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Kick-off ceremony of the Presidency at the Austrian Residence in Budapest on July 11, 2018.

Outdoor ceremony at the Austrian Residence on December 18 at the end of the EU Presidency.

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austrian focus

ADVANTAGE AUSTRIA is Austria’s official trade promotion agency and part of Wirtschaftskammer Österreich, the Austrian Federal Economic Chamber. It promotes and represents Austrian businesses abroad. With about 110 offices present in over 70 countries, it organizes some 1,200 events globally every year to bring business contacts together.

As the Trade Commissioner at the Embassy of Austria in Budapest, Jürgen Schreder explains to Diplomacy&Trade, “Budapest and Hungary are a traditional and important location to us, which is the reason it is one of the economic chamber’s oldest offices abroad, established in 1955. Currently, we are a team of ten people working on daily inquiries from Austria. These inquiries vary from ‘de-coding’ Hungarian law to finding business partners/ distributors/clients for Austrian companies that are willing to enter the Hungarian market. Last year, we answered roughly a thousand company requests, carried out 400 face-to-face consultations and organized 20 events where over 650 business related guests accepted our invitations. To sum it up: we provide a broad range of intelligence and business development services for both Austrian companies and their international business partners. We try to see Hungary through Austrian red-white-red spectacles.”

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Events He adds that the office’s main goal is to push bilateral trade and cross-border economy.

“We support all kinds of activities, if they promise to be beneficial for Austrian and Hungarian companies alike. Some of our events include trade delegations to Hungary, where we organize B2B meetings. Some others include trade fairs at the Hungexpo fairground. We present Austrian ‘hidden champions’ with their niche technologies to big Hungarian corporates, like recently to the purchase managers of MOL who were looking for very specific technology and services. We also organize ‘Austrian Business Circles’ where we exclusively invite the Austrian business community for regular, semi-formal gatherings at our premises to exchange thoughts on current topics.

Finally, we also aim to represent the voice of Austrian enterprises at important events, like this year’s Euroskills competition, where topics like a skilled labor force are central.”

E-mobility – with caution The Hungarian government’s focus is on attracting more and more vehicle-assembly plants and their suppliers to the country. As to how much Austrian firms are able to find their place in that chain, Jürgen Schreder stresses that “Austria is a classic automotive supplier country. There are many companies supplying German and international original equipment

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Common past, bright future Hungary and Austria have had a long common past and have had good neighborly relations for decades. However, Jürgen Schreder does not believe these relations play a significant role in bilateral economic relations. “What matters most is not the past but the common future Austrian and Hungarian enterprises see. The past, like common history, can sometimes be a good ice-breaker to start off with but is not effective when it comes to serious business. However, the geographic proximity of our two countries is definitely helpful in many ways. The two languages can make business more difficult, though. Nonetheless, I perceive that many Hungarians, at least in Budapest, speak either German (my generation tendentiously) or English at a solid level.”

As regards his perceptions when talking to Austrian investors in Hungary about the investment environment in this country, he says “we have about 1,400 active Austrian subsidiaries present in Hungary and we regularly carry out an investment survey to get a feeling for the hopes and concerns of Austrian CEOs. In 2018, we conducted this survey, called the ABC-indicator, for the third consecutive time and received the following feedback from our entrepreneurs: overall, they see a bright future in Hungary. Almost 75% plan to farther invest in this country.

The biggest challenge will remain finding and recruiting qualified skilled labor force, which is a general problem in Hungary. A stable legal environment is very important for a flourishing market because in the past, many laws became effective in very short time, which reduced planning security.”

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ADVANTAGE AUSTRIA PUSHES FOR BILATERAL TRADE AND CROSS-BORDER ECONOMY

manufacturers (OEMs) already. When these big corporations decide to establish a plant in another country, they often take their tier1, tier-2 and tier-3 suppliers with them. The presence of big manufacturers in Hungary, and in the whole CEE region, can undoubtedly be a big chance for Austrian suppliers. However, we learnt that strategic buying decisions are mostly made in the headquarters (e.g. Germany) and not decentralized (e.g. in Hungary).”

Within the automotive industry, electro-mobility is gaining increasing importance. ADVANTAGE AUSTRIA had an economic forum organized about this topic in Hungary in 2017. The Trade Commissioner agrees that e-mobility is a very dominant topic these days. “It comes with a lot of new opportunities and challenges.

We believe that as long as energy sources are not ‘clean’ enough and infrastructure for e-mobility is not available, to a certain extent, e-mobility is not the ideal green answer to many difficult environmental questions. This means that we cannot talk about ‘green’ e-mobility if car batteries are produced at high ecological costs and the needed energy for e-cars is coming from coal-fired or nuclear power plants. This was also the main finding at our e-mobility forum, which we organized during the first official visit of our newly elected federal president, Dr. Van der Bellen, to Hungary. We invited experts to discuss the future in this sector. The conclusion was that the concept of e-mobility is positive but has to be carefully thought through and economical as well as ecological costs and benefits have to be constantly evaluated,” he adds.

There have been movements of Austrian capital in and out of Hungary in the past 15-20 years in connection with the opening up of other markets in the region, with special respect to Romania, Bulgaria and Croatia that joined the EU in the past decade. The Trade Commissioner points out that “firstly, Austria highly profited from joining the European Union in 1995 and also profited from Hungary joining the Union in 2004. Austrian banks were pioneers in entering the Hungarian market and invested a lot of capital in the past here. This is also valid for the other three countries mentioned. Secondly, Austrian capital invested in Hungary decreased over the past years. The most important reason probably was that there had been certain risks for companies in the past, which made them cautious. We still remember a volatile time when (foreign) banks felt (legal) insecurity and a lot of pressure in Hungary. Companies, however, heavily invested as they were seeking new business opportunities in this country.

I think both sides have profited since 2004.

The vicinity to Hungary made it comparatively easy for Austrian business people to approach their Hungarian counterparts. Nowadays, the investment in Hungary has reached a solid level of EUR 6.3 billion according to the Austrian National Bank. Austrian companies employ over 60.000 people in Hungary. This makes us the third largest investor in this country.”

photo by DÁVID

COMMON PAST, BRIGHT FUTURE

Benefits for both sides

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INNOVATIVE SOLUTIONS FOR EFFICIENT RAIL FREIGHT

photos by RAIL

CARGO HUNGARIA, ZOLTÁN IRÓ

RAIL CARGO HUNGARIA RECOGNIZED AS ENERGYCONSCIOUS COMPANY

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The second largest rail freight company in Europe, the Rail Cargo Group strives to shift as many goods as possible from road to rail. The share of the environmentally friendly mode of transport in Austria, where it is supported by government, currently exceeds 30%.

In the second domestic market of the company group, Hungary, this ratio is still below 20% with more than 76% of goods still transported by trucks. The share of rail freight in the European Union is 17%. The company competes with road transport by digitizing the processes of Rail Cargo Hungaria (RCH) in Hungary as well as by using innovative transport solutions.

are even greater, and by 2030 the estimated increase in European transport volumes will reach 30%. It is difficult for rail freight transport to keep up with this rate, as there is a shortage of locomotives and engine drivers everywhere, and infrastructure has not expanded enough. In addition, in Hungary, track construction makes it difficult to carry out the existing transport tasks.

Enhancing services

80% of RCH’s turnover is from cross-border transportation. In the domestic rail freight transport, a particular role is played by the single wagon load, which means the arrangement, into a single train, of small quantities of consignments sent from each station as a directional train. In many cases, this is the only possible and sensible solution for Hungarian companies employing tens of thousands of people to receive raw materials and to send finished products to the market. Its annual volume is approximately 12-15 million tons. In Hungary, RCH performs this activity with full national coverage. The current state subsidy system supports the single wagon segment through the network access fee system, but an efficient, good solution for all railway companies would be the introduction of a target support system.

Rail Cargo Hungaria places great emphasis on IT development. In the field of railway operation management, it has a unique capability in Hungary: Rail Cube, the IT solution to be introduced in the near future, manages the tasks of operation planning and control, locomotive and engine driver control and operational logistics on a unified platform. As a result of operational management and digitization measures, the company has successfully retained its market leader position and improved its financial performance. However, the increased costs can no longer be counterbalanced by the means of optimization and digitization, and the railways must follow the increase in fees implemented in road transport in the second half of 2018. In recent years, there has been a significant increase in costs for the rail freight market, with some 40% increase in energy costs in Eastern Europe.

In Hungary, the price of electricity was raised by MÁV Hungarian Railways by 30% in 2018, and this year, another increase of more than 23% has been announced, which in itself raises the RCH freight costs by two percent.

Challenges

Costs and rates

In the rail freight market, a demand market has developed, with demand exceeding capacity by 15-20% at the European level. Economic output in the EU is steadily increasing: the forecast for 2019 is + 2%. The dynamics of the Hungarian economy

Track access charges have increased, and as a result of track upgrading and refurbishment work, freight lines can only be operated on bypass lines, which puts additional burdens on railway companies. In recent years, the increase in costs

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due to market pressure could not be passed on to customers, which led to the postponement of long-due investments and developments.

Modernization of vehicle fleet, digitization of operational processes, and reduction of energy consumption and noise load are among the top priorities on the list of developments. The current labor market situation also poses challenges for the company.

In order to ensure the profitability of traffic, RCH raises its freight rates by an average of 8%, and in some cases, the rate can be between 4% and 17%. The owner of RCH, Rail Cargo Group expects a two-digit service price increase from 2019 onwards.

Sustainability For more than half a decade, RCH has been consistently pursuing its energy and environmental policy. The market-leading company now offers a real energy-efficient alternative to road transport. The appreciation of this work came in 2018 when Rail Cargo Hungaria was the first railway company in Hungary whose sustainability performance was recognized as that of an ‘Energy-conscious’ company.

The company joined the Virtual Power Plant program, which aims to jointly create the second largest power plant in Hungary by 2030. Among other things, RCH contributes to this with the energy recovery equipment of its Taurus electric locomotives that are already replenishing the system daily.

The company operates an environmental management system (ISO 14001) for performing environmental tasks and measures more effectively. Employees of the company are also involved in the protection of the environment, and are actively involved in tenders and waste collection campaigns, organized on a regular basis.

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austrian focus

INVESTING IN CUSTOMERS SATISFACTION 93% OF PRODUCTS AT SPAR HUNGARY COME FROM HUNGARY-BASED SUPPLIERS Figures from the last closed financial year showed a record turnover for SPAR Hungary. According to SPAR Hungary CEO Gabriella Heiszler, it is a very good development for the retail trade sector if purchasing power is increasing in a country. “This is something that is usually strongly felt in the retail trade of food items. We can see that customers are willing to take a step upwards in quality, which means that they are likely to buy more expensive items from a given category, like those buying apples, for instance, might also purchase mango. For us, it means a move towards premium category. The key element in this is that the customer is willing to spend more.

Of course, it is also important that customers choose us instead of our rivals.”

Changing customer demands not, by far, as negative as the figures one can hear about in this sector. We have invested a lot in increasing wages and I believe that our labor market competitiveness is also reflected in this more favorable ratio number.”

SPAR Hungary is engaged in vocational training in cooperation with schools throughout the country, involving over 900 students, making it one of the biggest vocational trainers in the country. “We do not only pay attention to vocational training but it is also important for us to train our own employees, that is, we teach trade skills to the people we hire. We have built a training program based on experiences gained at our mother company in Austria. For instance, we have a ‘top salesclerk’ course for cashiers and behind-the-counter sales staff and those completing this course can definitely count on building a career within the company: they go on to become department leaders and form a pool from which store managers are then selected,” she adds.

as well as for ones that are smaller – or not so small but people do not need to search a ‘labyrinth’ to find what they want. We take this factor into account when we refurbish and restructure our hypermarkets.”

New stores SPAR Hungary is constantly developing its infrastructure. The CEO is happy to report that “in 2018, we opened six new supermarkets, which is a significant number. We have achieved the most dynamic progress in our franchise network by opening as many as 32 such partner shops last year. Part of this franchise model at SPAR Hungary is the network we build at petrol stations throughout the country.” As to how much the chain has been affected by the government’s decision to tie basically all changes/modifications in retail facilities to permits by the authorities, she points out that “this measure significantly slows down our progress of modernizing our stores. It means that a refurbishment process now starts with a period of 3-4 months for acquiring the necessary permits, that is, each project is made that much longer, not to speak of the fact that this may make the whole process more uncertain since the construction capacities are quite limited in the country nowadays due to a boom in the industry and the lack of skilled workers.”

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Labor issues Hiring/keeping staff nowadays is a challenge for many companies in Hungary. SPAR’s staffing policy follows the saying that ‘retaining is the new hiring’.

Gabriella Heiszler recalls that “we hit the bottom in 2016 when the staff fluctuation at SPAR Hungary was close to 40%, which means that almost every second employee had to be replaced. We could not eliminate the problem but we have managed to reduce this ratio to 26%, which is still high but

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SPAR Hungary and the Trade Union of Commercial Employees (KASZ) have concluded an agreement on wages applicable in 2019. According to the agreement, a large proportion of SPAR employees are going to receive higher wages from this year, and the rules concerning overtime and working hours laid down in the collective Agreement will not change. Additionally, despite the unfavorable tax changes, SPAR’s loyalty program, awarding employees with extra fringe benefits, will be maintained and the 13th month salary will also remain. SPAR intends to finance the increased wages solely from its own resources.

For in-store staff who make up the highest proportion of employees, as well as for those in logistics, initial wages reach a gross amount of at least HUF 220,000 HUF per month from January 1, 2019.

“In 2017, SPAR increased wages in the value of HUF 10 billion. In 2018, this increase was HUF 9 billion, while in 2019, this will mean another HUF 7.5 billion. In order to avoid tensions between the different wage categories, we paid attention to increasing the wages relevant to specific management levels as well,” the Head of Communications at SPAR Hungary, Márk Maczelka emphasized.

SPAR Hungary is operating within a franchise system, which means that it receives knowledge and know-how from the family-owned mother company in Austria. “Customers can see this by looking at our stores, the layout, the equipment we use – these are the visible features based on international experience. The other area where we work closely with the headquarters in Austria is the ‘back office’, activities, like the IT system and the central logistic and supply network. We also share international product development with the Group and a small percentage of the products we sell come from Austria. Of course, the concept of building the SPAR brand also requires close cooperation and our colleagues on all fields (HR, acquisition, etc.) have their contacts at the Austrian headquarters, people they can count on for support

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SUCCESSFUL WAGE NEGOTIATIONS

The headquarters’ trust

DÁVID HARANGOZÓ, SPAR HUNGARY

buy lots of items at the same time. The tendency is that they come more often and buy fresher goods.

In addition, we can see how much time they spend in one store, whether they are willing to wander around in the shop or just go, pick what they want and leave. As time is more and more important for customers, it is favorable for downtown stores

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She adds that SPAR Hungary pays special attention to following changing customer demands. One of these is that customers want to spend less and less time shopping and that includes time reaching the store. “From this point of view, our stores are a good mix. We can see that stores further away from where the core of the population lives in a given city or town struggle because people are less likely to

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austrian focus SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY AND CHARITY

93% OF PRODUCTS AT SPAR HUNGARY COME FROM HUNGARY-BASED SUPPLIERS

if necessary. So, the guidelines of our operation are not that strict, we have more independence in this respect than many of our competitors. We are very proud of the fact that the management of SPAR Hungary is basically 100% Hungarian. We are glad to receive this confidence from the headquarters and we are all working to continuously gain this trust in our daily operation,” the CEO explains.

Suppliers SPAR Hungary buys 93% of the products it sells from Hungary-based suppliers. Gabriella Heiszler points out that “we have an advantage of covering basically all 93,000 square kilometers of Hungary in a way that we are present not only in big cities and important towns where hypermarkets and discount store chains are found but also in areas of smaller population. Smaller chains present in villages have a regional presence, so, we are the only chain with whom contracts for real national distribution can be signed in this country. This is something the suppliers appreciate. And they also appreciate that we offer a really wide range of products. It is also important that we are open to novelties. We always tell suppliers that we want to be the first chain where customers find new products and also want to be the place where healthy products, for instance, are constantly available not just during a campaign.”

Diminishing border lines As regards the Hungarian retail market, she mentions two international trends that exists here.

“One is the convergence between retail trade and catering. There is a growing customer demand for buying ready-made food products that can be consumed right away or made available for consumption at home within a few minutes. The other trend is the slowly diminishing border between online and offline retail trade. Even Amazon bought for itself a food-store chain because distributing fresh food online is currently very expensive on one hand and on the other, it is not convenient and practical to order a few fresh bread rolls and half-aliter of milk off the Internet. Very much depends on the degree to which people insist on the personal experience of shopping where one can pick the best-looking apple or the best-smelling paprika or strawberry.”

The other issue she highlights is the present and future structure of food retail trade. “Actors on this market have to invest a lot in infrastructure and modernization and it has to be very carefully considered how big of a store is viable at a certain location. We have a strategic advantage of having our own meat processing facility where we pay a lot of attention not only to quantity in supplying all our stores throughout the country but also to quality.

Our Regnum ‘meat factory’ is the second largest such facility in the country. The establishment of our own sandwich plant and salad factory is again based on experience from Austria. We hope that with these forward-looking investments, SPAR Hungary is able to serve its customers at a higher level in the years to come.

For many years now, SPAR Hungary has focused on supporting communities and organizations that help those in need and work for the benef it of the public. Additionally, the company considers healthconscious lifestyle, conscious diet and the support of sports very important as you can see in this compilation of examples.

“Ever since its entry to the Hungarian market, that is, for over two decades, SPAR has supported the Hungarian Maltese Charity Service. Today, the corporation is present in the everyday work of the country’s largest charity organization, either as a silent member of the rescue team, or as an active participant in aid efforts. The value of the cooperation is signified by both parties proudly calling each other strategic partners. Cooperation started in 1997 when the first Joy to Give! (Adni öröm!) food donation campaign was jointly organized by the parties. It has since become one of the most well-known and awaited charity events in the country.

Managing food surplus is a very important social issue. In order to ensure that food is not disposed unnecessarily, and to prevent the volume of waste increasing, SPAR Hungary and the Bay Zoltán Nonprofit Ltd. for Applied Research have launched a special food-saving campaign. For the first time, in May 2017, unneeded long-lasting food products could be donated by shoppers at three Budapest SPAR stores. These were then transferred to families living in extreme poverty, with the assistance of the Hungarian Maltese Charity Service.

Donation is very important throughout the year, therefore SPAR offers a continuous opportunity to provide help: the HUF 200 and 500 donation cards of the organization can be purchased at most of the stores, and HUF 1 of the price of each special shopping bag sold is also forwarded to support the work of this charity service.

27th Budapest Wine Festival > SPAR also implements social responsibility in the field of gastronomic values: the corporation has been a key sponsor of the Budapest Wine Festival for years. In 2018, the event was organized for the 27th time. The event does not only aim to promote Hungarian wines, but it intends to help as well: the traditional closing event of the festival is the charity wine auction at which rarities, often not available in retail trade, and other special wines are offered by the wineries and winemakers exhibiting at the festival. Every year, the amount received from the auction is allocated to supporting a specific program of the Hungarian Maltese Charity Service.

33rd SPAR Budapest Marathon > Promoting healthy lifestyle, supporting sports and assisting people in need are important elements of SPAR’s corporate philosophy: these undertakings were joined at the 33rd SPAR Budapest Marathon® Festival, as well. This major running event with a record of over 33,000 entrants provided the opportunity to enthusiastic fans and runners as well to join certain social initiatives on site. The Hungarian Maltese Charity Service and SPAR also collected storybooks at the event: some 500 books were forwarded to children in need.

DÁVID HARANGOZÓ, SPAR HUNGARY

ZSOLT MOLNÁR, SPAR HUNGARY

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Responsibility for animals > In addition to helping people in need, the SPAR social responsibility initiatives also focus on being sensitive to the fate of animals. Therefore, supporting four-legged friends also received great attention. Food products, which are not suitable for human consumption (approximately 2,700 tons) have been donated to animal shelters and zoos managed by 120 organizations throughout the country. Additionally, the corporation supports the work of the Animal Rescue Service with feed tins and dry animal food collected by staff members of SPAR and INTERSPAR stores.

SPAR encourages lifestyle change > SPAR highlights the importance of preserving health. The SPAR Lifestyle Change Program aims to assist more and more people to make conscious nutrition and regular sports activities parts of their lives. The Lifestyle Change Program focuses on a handy, free-of-charge mobile application, which supports participants in achieving their goals with diets developed by experts, training programs and useful tips.

Also, the corporation has laid great emphasis on promoting healthy lifestyles and the relevant range of products, as well supporting people living with food intolerances.

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austrian focus

FOR WIN-WIN SOLUTIONS NEWLY FORMED BUSINESS COUNCILDEVELOPES QUICKLY

“Honestly, the idea did not come from us but from the previous Austrian Ambassador to Hungary, Dr. Ralph Scheide who said – in comparison that the German economy was very much present and visible on the Hungarian market: they have a chamber of commerce, there is the Deutsche Wirtschaftsclub (German Economic Club) and several companies you see on television are German firms. He added that Austria is the second largest economic partner of Hungary but this information is not very well known to the public and we should have activities that make the Austrian economy visible on the Hungarian market, present our goals, show what we do and bring an awareness of the Austrian economic presence in Hungary,” the President of the Austro-Hungarian Business Council, Othmar Michl tells Diplomacy&Trade. He adds that there are 1,400 Austrian companies in this country: “quite an important factor on the Hungarian market.”

Win-win solutions and fun

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So, logic dictates that next time, we make a Hungarian evening and I'm sure it will be just as successful.”

The next Council event will be a visit to Porsche Hungary, “to their parts center that has more than 10,000 square meters. It is an incredible distribution center, a logistic hub for Central and Eastern Europe. It will be interesting for our members to see how this works. We will also go to the construction material company Leier, which is located in Győr, where we will probably have the opportunity to meet the mayor of the city, Zsolt Borkai, a former Olympic champion gymnast.

So, we create sir several opportunities for our members to see other companies and how they are working; meanwhile, we are also doing a kind of networking with people located in the given region,” he points out.

Employment and environment According to the President, employment is the issue most discussed among members of the Council right now “because many of the local companies have problems recruiting quality people. Some of these firms could have even higher turnover and higher productivity if they could find the right people.

Educated people who are receiving training here are likely to leave the Hungarian market for a period of time and look for jobs elsewhere on the Western European market.

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of finding solutions is discussing the question at the meetings of the Austro-Hungarian Business Council.”

Another matter for discussion at Council events is that of the natural environment and the problems arising from neglecting it, like how to handle waste management. “It is a problem that does not stop at the border, therefore, it requires cross-border solutions. Transport is another issue raised, as are taxes and sometimes bureaucracy since quite a few companies have to deal with a lot of forms to fill in and they want to make their distribution faster,” he adds.

The need for an association Currently, the Austro-Hungarian Business Council has over 50 members and this figure is increasing.

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There is a long tradition of friendship between Austria and Hungary. “There have been times when Hungary was helping Austria especially in the times of the Habsburgs and the reign of Queen Marie Therese. It is an eye-toeye partnership – not the same as in the relationship with Germany. The Hungarian economy can look up to the much bigger German economy but it is much closer to the one in Austria – with the latter one, it has a more equal partnership. Austria has a very positive approach towards Hungary. Of course, there can be differences of opinion, politicians in the two countries do not always speak the same language but otherwise, we are living in democracies. Differences of opinion must be possible but our task in the Austro-Hungarian Business Council is not to discuss politics, our task is to discuss the ways to economic success and partnership in terms of having win-win solutions for the benefit of both countries,” the President concludes.

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Good neighbors

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The aim of the Business Council is to create win-win solutions.

“We do several events, we invite businesspeople as well as politicians who talk about issues such as tourism or transport. We have, for example, big transport firms with cross-border traffic. For them, it is important to have a smooth crossing to Hungary and back. Discussing such matters does not mean interfering in things but rather creating win-win solutions between Hungarian and Austrian economies. We also do networking and we will give our members the possibility to speak to authorities and politicians about their problems with the market, to make economic life easier,” the President stresses.

He says these meetings have been held “practically, every month since the organization was established. In the summer, we had a break but since then, we have had monthly meetings in different venues, programs which connect members through cultural and other platforms. Sometimes, we meet at the sites of our partner companies. Last time, for example, our members were invited to Unicredit Bank where they had the possibility to discuss financial matters. Then, on another occasion, we had a great time with Austrian music and Austrian wines during a typical Austrian evening in Budapest. It was a smashing success, with the room full to the last person, lasting until after midnight.

the CEO of Uniqa insurance company in Hungary for 20 years, we had contacts with firms of similar profile within the association of Hungarian insurance companies, for instance, but eventually I could see that there was really a need for an association of entities with Austrian links. There exists an Austrian chamber here in Hungary, the official Wirtschaftskammer Österreich but that represents Austrian companies only. However, we have many firms that are Hungarian-owned but with Austrian leadership. A fine example for that is Szamos Marzipan that has high-level confectionery production in as many as 11 locations in the country, being a supplier to several supermarket chains. The company is in 50% Austrian ownership and they are not represented through the Austrian chamber. Altogether, there are about 600 companies that have connections to Austria through their leadership, like the board members.

As you can see, we have produced a significant growth in numbers over this short period of time since our establishment in the spring of 2018. This is despite the fact that our website is not finished, yet, and we do not have much publicity about the Council. In fact, this interview with Diplomacy&Trade is the very first one about this new organization. There was a need for this Council. We had an example to follow, the Deutsche Wirtschaftsklub, that is, the German Business Club. Actually, I happen to be the Chairman of that Club’s supervisory board, having recently been re-elected for another three years. We have already decided to participate in some joint events in the near future including programs like the Oktoberfest.”

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austrian focus

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HARANGOZÓ, ZOLTÁN KEREKES

AN OPEN MEETING PLACE Cultural relations between Austria and Hungary are very close and intense. As Regina Rusz, the Director of the Austrian Cultural Forum (Österreichisches Kulturforum) Budapest explains to Diplomacy&Trade, “the number of institutions and initiatives between Austria and Hungary in the fields of culture, education and science is very impressive. As examples, I would like to mention the Austrian schools in Budapest, the scholarship program ‘Aktion Österreich Ungarn’, the Andrássy University, five Austrian Libraries and the Austrian Cultural Forum. The main task of the latter is to organize cultural and scientific projects between Austria and Hungary and to act as a service point for Austrian artists and scientists.

The Cultural Forum was founded over 40 years ago and it is part of EUNIC, the network of the European Cultural Institutes based in Hungary.”

AUSTRIAN CULTURAL FORUM PRESENTS AN INNOVATIVE AND CREATIVE COUNTRY

dance, theater and scientific events.

In 2018, we organized 250 events and reached up to 60,000 people.

At the premises of the Austrian Cultural Forum, there is also an exhibition space for contemporary art where we organize exhibitions with Austrian and Hungarian artists. We want to present the Cultural Forum as an open meeting place. Visitors are always welcome,” she adds.

The Austrian Cultural Forum Budapest organizes most of the events in cooperation with local Hungarian partners. Regina Rusz

points out that “for us, it is very important to develop our programs in close dialogue with our Hungarian counterparts. With some of them, our cooperation has existed for many years. Especially in the field of music, the Forum’s cooperation with Hungarian musical institutions is very successful. However, we are always open to new partnerships and cooperation possibilities.”

In 2018, the Austrian EU Presidency was another thematic priority.

On this occasion, the Austrian Cultural Forum with Eurocomm

International cultural policy The Director highlights that in Austria, international cultural policy is organized by the Austrian Foreign Ministry. “As I mentioned earlier, the main goal is to present a unique image of a contemporary, innovative and creative Austria. In this respect, the Austrian Cultural Fora play an important role. Currently, Austria has a network of 30 Austrian Cultural Fora worldwide. These are oriented on the specific needs of their local users and partners and have sole responsibility as to the content of their programs.”

Unlike in many other countries, the directors of the Austrian fora are always civil servants from the Foreign

Priorities The primary objectives of the Cultural Forum are based on the International Cultural Policy Concept of the Austrian Foreign Ministry.

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PR, the liaison office of the city of Vienna in Budapest organized a concert of the Bruno Walter symphony orchestra in September in Budapest. “This orchestra consists of musicians from Austria, Hungary and Slovakia and has a strong connection to the region (between Vienna, Bratislava and Budapest) that forms Europe’s geographical heart. A dance performance of the European Ballet Company from St. Pölten in Lower Austria was another highlight of the Embassy’s summer reception at the Austrian residence celebrating the beginning of the Austrian EU Presidency,” she adds.

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Ministry. Regina Rusz is no exception.

“After finishing my studies at the Diplomatic Academy in Vienna, I entered the Austrian Foreign Ministry in 1997. During my diplomatic career, I held several posts at the Foreign Ministry and I served as a diplomat at the Austrian Embassies in Serbia, Slovakia and Hungary. In January 2017, I took over the function of director of the Austrian Cultural Forum in Budapest,” she explains.

‘Fall of the Iron Curtain’ “The first months of the year will be very busy for us: many classical and jazz concerts, art exhibitions with contemporary Austrian and Hungarian artists, and film screenings will take place. The International Book Festival in April, where we organize our own book stand with the Goethe Institut and the Swiss Embassy, is another highlight. The 30th anniversary of the fall of the iron curtain is a key topic, which will be reflected in the program of the Cultural Forum, as well. For us, it is important to put this historical event in a contemporary context. We want to initiate a reflection process about the topics, such as common European values, migration issues etc., which are connected to the iron curtain fall,” the Director of the Austrian Cultural Forum Budapest concludes.

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culture THROUGHOUT THE END OF JANUARY

The lifetime exhibition of Pál Sárközy in the Abigail Gallery and Auction House is open to collectors, customers and art lovers until January 30 in downtown Budapest. Visitors also have the opportunity to purchase the exhibited works of art.

PAINTING WITH HEART DESPITE SEVEN DECADES AWAY FROM HIS HOMELAND, PÁL SÁRKÖZY STILL FEELS HUNGARIAN

This December, the lifetime exhibition of painter Pál Sárközy opened in the Abigail Gallery in Budapest in the presence of the artist and his family.

Opened by internationally known Hungarian cinematographer, Lajos Koltai, the exhibition gives a comprehensive picture of how the artist, also known as the father of former French president, Nicolas Sarkozy, sees the world around him.

The 400-page ouevre catalog of the exhibition emphasizes Pál Sárközy's love of life and art, experimentation, curiosity and quick reactions to world events, creativity and openness to new technical tools.

During his artistic career, he often tapped the boundaries of the imagination by creating works he defined as ‘Digital Fine Art’. At the same time, his works that can be found in several museums and important private collections of the world, are characterized by virtuoso artwork, unique vision, decorativity and vibrant color management.

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DÁVID HARANGOZÓ, ZSOLT REVICZKY

Seven decades in France As Pál Sárközy explained to Diplomacy&Trade, “I left Hungary for good in 1948 when I was 20 years old because I was about to be conscripted as a soldier and taken to Russia for five years.

My father had died by then. First, I went to Germany and then, France.” He did not have much of a contact with Hungary afterwards as his entire family had left the country, including his bothers who settled in Munich, Germany. “In the Communist times, it was almost impossible to talk on the phone with people here,” he added.

At the time of the interview, it had been exactly 70 years since he arrived in Paris: on December 18, 1948. “I had no shoes, my feet were wrapped w w w . d t e u r o p e . c o m

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in pieces of cloth and I slept on the street,” he recalled. For the past seven decades, Pál Sárközy has lived and worked in Paris, living on what he is best at: painting. “I fled this country, I was a refugee. I arrived to France as a painter, I painted portraits and was also engaged in the marketing industry, the artistic side of it. First, I was an employee at a major marketing agency and then worked as their artistic director for Europe. Then, I set up my own company, the Studio Sarkozy that supplied advertising agencies with creative works like drawings and marketing ideas. I never wanted to be a French citizen because I have always felt I was a Hungarian. It was my wife who insisted that I get French citizenship. When I asked for it, I got it within a month but I still feel Hungarian, I am not French,” he stressed.

French with them, of course. For instance, I ordered dinner in Hungarian but then, we spoke French.

However, when I come to Hungary and stay for a few days, then, I get the hang of it. I need to practice Hungarian for at least a day and then I can speak the language much better.”

He added that he first came back to Hungary after the 1956 uprising. “I had the status of international refugee and I was free to travel, I even had a lifetime visa to the United States but in Budapest, I still got nervous and went over to the other side of the street when I caught glimpse of policemen. Nowadays, childhood memories still come back to me when I walk the streets of Budapest.”

Father of the President His second child, Nicolas was elected as the President of the Republic of France in 2007.

“He was also in Budapest for the opening of this exhibition but then he went back to France as he is busy working. He was the President of France, so, he cannot call himself Hungarian. When he was here in Budapest in 2007, he gave a speech in Hungarian Parliament. On the model of what U.S. President John F. Kennedy once said when visiting West Berlin (‘Ich bin ein Berliner’), I told him on the plane to Budapest that he should start his speech by saying that ‘Én egy magyar fiú vagyok’ (I am a Hungarian boy). It took hours to teach him this short sentence. And that is what he did. He began his speech with this sentence and then continued in French.

Unfortunately, none of my children speaks Hungarian because when they were born I would have never believed that I would be able to come back to Hungary with them.”

‘A complete life’ For his autobiographical book ‘A complete life’, he collected materials in Hungary. To the question of what a ‘complete’ life means to him, Pál Sárközy said “I had so many different lives. As a child, I went to the school of the Premonstratensian Order in Gödöllő, east of Budapest, and by the age of 13, I spoke five languages, just like today. First, I lived in Hungary, then in France, Austria, Germany, I have a house in Ibiza, Spain where I spend half the year. I have five children (from two women), I married four times, I have 18 grandchildren and even four great-granddaughters. This autobiography shows that all these lives have made up a ‘complete life’ for me.”

It is not by accident that the venue of his lifetime exhibition is Budapest – it is his city of birth. “Each picture has a different meaning. In my paintings, I paint with heart. It is my life that is reflected in the pictures,” he concluded.

Still a Hungarian Despite spending all those years away from his motherland, Pál Sárközy still speaks excellent Hungarian and has not forgotten his Hungarian roots, but he is sorry that the rest of the family does not understand this language. As he pointed out, “I would not say my Hungarian is very good because I simply do not have the opportunity to practice the language. Even now that I am here, I am surrounded by several members of my family and I speak

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business LEBANESE PRODUCTS FOR HUNGARIAN CONSUMERS PRODUCT EXHIBITION AIMS TO BRING HUNGARIAN AND LEBANESE ECONOMIES CLOSER In December, the Hungarian Minister for Agriculture, István Nagy received the Minister of Agriculture of Lebanon, Ghazi Zeaiter in Budapest. Following talks and the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding on agricultural co-operation, the two ministers opened the f irst Lebanese product presentation in Hungary at the Hungarian Ministry for Agriculture.

regards bilateral agricultural trade, the exchange of information on agriculture, encouragement of agricultural investments in the private sector and extension of cooperation on livestock breeding.

Friendship and cooperation Speaking to Diplomacy&Trade after visiting the stands of the product display that offered wines, olive oil, seeds and other items, Ghazi Zeaiter said that “my visit to Hungary is part of our efforts to further strengthen friendship and cooperation between the two countries.

The Lebanese-Hungarian Memorandum of Understanding we have signed today and the joint committee we intend to set up will both serve the purpose of forwarding the cause of the bilateral system of relations and making cooperation between us more efficient.”

As István Nagy highlighted, “this product exhibition is about how we can bring the Hungarian and Lebanese economies closer to each other, how Lebanese goods can find Hungarian distributors and consumers and vice versa: Hungarian products and Lebanese buyers.

I can just repeat what my counterpart said: this ministerial meeting is about making bilateral relations more fruitful and more successful. The economies of the two countries hold out the prospect of great potential. The types of citrus fruits grown in Lebanon are rarities in Hungary and they have a place in our country to widen the range of products available here. At the same time, the Lebanese side can make good use of Hungarian expertise and technological innovations. We have agreed with Minister Zeaiter that the number of Lebanese students in Hungary will increase because there is no better form of

economic cooperation than understanding each other’s culture and language. These young people will be the token of the renewal of the LebaneseHungarian economic relations.”

The Lebanese agricultural minister stressed that “it is now time for the experts to work on the joint committee, along with the Lebanese Ambassador to Hungary, to coordinate not just agricultural ties but comprehensive economic relations between the two countries. if we offer excellent, healthy Lebanese products of good physiological effect at a consumer-friendly price, I am sure that Hungarian customers will react favorably. I believe that we have to build these relations step by step.”

His Hungarian counterpart concluded by saying that “there are entrepreneurial opportunities for Lebanese and Hungarian businesspeople to introduce Hungarian consumers to Lebanese products.”

photo by DÁVID

HARANGOZÓ

The two parties agreed on future agricultural cooperation opportunities. Among other topics, issues related to agri-foreign trade, agricultural research development and agricultural training were discussed. The signed Memorandum of Understanding

The two ministers (Ghazi Zeaiter on the left) and the Lebanese Ambassador to Hungary, Joanna Maria Azzi at the product presentation

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witty leaks

WITTY

IN THIS SERIES, DIPLOMATS SHARE PERSONAL ACCOUNTS OF THEIR EXPERIENCES ON “EXCURSIONS” into Hungarian culture, art, gastronomy & scenery.

LE A K S

PUSKÁS: A TALE OF THREE GENERATIONS

HUNGARIAN FOOTBALL LEGEND INSPIRES YOUNG COLOMBIANS, AS WELL

BY DUVÁN REYNERIO OCAMPO, CHARGÉ D'AFFAIRES OF THE EMBASSY OF COLOMBIA

When my father died a year ago, I found a picture in his office drawer where he stood by my side... or rather I, as an eight-year-old, joyful boy stood by his. There, he seemed awfully proud to see me all dressed up in the new soccer player outfit he got me for Christmas. This is my second Christmas without my father and that picture seems to have held time still, grabbing it by the ankles, scratching, brawling, hoping to never let go.

Whenever I think of sports, I think of Dad. Whenever I visit a stadium, I think of Dad. We shared the love of sports, especially soccer. It is from my Dad that I first learned about a man named Ferenc Puskás.

Colombians know next to nothing about Hungary. And that is not their fault. As the great Peruvian writer Ciro Alegría puts it: "Broad and alien is the world."

For my fellow citizens, the period between 1949 and 1956 has no sorrowful meaning but 1954 does bring back to some Colombians the memories of one of the best soccer teams to never win the World Cup. It is an epic story that, up until now, holds soccer fans in awe.

They may not know much about Hungary but many Colombians could tell a thing or two about Ferenc Puskás and the ‘Mighty Magyars’. In 1952, these powerful soccer players took home the gold at the Helsinki Olympic Games. But that was not unexpected. The Mighty Magyars had been undefeated since June 4, 1950 and they went on a winning streak of 42 victories and 7 draws for over four years until July 4, 1954.

photos by

ESTUDIO FOTOGRAFICO ANDRES DIAZ/WWW.ANDRES-DIAZ.COM, FAMILY ARCHIVES OF DUVÁN REYNERIO OCAMPO, FORTEPAN

Broad and alien is the world

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The 4th of July Hungary arrived to the Switzerland World Cup final with the confidence of having defeated West Germany 8-3 in the early stages of the tournament. The Magyars were the best national team of their decade and they faced the West German squad for the second time. Now, in the Bernese rain – this time, for the championship title. My father's hero, Ferenc Puskás, was injured in that very first 8-3 game by West German defender Werner Liebrich. Still sore, Puskás reappeared on the field in the final.

Hence, the ball rolled for what should have been the first ever World Cup title for Hungary. This, Hungarians thought, would do away with the upset of the 1938 final when Hungary lost to Italy 4-2 on French soil.

However, our heroes were not met by the bright stars of fate. The West German squad rose from its previous defeat to win an intense 3-2 final game, which they later called ‘The Miracle of Bern’. The dreams of the Magyar heroes were shattered by strong rivals led by West German captain Fritz Walter.

The Mighty Magyars achieved astounding records. No other team has gone undefeated for so long: 49 games in over four years. That seems impossible to emulate in our lifetime.

The Hungarian 1954 squad is the top scoring team in any World Cup, with 27 goals, a +17 goal difference and the highest goal average per game (5.4). Puskás, the greatest player of his time, was righteously awarded the Golden Ball. The winner of the Golden Boot (given to the top scorer) was another Hungarian, Sándor Kocsis, who scored 11 goals, imposing a record for his time. That

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mark was beaten four years later at the Sweden World Cup of 1958 by French star Just Fontaine, who struck the net 13 times.

But the legend lives on and Sándor Kocsis will be remembered as ‘the man with the golden head’. He holds the record for the highest goal average per game in a World Cup with 2.2. In the aftermath of the 1956 Revolution, Kocsis fled Hungary. Later, he won two Spanish League titles with FC Barcelona.

A similar fate reached Ferenc Puskás, who in 1958 left for Spain to become a worldwide legend playing for Real Madrid. He was the maximum

HUNGARY: A NATION OF CHAMPIONS

Hungary. The name itself suggests struggle, strive to thrive, to reach for more. It is the epitome of what onomatopoeia may be for a country. Hungary for more. Everlonging. Never satisfied. Those are the traits that define a champion... And believe me, Hungary has many champions!

With less than 10 million inhabitants, Hungary has received 13 Nobel Prizes. We are talking about a nation that has achieved 491 medals in the Summer Olympic Games since 1896. That places Hungary as the overall 10th highest Olympic medals winner. It is also the country with the most per capita medals out of the Top Ten, collecting one Olympic title per 19,920 people. That probably means that if these top athletes were all still alive there'd be an Olympic champion in every neighborhood of this lovely country. At first glance every foreigner may be fooled by how easy it seems to become a champion in Hungary, because Hungarians simply make it look so effortless... Though, it is obviously not.

I can honestly say that I have met more Olympic champions in the first half year I've lived in Hungary than anywhere else in my entire life. That is as impressive as it is humbling.

Precisely what I love the most about Hungary's top athletes is their humbleness and nonchalance. If I was the fastest or most skillful man on land or air or water, I'd be wearing that gold medal around my neck even in my sleep. Alas, I am not!

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scorer twice in the European Cup and four times in the Spanish League. As a ‘Madridista’ star, he became one of the all-time top scorers, with 746 goals in 754 games. That is an impressive average of 0.99 goals per game.

Drag-back to 1956 What would have happened to Hungarian soccer if the harsh Soviet repression of the 1956 Revolution had not taken place? Would it have led to a consolidation of Hungary as one of the leading soccer nations worldwide?

We may never know. But we do know the Mighty Magyars inspired millions of ‘aficionados’ of the ‘beautiful game’. Among them a kid from the coffee region in the Andes mountains of Colombia, who was 18 years old when the TV first arrived to his country in June 1954, right when the first ever televised World Cup was about to start. That young dribbler, José Reinaldo, my Dad, lived in the province of Caldas in the countryside.

He went to school in the mornings, kicked a soccer ball with friends and picked coffee by hand in the afternoons. He could not afford a TV but he followed the World Cup on the radio and through one of our preferred literary genres: ‘The sports chronicle’. Later, he would continue to follow the career of his three favorite stars: Brazilians Pelé and Garrincha and Hungarian Ferenc Puskás.

When I was a teenager, in the 1990s, a Colombian newspaper published a collection with the videos of all the World Cups ever recorded. Dad bought them for us week by week and we went through them together like candy. I fear we almost burned the tapes rewinding the scenes to watch Puskás’ ‘drag-back’ and other amazing skills.

‘El Cañoncito Pum’ Puskás, nicknamed in Spain ‘Pancho’ (we, Latinos, really can't pronounce Hungarian) or ‘El Cañoncito Pum’ (The Little Canon that goes Bang) passed away in 2006. Not surprisingly, the international football federation FIFA named the award for the ‘most beautiful’ goal of the year after him in 2009. There is no better tribute, since he mastered an elegant style of play few have ever emulated.

In 2014, Colombian midfielder James Rodríguez won the Golden Boot with six goals overall at the Brazil World Cup. One of those goals, a brilliant left-foot strike from outside the area after stopping the ball with his chest, was given the FIFA Puskás Award. Colombian team captain James was then hired by Real Madrid, following on the footsteps of the Hungarian legend whose trophy he proudly held.

Kids like my nephews Mateo and Pablo, who are already better soccer players than their grandfather or uncle ever where, rushed to Google this Puskás fellow whom their elders so deeply admired. They were not disappointed, though, the black and white video threw them off a bit.

My father never got to know I would be posted as a diplomat in Budapest. I visited the Maracaná stadium in Rio once and brought him a jersey.

I will salute him with undying love during my first visit to the Ferenc Puskás Stadium.

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society

Thailand National Day The Ambassador of the Kingdom of Thailand, Jakkrit Srivali entertained guests at the Museum of Military History in Budapest to commemorate the birthday of the late King Bhumibol Adulyadej in 1927. In Thailand, this day is observed as a National Day – as declared by the Royal Thai Government – as well as Father's Day.

Slovene Independence Day The Ambassador of the Republic of Slovenia, Dr. Robert Kokalj and the President of the Association of Slovenes in Budapest, Ágota Kállay invited guests to the quintet concert 'Musical Greetings from Carinthia' by young Slovenian academic musicians in the Kálvin Square Reformed Church in Budapest to celebrate the Independence and Unity Day of the Republic of Slovenia. The concert was followed by a celebratory toast.

Anniversary of the Spanish Constitution On the 40th anniversary of her country’s constitution, the Ambassador of the Kingdom of Spain, Anunciada Fernández de Córdova held a commemorative event at her residence, the Hatvany-Deutsch Palace in Budapest in the middle of December.

After some introductory remarks, she read the first three articles of the constitution in Spanish. The same passages were then read in English by Elisabeth EllisonKramer, the ambassador of Austria, the then holder of the EU Presidency and in Hungarian by Dr. Tamás Sulyok, the President of the Hungarian Constitutional Court.

In celebration of the Birthday of the Emperor of Japan, the country’s Ambassador to Hungary, Kuni Sato welcomed guests to a reception in the Ballroom of the Budapest Marriott Hotel. The Emperor's Birthday is a national holiday on the Japanese calendar. Emperor Akihito was born on 23 December 1933.

UAE Union Day In celebration of the 47th National Day of the United Arab Emirates, the country’s ambassador to Hungary, Abdulhamid Abdulfattah Kazim Abdulfattah Almulla welcomed guests to a reception in the Grand Ballroom of the Kempinski Hotel Corvinus Budapest this December.

Independence Day of Finland

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To commemorate his country’s Independence Day, the Ambassador of the Republic of Finland, Markku Virri held a reception at his residence on Gellért Hill in Budapest. It was 101 years ago, on December 6, 1917, that the Finnish Declaration of Independence (from Russia) was adopted by the Parliament of Finland.

EMBSASSY OF SLOVENIA, DÁVID HARANGOZÓ, EMBASSY OF JAPAN, ANDRÁS MAYER

The Emperor's Birthday

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society

Diplomacy&Trade Club Germany Following the publication of extensive German Focus sections in the October and December issues of Diplomacy&Trade, the Diplomacy&Trade Club – in cooperation with the Kempinski Hotel Corvinus Budapest – held a special event on December 5. The club event was attended by members of the diplomatic corps accredited to Budapest, top managers of the German multinational companies present in Hungary as well as the CEOs of other multinational companies. After introductory remarks by the Director of the Kempinski Hotel Corvinus Budapest, Stephan Interthal and the Publisher of Diplomacy&Trade, Peter Freed, the German Ambassador to Hungary, Volkmar Karl Wenzel spoke about the various aspects of German-Hungarian relations, followed by a Q&A session and a casual networking event.

Lucia Day

National Day of Kazakhstan The Kazakh Ambassador to Hungary, Nurbakh Rustemov welcomed guests for a reception at the Budapest Marriott Hotel on the 27th anniversary of his country’s National Day, marking the independence of Kazakhstan in December 1991 following the collapse of the Soviet Union.

Guests were entertained by a concert organized by the Kazakh National Academy of Arts.

New Ambassadors Three new ambassadors accredited to Hungary presented their credentials to Hungarian President János Áder at the Sándor Palace in the Buda Castle this December (pictured from left to right): Ivan Todorov from the Republic of Serbia, Ashraf M. Mohieldin Elmoafi from the Arab Republic of Egypt and Kumar Tuhin from the Republic of India.

photos by DÁVID

HARANGOZÓ, EMBASSY OF KAZAKHSTAN, NOÉMI BRUZÁK/MTI, GÁBOR DORCSÁK

The Ambassador of the Kingdom of Sweden, Niclas Trouvé invited guests, including Swedish nationals living in Hungary, “to a light bringing, spectacular Lucia celebration on Lucia Day, December 13,” to Brody Studios in Budapest. Participants were entertained – among others – by the Tátika children’s choir of the Fabriczius József Elementary School in Budapest.

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what's on BOLSHOI THEATER

JANUARY 9, ERKEL THEATER Moscow’s Bolshoi Theater is both one of the most famous opera houses in the world and Russia’s premier musical theater, and its soloists will be coming to Hungary in January. Opera singers Elena Zelenskaya, Svetlana Shilova, Andrei Grigoriev, Roman Muravitsky, Olga Ionova and Alexei Neklyudov will be delighting the Erkel Theater audience with works by Verdi, Puccini, Gounod, Tchaikovsky, Offenbach and Mozart, featuring excerpts from the most popular Italian operas: Carmen, La traviata, La bohème, Rigoletto, Tosca and Turandot, with music supplied by the Monarchy Symphonic Orchestra under the baton of Kossuth Prizewinning conductor Ádám Medveczky. www.jegy.hu

SKATING IN THE CITY PARK

UNTIL FEBRUARY 28 There is nothing more classic, more festive, more “wintery” than skating – and skating at the City Park Ice Rink (Városligeti Műjégpálya) is truly skating in style. The City Park Ice Rink is the oldest functioning ice rink in Hungary and, to this day, it is the largest outdoor artificial ice surface in Europe. The moment the ice rink opens in late November, you find locals and city visitors alike swirling and twirling on the rink, set against the Vajdahunyad Castle. There are bustling crowds on the terraces, either queuing up, waiting for their chance to glide onto the ice, or simply admiring the skaters and sipping mulled wine. And then, there’s the irresistible smell and taste of the chimney cake, sold nearby.

Skates can be rented at the rink. www.mujegpalya.hu

ONLY FROM A PURE SOURCE – TRADITION AND ABSTRACTION IN THE ART OF DEZSŐ KORNISS

JANUARY 18, BUDAPEST ARENA Renowned for performing classical and pop songs in stunning harmony vocal arrangements, BLAKE is three young men, Ollie Baines, Stephen Bowman and Humphrey Berney, who enthral fans the world over with their amazing singing, hit albums and charismatic stage presence. With over a million albums sold, No. 1 hits in ten countries and nearly 150 TV appearances around the globe, they continue to build their reputation as one of today’s most eclectic and exciting classical ‘crossover’ groups.

Their friendship and musical careers date back to their school days, but just six months after reuniting as adults via Facebook, Blake were ready to launch their debut album in 2007. It was a phenomenal success going straight to No. 1 on the UK Classical Album Chart and taking the pop charts by storm. With over 100,000 copies of the album selling in just three weeks, the group earned their first Gold Disc. The album received the Classical Brit Award for Album of the Year in 2008. Their second album, And So It Goes, went straight in at No. 12 in the UK pop charts and No.1 in several classical charts around the world. In 2010 Blake’s original track, ‘Beautiful Earth’, was selected by the World Wildlife Fund as its Earth Hour Anthem. The group was invited to perform at the Olympic Stadium in the runup to the 2012 Games. In 2013, they launched their fourth album ’Start Over’ revealing a new contemporary and original harmony sound. In addition to their worldwide touring schedule, Blake also find time to perform and work as ambassadors for their many selected charities, which include Cancer Research, The War Widows Association, The World Wildlife Fund, Clic Sargent, The Prince’s Trust, Variety (The Children’s Charity), MIND, Starlight, The Royal British Legion, Help for Heroes and Walking With The Wounded. Towards the end of 2014, Blake released their fifth album ‘In Harmony’. To celebrate their 10th Anniversary in 2018 Blake released their Anniversary Album in March which shot straight to Number One in the UK Classical Charts and it remains in the charts today. www.jegy.hu

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BLAKE CONCERT

DEPOSITPHOTOS.COM, CARTER BOWMAN, BOLSHOI, DEZSŐ KORNISS: MISKA, 1954 © MUSEUM OF FINE ARTS - HUNGARIAN NATIONAL GALLERY

UNTIL APRIL 9, HUNGARIAN NATIONAL GALLERY This exhibition is devoted to one of the most important and influential figures of modern Hungarian art: painter Dezső Korniss (1908-1984). The 110th anniversary of the artist’s birth provides a great opportunity for the museum to examine and present his art focusing on folklore: the world of folk songs, the ornaments of Transylvanian headboards and the palette of Transylvanian woven textiles are all manifest in Korniss’s works. Korniss inspired prominent figures of Hungarian art, who combined their own pictorial worlds with folk motifs pushed to the periphery in the 1960s. Imre Bak, Tibor Csiky, Ilona Keserü and István Nádler nurtured personal ties with him. The exhibition will display almost 200 Dezső Korniss works from Hungarian private collections and museums. Nicely fitting in with these compositions will be the special treasures loaned by the Budapest Museum of Ethnography, many of which will be exhibited for the very first time.

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what's on THE GRAND CHINESE NEW YEAR CONCERT

JANUARY 31, MÜPA According to the Chinese calendar, the Year of the Dog makes way for the Year of the Pig on 5 February 2019. The idea behind the Grand Chinese New Year Concert held to mark the occasion is to combine the classical music traditions of East and West, and the cultures of Europe and Asia. Launched in 1998, this concert series brings leading Chinese ensembles to perform traditional Chinese music, dressed in the appropriate attire. The Suzhou Chinese Orchestra is considered one of the most committed representatives and popularisers of the folk music of the Jiangnan region. The musicians regularly take part in workshops, competitions and festivals both in China and abroad. In May 2018, they were the only traditional ensemble to be invited to the prestigious Beijing Modern Music Festival, where they got the chance to play amidst the excellent acoustics of the massive Beijing Concert Hall and to show how it is possible to play the folk music of their region in a modern musical setting while still preserving the character of Suzhou and Jiangnan.

Pang Kapang, the orchestra's artistic director and first director, graduated in Kiev in 1997 (as the only Asian to be admitted to the conducting course named after Kirill Kondrashin). He was appointed conductor of the Chinese Radio Orchestra the following year and later gained experience with both Chinese and Western classical music. In 2004, he was named one of China's ten most talented young conductors. Equally comfortable in the worlds of both Chinese and Western classical music, he has also grown fond of presenting 20th-century European works in recent years, along with contemporary Chinese pieces. www.mupa.hu

FREAK FUSION: FIGHTINGRAVITY

FRANK MADDOCKS, MÜPA BUDAPEST, ORSOLYA VÉNER, DEPOSITPHOTOS.COM

JANUARY 11, TRAFÓ Like everyone, a circus artist life is dictated by the downward pressure of gravity – hanging in suspension, floating, hovering, tumbling, doubting. But through the medium of circus, impossible situations can be brought to life in front of our eyes. What would it be like if gravity was inverted? How would it be to live life upside down? What would happen if we were literally able to ‘climb up the walls’? This performance takes theories and then shatters them, allowing the audience to experience, for a moment, what it is like to challenge this ever-present downward pressure. www.trafo.hu

MIKE SHINODA

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MARCH 12, BUDAPEST ARENA Mike Shinoda announced his European tour dates for March 2019, following a widely acclaimed North American headline run on the Monster Energy Outbreak Tour, and according to the announcement, he’ll step on stage in Budapest on March 12. Shinoda is a songwriter, performer, record producer, film composer and visual artist. He is best known as co-lead vocalist for multi-platinum GrammyAward winning rock band, Linkin Park, which has sold over 55 million albums worldwide and commanded a massive fan following, holding the title as the most-liked band on Facebook and amassing over 5.5 billion YouTube views.

Shinoda is the founding member of the group, which achieved the best-selling debut of this century with their Diamond-certified album, Hybrid Theory, selling over 10 million copies in the US alone. As a band, they sold out stadiums around the globe and earned a multitude of accolades including 2 Grammy Awards, 5 American Music Awards, 4 MTV VMA Awards, 10 MTV Europe Music Awards and 3 World Music Awards. In 2005, Shinoda launched his first solo project, ‘Fort Minor,’ releasing ‘The Rising Tied’ to critical acclaim, with the single ‘Where’d You Go,’ which reached number 4 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart and accumulated nearly 10 million YouTube views to date. www.livenation.hu

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THE MUSEUM AND LIBRARY OF HUNGARIAN AGRICULTURE

YEAR-ROUND, CITY PARK Vajdahunyad Castle is one of the main attractions of the City Park. The extraordinary building complex, designed by Ignác Alpár, presents the greatest collection of agriculture-related objects in Hungary and indeed the world. Today the Museum and Library of Hungarian Agriculture displays the history of agriculture in way that is unique in Europe. Experts curate nine permanent and a great number of temporary exhibitions. With its 40 collections, it showcases the history and development of Hungarian agriculture, forestry, hunting and fishing, viticulture, domestication, Hungarian flora and horse breeding. Admire the chronologically organized stag, deer and boar trophies, some of which are world record setters. The tower tour and castle walks will provide information about the structure and the history of the castle. The more than a century-old history of the Museum and Library of Hungarian Agriculture is full of calamities and damages suffered during the two World Wars, but today it proudly continues to present Hungary's rich agricultural history and its hidden treasures. The Gatehouse and the Apostles’ Tower were opened for the public in 2015 and welcome visitors with amazing views. Atop the typical castle gate, walking along the battlements, you will be treated to delightful views of the City Park and the courtyard from above.

But before stepping out at the end of the narrow passage to the battlements, also known as the parapet walk inspired by the Fortress of Dakovo (Diakovár), do not miss the photo exhibition in the 37-meter tall Gatehouse, which explains the history of Vajdahunyad Castle with archive photos.

Catch a glimpse of the architectural curiosities of the castle from the battlements, like the rose window made in the workshop of the glass and mosaic artist Miksa Róth, armoured knights from the black army of King Matthias or the raven holding a ring in its beak. Climbing the 150 steps of the Apostles’ Tower, inspired by the Clock Tower of Sighisoara (Segesvár), will provide a 360 degree panorama of Budapest. Sights to see are Gellért Hill, Buda Castle, St. Stephen’s Basilica, and also parts of Vajdahunyad Castle that are otherwise hidden from the sight of visitors. Guided tours start in every hour in English and Hungarian. www.mezogazdasagimuzeum.hu T R A D E

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Sparkling S SUNDAY LUNCH

Classic Hungarian Sunday lunch with a contemporary flair Spoil your spouse, your date or best friends with a Sparkling Sunday at Gundel’s. Enjoy the flavors of classic Hungarian home-cooking or have a hearty dish from the ever-evolving menu created by our executive chef, Zsolt Litauszki. Come and enjoy a lunch accompanied by lovely Tokaj sparkling wines by Sauska every Sunday!

Cold appetizers and desserts are displayed on the buffet table, while hot appetizer, soup and the main course of your choice are served at the table, classic Gundel-style. Invite your partner and friends, enjoy the unparalleled ambiance, the great food and escape for a moment from your busy life and pamper yourself.

Gundel Restaurant • 1146 Budapest, Gundel Károly út 4. – Hungary • www.gundel.hu • info@gundel.hu • +36 1 889 8111

The price of the Sparkling Sunday with unlimited sparkling wine is 14.900 HUF per person, 6.900 HUF per person for ages 4-12, under 4 free of charge. The prices do not include service fee of 12,5%.

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wine 9TH PRESTIGE AWARD CEREMONY NAMING THE BEST IN WINEMAKING

nestled between the River Garam and the Danube, which was once the grape orchard of the Archdiocese of Esztergom. Although, it is one of the closest of all wine regions to the Hungarian capital, today, it lies in Slovakia.”

László Doszpod emphasized the excellence of both wineries and the quality and style of their wines and thanked the sponsors of the

WINNERS OF THE PRESTIGE AWARD

István Szepsy................... 2010 and 2013 György Lőrincz...................................2011 Ferenc Takler.....................................2012 István Jásdi........................................2014 Heimann Family Winery..................2015 Disznókő Vineyard and Winery.....2016 Etyeki Kúria Winery.........................2017

DT Wine Challenge 2018 winners announced During the award ceremony, the most favored labels and winemakers of the participants of the DT Wine Challenge (an event co-hosted by Diplomacy&Trade and the Prestige Reserve Club on November 28 at Gundel Restaurant), were also revealed (see list). To make the TOP25 list of Hungarian wines, a total of 17 winemakers’ labels were picked by an international, nonprofessional jury made up of ambassadors to Hungary and senior executives of foreign-owned companies. The Prestige Award Ceremony was followed by a lavish gala dinner prepared by Kárpátia Restaurant, featuring a selection of wines presented by the latest Prestige Award winners and their predecessor.

PRESTIGE RESERVE CLUB, DEPOSITPHOTOS.COM

Prestige Reserve Club’s jury of 50 wine professionals (wine experts, wine writers, sommeliers, gastronomy entrepreneurs) presented the Prestige Award on December 12 to recognize the most prestigious winery of the year – or rather wineries. “Following previous years’ renowned winners (see box), for the first time in the club’s history, two wineries will receive the award and will share the trophy, a statue of the proud Bacchus (the work of sculptor Géza Gáspár),” announced László Doszpod. “In addition to the Balatonfüred-based Figula Winery, where Mihály Figula Jr. sets an outstanding example of terroir-driven winemaking, we have decided to award a winemaker from beyond the borders of Hungary, Frigyes Bott. His vineyards are situated on the southern slopes of the Muzsla Hills, in the center of the historic wine region

award – Kárpátia Restaurant (Ákos Niklai, Tamás Mezei), Best of Budapest & Hungary and Diplomacy&Trade (Péter Freed, Réka Alíz Francisck) – for their contributions that assist the efforts of the winners. The award’s founder noted that he, along with the jury members, will continue to monitor the developments of the wine market in 2019 to grant substantiated decisions in the future with an eye on the Club’s motto: “Without the freedom to criticize, there is no true praise.”

Babits Winery: Tokaji 6 puttonyos Aszú 2013 Barta Winery: Öreg Király-dűlő Furmint 2016 Bock Winery: Bock Libra 2012 and Bock Royal Cuvée 2013 Dobosi Winery: Bio 14,92 Olaszrizling 2016 Fekete Winery: Cabernet Franc 2015 Figula Winery: Cabernet Sauvignon Öreghegy 2015 Zoltán Günzer: Villányi Prémium Kékfrankos 2012 and Villányi Prémium Syrah 2015 Ikon Winery: KÉSA Paripa 2016 Ákos Kamocsay: Prémium Olaszrizling 2017 and Prémium Ihlet Cuvée 2015 Konyári Winery: Jánoshegyi Kékfrankos 2016 and Madonna Merlot 2012 Zsolt Maul: Dávid 2016 and Dániel 2016 Pannon Tokaj Winery: Tokaji Hanna Cuvée 2016 Péter Winery: Tokaji Kabar (sweet) 2017 Sajgó Winery: Tokaji 5 puttonyos Aszú 2014 Schieber Winery: Laura Cuvée 2015 St. Andrea Winery: Merengő 2016 Stier Winery: Villányi Cabernet Sauvignon 2012 Szent Tamás Winery: Tokaji 6 puttonyos Aszú 2013 and Szent Tamás 2013 Zelna Winery: Merlot-Cabernet Sauvignon 2015

photos by

MADE WITH DEDICATION, HUMBLENESS AND PRIDE FOR SEVEN GENERATIONS

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