Diplomacy & Trade 2017 April

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FIVE MORE YEARS JÁNOS ÁDER HAS BEEN RE-ELECTED FOR ANOTHER FIVE-YEAR TERM AS PRESIDENT OF HUNGARY. SEE PAGE

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“China and Hungary enjoy traditional friendship and a long history of cooperation in various areas,” the Ambassador of the People's Republic of China to Hungary, Jielong Duan tells Diplomacy&Trade. In an extensive interview, he also talks about the two countries continuously expanding political, economic and cultural ties with deepening mutual trust, more frequent friendly exchanges and more vigorous vitality – as well as about his growing love for Hungary that he considers a “great country with great people.”

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A Classic(al) Success

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The classical music television talent show ‘Virtuosos’ begins its third season in Hungary this April. The success of the program was recognized with the Hungarian Golden Cross of Merit awarded to the creator and producer of the show, Mariann Peller who believes “talent is very important but it needs to be accompanied by diligence.”

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Indian PM initiates competition among the page 22-23 states of India

Parliament has re-elected János Áder to another term as President of Hungary. Although, he was supported by the governing parties only, the President emphasized in his speech that he will always advocate Hungarian interests and values for all.

This April issue of Diplomacy&Trade presents a special Focus section on Chinese-Hungarian relations. China is Hungary’s most significant business partner, outside Europe. Our Focus features an interview with Ambassador Jielong Duan, that covers a wide range of themes including bilateral political and economic relations (trade and investment) as well as cultural ties ahead of the Hungarian Prime Minister’s visit to China in May. These topics are also covered in our articles on the Hungarian-Chinese Chamber of Commerce (ChinaCham), Deloitte Central Europe’s Chinese Services Group and the ChinaCham as well as in an interview with the Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade of Hungary. We also offer a taste of Chinese gastronomy.

Our international analyst evaluates the choices in the French presidential elections ahead of the first round of voting this month.

The question is whether populism (like Brexit or Trump) or a more moderate stance (like at the recent Dutch elections) will prevail.

The business page reviews the latest PriceWaterhouseCoopers survey that says Hungarian CEOs are confident about their company’s growth prospects over the next 12 months, but are less optimistic about Hungarian and global economic growth.

Also on the business front, we have an assessment of how the states of India compete to attract investment at the initiative of the country’s prime minister.

The culture page carries an interview with the producer of the Hungarian classical music talent show ‘Virtuosos’ that earned her a state recognition this March.

This month’s WittyLeaks article is authored by the Serbian Ambassador to Hungary, Rade Drobac, on how culture can connect two neighboring countries.

The 24th annual Best of Budapest & Hungary Award Gala was held last month honoring the hospitality industry’s top performers in 2016; we are pleased to present the winners of this prestigious recognition in this issue.

Culture connects Hungarians and page 20 Serbians

­­ contents Celebrating at the 24th Best of Budapest & Hungary Gala page 26 -28

Interview with Ambassador Jielong Duan; interview with Deputy Minister László Szabó; Deloitte Central Europe’s Chinese Services Group; ChinaCham, CECZ

17ANALYSIS

‘Bonfires of Elites’ at the French elections

Peter Freed

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PUBLISHER

AND DON’T FORGET

monthly in print - daily on the web

www.dteurope.com

PwC Hungarian CEO survey; Lidl Wine Expo, GKI forecast

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Connecting people in culture

21SOCIETY 22-23 INDIA

States compete for investment

24-25 WHAT’S ON

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

26-28 BEST OF BUDAPEST & HUNGARY 2017 award gala and winners

29 CULTURE

Golden Cross to the producer of ‘Virtuosos’

30-31 WINE

Magna Mátra; Celebrities’ favorite drinks

PUBLISHER: Peter Freed EDITOR: Réka A. Francisck COPY EDITOR: Joyce Freed PHOTO EDITOR: Dávid Harangozó SALES & MARKETING DIRECTOR: Tamás Varga DISTRIBUTION MANAGER: Tibor Ocsenás ADMINISTRATION: Judit Ludányi ASSISTANT: Ágnes Rapaport CONTRIBUTORS: Sándor Laczkó, Tamás Magyarics, Réka A. Francisck, Rade Drobac PHOTO CONTRIBUTORS: Zoltán Máthé/MTI (Cover), Shutterstock.com, 123RF.com, Pixabay.com, Pexels.com, Árpád Szabó/MFAT, MNE, ESA/CNES/

CANADIAN FOCUS - COMING SOON

ARIANESPACE, Márton Kovács/MFAT, remydeklein.com, Sándor Feith, Donát Kékesi, ChinaCham, András Békefi, Lionel Bonaventure/AFP, Jean-Francois Monier/AFP, creartphoto.hu, Iván Jaksity, Embassy of Serbia, Russel Skidmore, Balázs Farkas-Mohi, Gergely Schöff, Pierre Toussaint, Aleksandar Srnec, Trafó, Márton Kállai/Szabad Föld, Oldtimer Show, Tiberiu Marta, Zsolt Venczel, Ferenc Csárdás, Attila Kazsu, MTI Photos: Szilárd Koszticsák, János Vajda, Péter Komka, Eszter Szalai, Tibor Illyés

In its May issue, Diplomacy&Trade will present a special Focus section on Canadian-Hungarian relations as Canada celebrates the 150th anniversary of the foundation of its Confederation this year.

Our Focus will feature an interview with Ambassador Isabelle Poupart, covering a wide range of themes such as bilateral political and economic relations (including trade and investment) as well as cultural ties. We also plan an interview with the Canadian Minister of International Trade. Other topics that will be covered include the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA), Air Canada expanding its capacity on the new Toronto-Budapest flight this year and the presentation of the activities of the Canadian Chamber of Commerce in Hungary.

Copyright 2004-2017 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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COPIES ARE AVAILABLE AT SELECTED RELAY AND INMEDIO OUTLETS IN MAJOR HUNGARIAN CITIES.

IVÁN JAKSITY, DÁVID HARANGOZÓ, COURTESY PICTURE, PIXABAY.COM

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HUNGARIAN PRESIDENT RE-ELECTED

UPCOMING NATIONAL DAYS

The Hungarian governing parties - that is, the center-right Fidesz-Hungarian Civic Union (Fidesz) and its small satellite party, the Christian Democrats (KDNP) - re-elected János Áder, a former high-ranking official at Fidesz, as Hungarian President. No opposition members of parliament endorsed János Áder's candidacy.

János Áder received 131 votes while former data commissioner László Majtényi, a candidate supported by the leftist opposition, received 39 votes. Áder was elected in a second round with a simple majority of votes, after the first round had been rendered inconclusive by neither candidate receiving two-thirds of all deputies in the 199-strong national assembly. In a speech to Parliament, János Áder said that the concern for future generations had a prominent place in his first term and thanked lawmakers for approving the Paris accords on climate change.

He also highlighted the importance of presenting and defending Hungarian interests abroad.

Meanwhile, László Majtényi took the opportunity to draw attention to poverty and corruption in the country and accused Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, also of the Fidesz party, of acting selfishly.

The Hungarian president, has few obligations; it is a largely ceremonial, primarily representative role, though his powers include the issuing of laws. János Áder was first elected president on May 2, 2012. Earlier, he also served as house speaker and as MEP of the ruling Fidesz party. He is the fifth President of Hungary since the fall of the Communist regime in 1989. János Áder was a co-founder of Fidesz in the late 1980s and held a series of highranking positions in the 1990s and 2000s. He withdrew from party leadership in 2006. In 2009, he was elected to the European Parliament and subsequently resigned all his Hungarian positions. Later, he was asked by PM Orbán to draft Hungary's new electoral system and draw up judicial reforms, both of which were voted into law in late 2011.

GOVERNMENT INITIATES TALKS WITH OPEL AND ITS NEW OWNER

The Hungarian Government will initiate a dialogue with the German car manufacturer company Opel and its new owner, the French PSA Group, in order to maintain or further enlarge their capacity in the factory in Szentgotthárd, SW Hungary, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Péter Szijjártó said after his meeting with Opel’s executives held at the company’s headquarters in Rüsselsheim this March.

He told the Hungarian news agency MTI that it will be necessary to maintain ongoing consultations between the Hungarian government and the new owners, and there is “full openness and readiness” on the part of Opel to engage in such talks.

PSA, manufacturing Peugeot, Citroen and the DS model family in the premium category, will honor the contracts and agreements concluded by the former owner, the US General Motors (GM), but will review all further development plans, and will adopt the relevant decisions at a later point in time, the Minister was quoted by the government website as saying.

The Szentgotthárd factory is Opel’s largest European engine manufacturing plant where a record number of engines – 630,000 – were made last year. The company has extremely positive experiences regarding Hungary, the Minister underlined, reiterating that the first Opel Astra left the production line 25 years ago.

During the course of his visit to Hesse, Minister Szijjártó had talks, inter alia, with the executives of Commerzbank and Henkell & Co. Sektkellerei, the leaders of the state chamber of industry and commerce, Volker Bouffier, Minister President of the State of Hesse, and Norbert Kartmann, President of the state legislature (Landtag). He said, regarding his talks, that the Hungarian Government’s economic policy is received very positively in Hesse, and the economic actors “confirmed absolutely positively” the decisions that serve to further reinforce the competitiveness of the Hungarian economy, including the reduction of the social contribution tax and the corporate tax.

Hesse is Hungary’s fifth largest trade partner among the federal states of Germany. The volume of bilateral trade exceeded EUR 3.3 billion last year, and there are already 54 businesses from Hesse which have investments in Hungary, the Minister said.

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SZILÁRD KOSZTICSÁK/MTI, ÁRPÁD SZABÓ/MFAT, MNE, ESA/CNES/ARIANESPACE, SHUTTERSTOCK.COM

HUNGARIAN RESEARCHER GIVEN AUSTRIAN SCIENCE AWARD

This year’s Ignaz Lieben Award of the Austrian Academy of Sciences has been given to Illés Farkas, a researcher from the Statistical and Biological Physics Group of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences. The physicist received the acknowledgment and a prize money of USD 36,000 for his achievements in the fields of collective motion phenomena, such as pedestrian escape panic and molecular biological and social networks.

Illés Farkas graduated in physics from the Eötvös Loránd University (ELTE) in 2000. He received his PhD degree under the mentorship of Tamás Vicsek, academician at the ELTE Doctoral School of Physics, in 2004. He became a Doctor of the MTA in 2016.

The physicist has been a Hungarian Academy of Sciences researcher since 2003, throughout which time he has visited Germany, the United States, and China several times as a guest researcher. Illés Farkas participates in a number of OTKA and other research projects as a senior researcher and member. His fields of research include the study of the collective motion of humans, spectral graph theory, the clustering of networks and protein-protein interaction, transcription and translation networks. He plays a fundamental role in the compilation and maintenance of several basic pieces of research software and web servers.

Currently, he teaches the Python programming language to students of physics at ELTE. The Ignaz Lieben Award provides the largest amount of prize money offered by the Austrian Academy of Sciences and is received by one person each year. It is awarded to researchers under 40 years of age in the fields of molecular biology, chemistry, or physics, working in one of the countries that was part of the former Austro-Hungarian Empire. Prior to Illés Farkas, three Hungarian scientists had received the award: neurologist Zoltán Nusser, biologist Csaba Pál, and biochemist Mihály Kovács.

AWARDS FOR SUCCESSFUL ENTERPRISES

The knowledge possessed by domestic companies is competitive even from a global perspective, the Hungarian Minister for National Economy Mihály Varga said at the presentation of the Awards for Successful Enterprises this March. As the Minister pointed out, there was one common feature in the leaders of successful companies that lead to achievement: bravery, knowledge and agility. A statement by the Hungarian Ministry for National Economy says that according to the Minister, Hungary is facing a new era when the country’s economic growth is set to outpace that of our potential peers. Competitiveness driven by low wages, however, cannot be maintained for long, he added. The Hungarian economy must be placed on a path where efficiency and technology transfer fuel competitiveness and productivity, not cheap labor. The rate of Hungary’s economic growth was above the EU average in 2016 also, and employment has also improved, Mihály Varga noted. The Ministry prognosticates that in 2018 the economy is set to grow by more than 4 percent, a figure unprecedented in the past 13-14 years. Expansion must be based on rising productivity, developing technologies and increasing capacities, he stressed. And it is only possible provided the government objectives are in harmony with the plans and potentials of the private sector. The Government is prepared to accelerate this process through targeted programs, regulation and funding, he pointed out. The ‘Investor of the Month’ awards went to machinery manufacturer FRIMO Hungary Ltd. and medical equipment and appliance manufacturer 77 Elektronika Ltd. Pécsi Orgonaépítő Manufaktúra Ltd, the maker of organs, and BHE Bonn Hungary Ltd, the producer of RF and microwave components, were awarded the ‘SME of the Month’ title. The representatives of Vengit Ltd (the developer of Smart Brick) and AbsoRice Hungary Ltd (the maker and exporter of gluten-free and lactose-free products) received the “Startup of the Month” award. w w w . d t e u r o p e . c o m

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HUNGARIAN INNOVATIONS ON BOARD THE SENTINEL 2B SATELLITE

The satellite Sentinel 2B, which was successfully launched from Kourou in French Guyana on March 7, carried – among others - over 70 pieces of equipment that were designed and manufactured in Hungary. The serial photographs made by the satellite will provide more detailed images of land cover, soil water content and changes in surface water conditions, which could be extremely important both for mapping natural disasters and monitoring the effects of climate change, according to a statement by the Hungarian Ministry of National Development.

The European Union entrusted the development of the satellite to the European Space Agency (ESA), of which Hungary has been a member since November 2015. As Deputy State Secretary for EU and International Relations Ákos Péter Mernyei highlighted, “the launching of the satellite is a good opportunity for the countries involved in the project to become acquainted with the added values of the Hungarian space industry, thus creating the possibility for further successful and effective cooperation.”

The Copernicus earth observation program is the European Union’s most important space infrastructure program, which contributes to improving people’s quality of life while employing stateof-the-art technologies in a cost effective manner. Hungarian space industry enterprises headed by Miskolc-based Admatis Ltd. also took part in the development of the newly launched latest member of the Sentinel family of satellites, the Sentinel 2B. Doubling the performance of its twin, the Sentinel 2A, which was launched in 2015, the two satellites will now be able to take 10 images-a-day of the whole territory of Europe.

The ‘Hungarian’ pieces of equipment on board the satellite include primarily radiators, optical baffles, calibration baffles and attaching elements, which in the most part were designed, tested and manufactured by Hungarian enterprises. The previous member of the satellite family, the Sentinel 2A, was also built using a similar level of Hungarian participation, and Hungarian parts are already in production for the upcoming members of the space industry (the Sentinel 2C and 2D).

EBRD-HUNGARY WORKING GROUP

The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) and the Hungarian authorities have agreed to set up a working group to analyze the impact on the banking sector of the recent amendment of the Judicial Enforcement Act by the country’s Parliament and to identify ways to mitigate any potential adverse consequences.

According to a statement by EBRD, the Hungarian government and the EBRD signed a Memorandum of Understanding in February 2015 aimed at strengthening the country’s financial sector, improving its level of efficiency and profitability and boosting lending. Facilitating access to finance is key to support economic growth.

Under the Memorandum, the government of Hungary pledged to “promote a stable and predictable framework to support macroeconomic stability.” The successful implementation of the Memorandum had a positive impact on the development of the economy and strengthened the local banking sector.

However, financial analysts at portfolio.hu suggest that the establishment of this working group became necessary because, despite the 2015 MoU, the governing coalition interfered with the banking sector by introducing the recent amendment that creates much stricter rules for banks in auctioning debtors’ property.

The EBRD regards the creation and safeguarding of a stable business environment which allows the financial sector to serve the economy and consumers as critical for sustainable growth. The Bank is committed to continue its fruitful cooperation with the Hungarian authorities and institutions such as the Central Bank and the Banking Association.

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­company briefs ZF, one of the largest automotive suppliers worldwide, and strategic partner of the Hungarian government, has announced that its Car Powertrain Division is investing nearly EUR 100 million in its Eger location (east of Budapest), that will create 770 new jobs by 2019. According to an individual government decision - with the cooperation of the Hungarian Investment Promotion Agency (HIPA) – the Hungarian government is contributing to the project with a non-refundable cash grant of about EUR 21 million.

A statement by HIPA stresses that ZF is a global leader in driveline and chassis technology as well as active and passive safety technology. The company has a global workforce of around 137,000 with approximately 230 locations in 40 countries. In 2016, ZF achieved sales of approximately EUR 35 billion. ZF annually invests about 5% of its sales in research & development, ensuring continued success through the design and engineering of innovative technologies.

Its Eger location, employing 850 people, produces both automated and manual commercial vehicle transmissions since 1996.

Last year, it achieved sales of around EUR 180 million with customers such as Hyundai, MAN, Neoplan, Nissan, Renault, Volvo and VW. As the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade, Péter Szijjártó stated at the announcement, “the development of the Hungarian economy is fundamentally determined by the automotive industry, and if there exists a sector of industry in which production and competitiveness criteria are being transformed, then that is certainly the automotive industry.”

According to Bernd Stockmann, Executive Vice President of ZF’s Powertrain Technology Division "Eger holds major advantages for P Division: long-standing experience in transmission production, well-trained experts and a good infrastructure."

These, combined with a strong support of the Hungarian government, make the recent expansion possible: ZF will be investing almost EUR 100 million until 2019 to industrialize passenger car transmission production, creating 770 jobs directly, and even more in the region through widening the local supplier base. Plans include annual production of 290,000 units of the ZF 8-speed automatic transmission, which continues to set the standard worldwide.

ANOTHER AUTOMOTIVE SUPPLIER APPEARS IN KECSKEMÉT

automatized production line will be installed in the second quarter of 2017. The produced door module carriers are to be fitted to compact-class vehicles built by one of the world's leading car makers. The project bears

BUDAPEST AIRPORT WINS SKYTRAX AWARD

Budapest Airport has been awarded the Skytrax title “Best Airport in the region” for the fourth time in a row – the first time in the history of the awards that an Eastern European airport has kept its top position for four consecutive years.

Presented at the gala reception of the biggest airport-related fair on the continent, the Skytrax World Airport Awards were staged last night at Passenger Terminal EXPO. Hosted in Amsterdam this year, the award for winning the title of “Best Airport in the region” was accepted by Jost Lammers, CEO, Budapest Airport, and his team. The award is based

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on feedback from more than 2,000 passengers surveyed while travelling through the airport.

2016 was another record-breaking year for BUD, welcoming over 11.4 million passengers from all over the world who were travelling with almost 40 different passenger airlines. The double-digit growth rate of passenger traffic goes hand-in-hand with a series of large-scale investments into airport safety and security, retail, food and beverage, parking and other services at the airport.

Launching BUD:2020 last year, Budapest Airport initiated a five-year development program, investing

over €160 million in the project which includes: construction of a new 12,000m² passenger pier with 10 contact bridges and 27 boarding gates, the creation of an on-site airport hotel, new parking facilities, logistics bases, and other technical improvements aimed at enhancing the airport experience of passengers for the coming years.

“I am both very delighted and proud of holding the prestigious Skytrax Award in my hands for the fourth time - this is recognition of the hard work of hundreds and thousands of people working at the airport in Budapest,” said Jost Lammers, CEO of Budapest Airport, upon receiving the award. He added, “Quality remains in the focus of our services. We want to provide excellent services in all elements of airport experience to air travelers, let them be young backpackers, families with little children or business travelers. Budapest offers a wide range of exciting attractions to foreign visitors and we want to continue to be part of unforgettable memories of Hungary.”

Edward Plaisted, CEO of Skytrax said: “we congratulate Budapest International Airport for their success in winning this important customer satisfaction award for the fourth consecutive year. It underlines how well the airport is performing in terms of customer satisfaction to be recognized as the Best Airport in Eastern Europe, and to do so for a fourth consecutive year is a great achievement.”

E.ON RECOGNIZES ITS SUPPLIERS E.ON Hungária has, for the ninth time, recognized its suppliers that provide the highest quality services, the energy service provider has announced in a statement. The Group has awarded prizes in six categories this year to a total of 15 domestic companies. By regularly recognizing its suppliers, the Group seeks to demonstrate that domestic businesses can provide innovative and efficient services that meet international standards.

The statement says E.ON is committed to the Hungarian market and sustainable, safe energy supply, and it is important for the company to work with partners that focus, similarly to E.ON, on quality, reliability and innovation. This is why E.ON launched the Supplier of the Year Award in 2009 for its partners who deliver outstanding performance. Every year, the company recognizes suppliers who continuously deliver high quality services and products in accordance with the terms and conditions of their contracts and make special efforts to improve the efficiency of their cooperation. The recipients of the prizes were selected on the basis of a complex supplier evaluation system as well as the personal opinion of both requisitioners and purchasing agents.

In 2016, the E.ON Group generated HUF 55 billion in revenues by purchasing goods and services from its suppliers; 92% of them are Hungarian-majority-owned companies.

“Our company’s goal is to create higher-level cooperation and take advantage of the possibilities provided by sharing knowledge.

Today we are not only supplying energy but we provide comfort, safety and a greener future. We are looking for partners to help accomplish this goal and it is a pleasure for us that we have found the right partners,” Dr. Zoltán Béla Fekecs, the Director of Procurement and Real Estate Management said.

The prizes were awarded to materials suppliers (‘Network materials with a volume over 100 million’ and ‘Network materials with a volume between HUF 10 and 100 million’), service suppliers (‘Network construction’, ‘Network planning’, ‘Substation activities’ and ‘Metering activities) and indirect suppliers. In addition, the Work Safety Award was given out recognizing the recipients’ performance and activity in work safety.

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impressive: a plot of land covering 12 hectares will accommodate a building with 10,000 sqm production space.

Thanks to close cooperation with several machine and system manufacturers, the highly

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modules, shielding components for engine, transmission, exhaust systems and underbody, exhaust gas purification technology as well as battery and fuel cell components to almost all of the world's vehicle and engine manufacturers. The company has 45 operation sites and 7,700 employees worldwide, supplying the most important OEMs, including Ford, Hyundai, Tata Motors, Toyota, and Volkswagen.

According to the Hungarian Investment Promotion Agency (HIPA), the proportions of the new Hungarian plant are

RUAG Aerostructures, a major player in the aerospace industry, has opened a new factory in Eger, NE Hungary. This is the Switzerland-based aircraft section producer’s third plant opening, adding to those in Germany and Switzerland. The investment of EUR 6.15 million will create 180 jobs by the end of 2017, according to a communiqué by the Hungarian Investment Promotion Agency (HIPA).

RUAG Aerostructures, a global tier-1 supplier with a service portfolio for the design and production of aircraft fuselage sections, wing components, movables, modules and systems, with a total of 1100 employees at three sites in Emmen (Switzerland), Oberpfaffenhofen (Germany) and Eger (Hungary), has a broad product portfolio for civil and military customers and OEMs. The new factory, in Eger will produce sub-assemblies products for Airbus and Bombardier that supply the German site of the company. The Hungarian government provided subsidy based on individual government decision for the investment, while HIPA provided professional management consultancy services to the company through the whole decision making process.

As the CEO of RUAG Aerostructures, Dr. Alexander Toussaint, stressed, establishing the new site in Hungary is the result of an important strategic decision: “in order to keep our position as top supplier in the aerospace industry, we need to expand internationally. The Swiss, German and Hungarian units add up to a good cost balance, and this makes the company competitive and preferred among new partners.”

Member of Parliament for Eger, Zsolt Nyitrai spoke about the fact that the new RUAG investment being realized in the County capital was an important event in the lives of families living in Eger, because it will lead to the creation of new jobs in the city. “The company made the right choice when it chose Eger”, the MP stressed.

JÁNOS VAJDA/MTI, MÁRTON KOVÁCS/MFAT, REMYDEKLEIN.COM, PÉTER KOMKA/MTI, SÁNDOR FEITH

ElringKlinger, one of the world's leading automotive suppliers, is investing in a Hungarian location in Kecskemét where a building is currently under construction. The first door module carriers made of organo sheets are expected to be rolling off the serial production line at the newly built facility in late 2017. German automotive company ElringKlinger, doing business for over 135 year, is now a worldwide development partner and original equipment supplier of cylinder-head and specialty gaskets, plastic housing

testimony to the success of ElringKlinger's research efforts within the area of pioneering fiber-reinforced composites and underlines the expertise of the company relating to lightweight components. Additionally, innovative aluminum thermal shielding systems will be produced at the new plant.

ElringKlinger is planning to employ around 100 people by the end of 2017. The headcount will rise in the future, along with further growth of the company. "Our new plant in Hungary is of particular importance to ElringKlinger.

It will make a sizeable contribution to our company's growth in the future," the CFO of ElringKlinger, Thomas Jessulat stated.

RUAG EXPANDS WITH NEW DIVISION IN HUNGARY

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ZF EXPANSION WITH GOVERNMENT CASH SUPPORT

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UPS HUNGARY: NEW HEADQUARTERS & REGIONAL LOGISTIC BASE The American express delivery company UPS has inaugurated its Hungarian unit’s new headquarters and logistic base, completed at a cost of USD 2 million, in the Airport City logistic park in Vecsés, near Budapest’s international airport.

The ceremony was attended - among others - by Levente Magyar, Minister of State for Economic Diplomacy in the Hungarian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade and David Kostelancik, the chargé d’affaires of the United States Embassy in Budapest.

The inauguration event was also used to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the start of operations in this country by UPS, the world’s largest package delivery company and one of the leading global providers of specialized transportation and logistics services.

According to UPS, the Vecsés base, which employs 140 people, will also operate as a regional base. UPS employs more than 350 people at seven facilities in Hungary and operates a fleet of 80 vehicles.

The Managing Director at UPS for Hungary, Romania and Greece, Jim Kearney highlighted at the inauguration that this new facility will enable the company to connect its Hungarian customers even more effectively and efficiently with the rest of Europe and the world. With more than 5,000 square meters of operating space, this new facility is nearly three

c­ ompany briefs times the size of our previous Budapest center and is a response to the volume growth UPS has been experiencing in Hungary, with UPS operations here seeing export shipments grow in 2016 by more than 10% when compared to 2015,” he added.

The President of UPS Europe, Nando Cesarone, stated that "by opening the new center, we could fittingly celebrate the 20th anniversary of the Hungarian operations of UPS. We have surpassed one third of UPS’s USD 2 billion infrastructure investment plan for Europe and this new facility

will make an essential contribution so that we can link Hungarian customers to Europe and other countries of the world."

UPS has been present in Hungary since 1989 when it entered a partnership with In Time Ltd. It established its own operation here in 1997. In 2013, UPS purchased CEMELOG, Central and Eastern Europe's largest healthcare logistics company, which has since been known as Hungary Healthcare UPS and continues to operate UPS as a subsidiary.

GSK TO LAUNCH NEW DEVELOPMENT IN GÖDÖLLŐ

GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) is launching a development worth EUR 57 million in its Gödöllő plant, east of Budapest. Upon completion of the investment, the plant will have expanded activity, producing diphtheria and tetanus vaccine (DT and TT) components for new areas of use. According to a statement by the Hungarian Investment Promotion Agency (HIPA), this development project by GSK is a sign of Hungary's solid reliability as a partner for manufacturing investments with high added value, which can provide the expertise and scientific background necessary for innovative manufacturing processes.

2015 figures suggest that GlaxoSmithKline of Great Britain is the world's eighth largest research-oriented pharmaceutical and preventive healthcare company. The products of GSK are available in 150 countries. The company has 89 production units around the world, with major R&D centers operated in England, the United States, Belgium and China. The turnover of the company approximated EUR 30 billion in 2015.

The vaccine plant of GSK in Gödöllő is one of the world's most modern production units, where the company has been carrying out production since 2002. The plant plays a key role in the production of purified diphtheria and tetanus antigens which are used around the world as a vaccine component. GSK has invested approximately EUR 160 million in the plant during the past 15 years, and currently employs 230 people at this site.

As a result of the recently announced investment of EUR 57 million, the Hungarian plant will have expanded activity, producing diphtheria and tetanus vaccine components for new areas of use. The plant in Gödöllő will be the sole internal source of supply of GSK for producing proteins used as a carrier in the pneumococcus vaccine of GSK, and in the production of antigens, used for the DTP and polio combination vaccine. As a result of the investment, the Hungarian plant will more than double its share of the company's sale of vaccines, tripling its production value, providing vaccine components that serve to protect billions of infants and small children around the world.

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labor cost among EU members – all of which are competent advantages to attract investment.

“Hungary attaches great importance to Chinese investors, and is willing to become the bridgehead for Chinese products to enter the European market. In 2015, the first Renminbi (CNY) clearance center was established in Budapest. In 2016, the two countries renewed the bilateral currency swap agreement worth CNY 10 billion (HUF 416 billion).

China’s interbank foreign exchange market has also allowed direct trade between Renminbi and Hungarian Forint. In the financial sector of the ‘16+1 Cooperation’, Hungary actively participates in the China-CEE Investment Cooperation Fund and has contributed USD 30 million into it. Now, the fund has already been applied to projects in Hungary with notable progress. This series of cooperation in the financial sector has given great impetus to the bilateral trade and investment.”

Due to these factors, Hungary has been the largest investment target country for China in Central and Eastern Europe for years. The overall investment from China to Hungary reaches nearly USD 3.5 billion, taking up nearly 60% of the total Chinese investment in the whole Central and Eastern Europe. Bank of China, Wanhua, Huawei, ZTE, BYD and all other competitive enterprises are in operation for years and gradually enlarging their investments. “It is believed, with our joint efforts, more and more Chinese companies will come to Hungary looking for business and cooperation opportunities, which will help yield mutual benefit and a win-win result,” he stresses.

DEEPENING A TRADITIONAL FRIENDSHIP

Tourism

BY SÁNDOR LACZKÓ

Hungary and the People’s Republic of China have had diplomatic relations for nearly seven decades now. As the Chinese Ambassador to Hungary, Jielong Duan tells Diplomacy&Trade, “China and Hungary enjoy traditional friendship and a long history of cooperation in various areas. Hungary was among the first countries to establish diplomatic ties with the People’s Republic of China. Since the establishment of diplomatic ties 68 years ago, bilateral relations have maintained stable development on the basis of mutual respect, equality, mutual benefit and win-win cooperation and have withstood the test of fluctuating international situations. Since the ‘friendly and cooperative partnership’ was established between China and Hungary in 2004, the communications and cooperation at all fields and all levels between the two countries have been continuously expanding with deepening political mutual trust, more frequent friendly exchanges and more vigorous vitality arising from bilateral relations. Especially in recent years, with the guidance of the framework of the ‘Belt and Road’ construction and ‘Cooperation between China and Central and Eastern European Countries’ (‘China-

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CEEC Cooperation’ or ‘16+1 Cooperation’), the two countries maintain close contacts not only between high-level leaders but also between all levels and all departments. With rapid and stable development, the current bilateral relations are better than at any time in history.”

In May this year, China will host the ‘Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation’ in Beijing and invite leaders from important countries to this event, including Prime Minister Viktor Orbán.

The Chinese side will work together with all participant countries to consult on ‘Belt and Road’ construction. “Also in this year, Hungary, as the host country, will hold the 6th China-CEEC Summit which will further contribute to the promotion of ‘16+1 Cooperation’. I believe, with our joint efforts, more achievement will be facilitated in the friendly cooperation between China and Hungary, ‘16+1 Cooperation’ and ‘Belt and Road’ construction – thus, our bilateral relations will be taken to a higher level,” he adds.

Economic relations The Ambassador is of the view that China and Hungary have long maintained good economic relations. Currently, China is the largest trade partner of Hungary outside Europe, while Hungary is the third largest trade partner for China in

Central and Eastern Europe. Bilateral trade has been increasing despite of the background of sluggish world economy of the recent years.

According to Chinese statistics, the turnover of bilateral trade increased to USD 8.89 billion in 2016, marking a 10.1% increase. Bilateral trade is mainly composed of high-value added machinery with a total volume of USD 7.65 billion, accounting for 86.1% of the total trade turnover. In the meantime, for China, Hungary is the largest export destination country in Central and Eastern Europe.

Last year, Hungary’s overall export to China reached USD 3.46 billion, increasing by 20.5% while the export of Hungarian agricultural products to China leaped by 40%. After a permit for Hungarian frozen beef to be exported to China, the next Hungarian commodity to enter the Chinese market was wheat this January. Besides, the two sides have already signed the protocol on the export of Hungarian dairy products and horses to China, which lays the foundation for further enhancing bilateral agricultural cooperation.

As for the main attractive features of Hungary for Chinese investors, Ambassador Duan points out that Hungary being located in central European is an outstanding location advantage. Besides, Hungary is endowed with convenient transportation facilities, high quality labor force, relatively low A P R I L

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Cultural relations Listing achievements in the fields of education, culture and tourism in recent years, Ambassador Duan points out that four Confucius Institutes continue to play an important role in the promotion of Chinese language teaching and the dissemination of Chinese culture in Hungary. In October 2016, the Hungarian-Chinese Bilingual

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INTERVIEW WITH JIELONG DUAN, CHINESE AMBASSADOR TO HUNGARY

DÁVID HARANGOZÓ

In 2016, the number of Chinese tourists to Hungary rose significantly. As the Ambassador highlights, “Chinese tourists are very much attracted to the beautiful landscape, long history, extraordinary culture and magnificent scenery alongside the River Danube, and impressed by the hospitable and kind-hearted Hungarian people. With joint efforts from both sides, we have seen rapid development in tourism cooperation in recent years. In May 2015, Air China reopened the direct flights between Beijing and Budapest, establishing closer relations between China and Hungary and the whole Central and Eastern Europe. In March 2016, the China National Tourism Administration set up its branch office in Budapest, which is the first of its kind in Central and Eastern Europe. It will act as a bridge to strengthen friendly exchanges and interactions between China and Central and Eastern Europe.

2016 saw rapid growth of Chinese tourists visiting Hungary. The number of Chinese tourists exceeded 170,000, an increase of 35.7%. The two sides will further discuss the possibilities to open more direct flights, which will facilitate the two-way tourism exchanges between China and Central and Eastern Europe.”

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china focus BELT AND ROAD

group mechanism with China. Through the talks between our Foreign Ministers and the working group meeting, the two sides have further enhanced the bilateral strategic synergy and pragmatic cooperation, discussed in-depth on the cooperation in the fields of economy, trade, investment, finance, tourism, and people-to-people, which provides an important platform for the cooperation between our two countries under the framework of ‘Belt and Road’ and setting up a positive example for the cooperation between China and other countries under this mechanism.

Currently, under the framework of ‘Belt and Road’ construction, China, Hungary and Serbia are sparing no effort to promote the Budapest-Belgrade railway project. This project is an important consensus made by the Premiers of China, Hungary and Serbia, and is a flagship project with an exemplary and leading

In recent years, with joint efforts from both sides, Hungary has fully taken advantage, in the framework of ‘Belt and Road’ construction, to strengthen cooperation between the two countries, and has played a leading and exemplary role in Central and Eastern Europe. In June 2015, China and Hungary signed the inter-governmental cooperation document on jointly advancing the ‘Belt and Road’ construction which makes Hungary the first European country to do so and marks the successful synergy between China’s ‘Belt and Road’ initiative and Hungary’s ‘East Opening’ policy. In order to implement the cooperation document, the two sides launched the first China-Hungary ‘Belt and Road’ working group meeting on November 30 last year in Beijing which again makes Hungary the first country that established and launched a ‘Belt and Road’ working

Primary School, the first school in Europe where the mother language and Chinese language are both used, was successfully upgraded to high school. “Following that upgrade, Chinese language teaching in Hungary enters a new era that covers elementary school, junior high school to high school. Since last year, China, as the guest country of honor, participated in Budapest Spring Festival; traditional Chinese cultural brands such as ‘Happy Chinese New Year’ are gaining their popularity among Hungarian people; Hungary sent its delegation to the first Silk Road (Dunhuang) International Cultural Expo, and participated in the 18th China Shanghai International Arts Festival.

During the 2017 Chinese New Year festivities, the Overseas Chinese Affairs Office of the State Council hosted in Budapest the ‘Cultures of China, Festival

role under both ‘Belt and Road’ and ‘16+1 Cooperation’. After completion of the project, this 350 km long railway line will turn into an all-electric-railway line with double tracks. On January 29 and February 5, the first and second trains loaded with Chinese products by COSCO arrived in Budapest from Piraeus port of Greece. This demonstrates the early harvest of the ‘land-sea express line’ to facilitate goods transportation between China and Central and Eastern Europe.

As a crucial component of the ‘land-sea express line’, Budapest-Belgrade railway is granted with vital significance in implementing land-sea transportation passage and promoting the connectivity between Asian and European continents.

Both the Chinese and Hungarian sides stand ready to promote the project, aiming to inaugurate the project as early as possible.

of Spring’ Gala Show, inviting Hungarian friends and overseas Chinese compatriots in Hungary in the celebration of Chinese New Year. This June, the 3rd China-CEEC Health Ministers Meeting will take place in Hungary. The two sides are currently discussing the establishment of Central and Eastern European Traditional Chinese Medicine, Education and Research Center in Budapest, which will give further impetus to health sector developments between the two countries.”

The Chinese community in Hungary Statistical figures suggest that there are over 10,000 – perhaps as many as many as 20,000 Chinese citizens living in this country. The Ambassador is of the view that “overseas Chinese compatriots in Hungary have been acting as

a bridge for the friendship and cooperation between the two countries. Over decades, through their persistent hard work, they have not only successfully integrated into local society and gained achievements in their careers, but also created lots of job opportunities which has contributed to Hungary’s economic development.

With adherence to the traditional Chinese virtues of credibility, integrity, unity and law-abidance, Chinese compatriots live in harmony with the local people and are positively engaged in charity events. They sponsor Special Olympics and other sports events, offer their assistance to disadvantaged groups, and create a nice profile of kindness, unity, honesty and public-spirit.

With the familiarity of the situations of both China and Hungary, they promote and introduce the cultures of the two countries to each other, help the peoples of the two countries to deepen their mutual understanding, increase business potentials between Chinese and Hungarian companies and make contributions to the cooperation and communication in all fields between China and Hungary.”

He adds that the Embassy of the People’s Republic of China in Hungary cares for the living and development of overseas Chinese, pays close attention to the protection of their legitimate rights and interests, and is dedicated to encouraging them to integrate into the local community, live in harmony with the local people and better promote the friendship between the Chinese and Hungarian peoples and make their contribution to Hungary’s economic and social development.

Growing love for Hungary Ambassador Jielong Duan has been posted in various countries during his diplomatic career and has now spent more than one and a half years in Hungary. He notes that “the relationship between

China and Hungary dates back to ancient times.

China and Hungary share an ancient connection and a solid friendship and have witnessed millions of friendly exchanges in recent years. Before posted in Hungary, I had some preliminary but very nice impressions of this country, just like most Chinese people do. The poem ‘Freedom and Love’ by Sándor Petőfi, ‘Hungarian Rhapsody’ by composer Ferenc Liszt and Hungarian movies like ‘Matt, the Goose Boy’ are widely known in China - not to mention that the ancestors of Hungarians came from the east. That is why peoples from two countries share some kind of natural ‘closeness’.”

Over a year and half as Chinese ambassador to Hungary, he has visited nearly 20 cities and towns in Hungary either for work or in his spare time.

“The more I know of this country and her people, the more my love grows for her. Hungary is a great country with great people. It is a country that is home to great inventors, as many as 14 Nobel Prize winners! The contribution of Hungary to human civilization and history goes far beyond her size of territory and population. As I see it, Hungary has many titles: home to famous scientists, inventors, writers and musicians like Sándor Petőfi, Ferenc Liszt or Zoltán Kodály; a sports nation with an impressive record in the Olympic Games; and a palace of architecture in Europe. Personally speaking, I am very satisfied with my work and life in Hungary. Hungary is a nation with beautiful landscape, long history, extraordinary culture, magnificent scenery like that of Lake Balaton and world cultural heritages alongside River Danube. I am also attracted to the beautiful and fiery dances such as the Csárdás dance and Herdmen’s dance, and the modern performance like the shadow dances by Attractive dance group. The delicious food as Goulash, fish soup and goose liver, are also fascinating,” Ambassador Duan concludes.

布达佩斯的�石世界

„Mode passes; style remains.”

布达佩斯的钻石世界

photo by

DÁVID HARANGOZÓ

(Coco Chanel)

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DEEPENING BILATERAL COOPERATION BASED ON MUTUAL RESPECT

Chinese investors in Hungary Several Chinese companies (Wanhua, China-CEE fund, BYD, etc.) have already invested in Hungary and many others are interested. The Bank of China and others are also present in this country.

Regarding Hungary’s attraction for Chinese investors, László Szabó mentions that “over the past few years, we reformed our foreign policy and consciously created a new competitive investment environment. In Hungary, the corporate tax is 9%, which is the lowest level in Europe; furthermore, we reduced employers’ social contributions from 27% to 22%, which will continue to decrease next year.

In line with the transformation of the Hungarian economy from a European ‘manufacturing hub’ to an ‘advanced manufacturing & innovation center’, new significant and favorable changes have been introduced in the non-refundable cash incentive system from January 1, 2017 to enhance corporate R&D activities and the realization of

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technology-intensive investments. As a result of these measures, the amount of Chinese investments in Hungary has surpassed USD 3.7 billion. The biggest Chinese enterprises – such as Wanhua-Borsodchem, Huawei, BYD, Himile and Lenovo – employ more than 7,500 people in Hungary. The strategic partnerships signed with foreign companies by the Hungarian government indicate its intentions to build mutually beneficial long-term relationships with committed investors.

Up to this point, the government has signed five such partnership agreements with four Chinese companies: Huawei in 2013, Wanhua Group in 2014, Johnson Electric in 2015, Yanfeng last year and the Bank of China early this year.”

New Silk Road In June 2015, Hungary was the first European country to sign a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on participating in the One Belt and One Road (OBOR) initiative with China.

Based on this MoU, the first bilateral OBOR working group meeting between a foreign country and China took place on November 30 last year in Beijing, on the sidelines of the meeting between the Hungarian Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Péter Szijjártó and Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi. According to the Deputy Minister, “given its excellent geographical location, Hungary plays an important regional role in the ’New Silk Road’ policy from the logistics and transport infrastructure point of view. During the past few years, financial cooperation between Hungary and China has become increasingly close and the necessary financial background for stronger economic, trade and investment

Eastern Opening

cooperation has been established, a notable example of this is the regional renminbi (Chinese Yuan, CNY) clearing center of Bank of China that is operating in Budapest.”

Subject to EU approval, the modernization of the Budapest-Belgrade railway line is intended to be part of this ‘silk road’ for Chinese goods, providing a much faster alternative of transportation between Europe and China. As to why it is worth for Hungarian taxpayers to finance (even though through a Chinese loan) this railway to be built by Chinese contractors, László Szabó says that with the successful cooperation between Serbia, China and Hungary, one of the largest infrastructural projects of the Central-European region could be realized.

“The railway line is a section of the Land-Sea Express Line envisaged in the framework of the OBOR initiative, extending from the Greek port of Piraeus through Budapest to Western Europe and constitutes an integral part of the European ’Trans-European Transport Network Policy’ (TEN-T) – and as such, Hungary is obligated to its development. We believe that the project could not only make an important contribution to strengthening the strategic role of Hungary in the region, but it will also further strengthen the trade and economic relations between Europe and Asia. Therefore, it could be the flagship project for cooperation between China and the region or the EU. The Budapest-Belgrade railway project offers an opportunity for Hungary to become the most important transit country of the region and I believe that not only our country would benefit from this project but also the whole region and the EU, itself. So, it is worth the effort.”

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The Deputy Minister recalls that “the 2008 economic crisis that swept through Europe showed that we needed to place our national economy on several pillars for the sake of the economic stability, and our intensive focus on Western partners needed revision. Since the introduction of the Hungarian government’s ‘Easter Opening’ policy (which also took into account China’s remarkable economic growth as a great potential) in 2010, relations between Hungary and China have been developing with great intensity in all areas. China is one of our most important partners among the countries encompassed by the policy. As a result of a deepening bilateral cooperation based on mutual respect and political trust, we expect more companies from China to invest in Hungary. Besides the expansion of economic ties, the two countries put special emphasis on extending people-topeople relations through increased cooperation in education and cultural exchanges, and the promotion of tourism. China has already become the first among the countries of the Asian region in terms of the number of tourists arriving to Hungary, with a 35.7% increase last year. We expect the number of Chinese visitors to grow even further.”

He also points out that Hungary has been an active supporter and member of the ChinaCEE cooperation from the beginning, “in 2011, we managed to organize the first China-CEEC event in our country, setting the principles of further cooperation and partnership. We are very proud that the 6th China-CEEC Summit will be hosted in Hungary this year; it is an outstanding occasion to further strengthen the relation between Hungary and China in all areas.”

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Bilateral trade between Hungary and China increased by about 10% in 2016. As to how important these commercial ties are, Deputy Minister and Parliamentary State Secretary in the Hungarian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade, Dr. László Szabó tells Diplomacy&Trade that China is the 10th largest trade partner of Hungary and the first among the non-European countries in terms of trade turnover.

“Last year, Hungarian exports to China broke a record, reaching nearly USD 2.25 billion amounting to a 25% increase compared to 2015.

The turnover of bilateral trade between Hungary and China was approximately USD 7.1 billion in 2016 which is a growth of over 8% compared to the previous year. In the comparison of import data from 2016 to 2015 from China to Hungary, we can see a 1.93% growth,” he stresses.

The volume of the export of Hungarian agrarian products to China grew even more extensively last year, by 40%. “The Hungarian agricultural export to China passed the USD 75 million limit in 2016, with a 57.6% increase compared to the previous year. Hungarian agricultural products are guaranteed to be GMO-free by our constitution which is a great advantage compared to other countries. Hungary possesses the largest number of agricultural protocols among the Central and Eastern European countries. Our country has permission to export wheat, frozen pork, goose, duck, rabbit and beef products, live horses and dairy products to China. Pork meat is being exported on a massive scale; it is our number one agricultural export product to China. Quality Hungarian beef products and Hungarian wines are also popular among Chinese customers. In addition I should mention our wheat exports, as the first Hungarian wheat shipment arrived to China at the end of last year. However, it is still a priority for Hungary to receive more protocols in the future,” he adds.

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CHINA, AN IMPORTANT EASTERN PARTNER

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BUSINESS-BASED GOODWILL AMBASSADORS HUNGARY COULD BE AN IMPORTANT PART OF THE NEW CHINESE SILK ROUTE

Chinese clients

According to figures by the Hungarian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade, Hungary is now the destination for the most Chinese investments in Central Europe, in addition to which Hungary exports the most to China from the region. As the Business Development Director of Deloitte Central Europe’s Chinese Services Group, Csaba Wolf explains to Diplomacy&Trade, “it is true that Hungary is the country that has the most Chinese investments in the East Central European however, nearly half of the whole investment value comes from a single deal: that of the chemical producer Wanhua Industrial Group, which acquired the Hungarian company BorsodChem (that has the biggest chemical industrial plant in the region) for USD 1.6 billion in 2010. Apart from this deal, there are real estate investors and equity investors from China, some manufacturing companies, Chinese financial institutions, while the telecommunications giant Huawei also has remarkable investments in Hungary and also a regional logistics center here.”

He adds that as far as bilateral trade is concerned, most (over 90%) of the export-import activities are conducted by large multinational companies.

The flagship is Audi, which is exporting cars and car engines but there are other automotive manufacturers exporting to China as well as are pharmaceutical firms. The percentage of Hungarian SMEs exporting to China is very low, probably somewhere around 5-7%. There are several measures by the Hungarian government to boost SME exports, however the quality and quantity requirements of the Chinese market is still challenging to most Hungarian SMEs.

Firms that Deloitte helped invest in Hungary include Wanhua – with the acquisition of the chemical plant and by providing services afterwards. “We have attracted Chinese companies in the automotive and manufacturing industries and we are looking for Chinese companies in the financial sector which is one of Deloitte’s strengths. We do work together with our Deloitte colleagues in other countries.

Many foreign financial institutions (including Chinese ones) have their European headquarters either in London or Luxembourg, from where they direct their branches in Europe. Therefore, we work in close cooperation with our British and Luxembourg colleagues on Chinese financial institutions, for example. There are also Chinese equity investors and trading companies here that we work for,” he says.

The Central Europe’s Chinese Services Group also works closely with Deloitte China, which is huge organization with 22 offices employing nearly 12,000 people that support a huge client base there. Many of them are large firms with a potential of investing abroad.

New silk route

Why Hungary?

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DONÁT KÉKESI

In the early 1990s, there was an agreement between China and Hungary for about two years that allowed Chinese citizens to come to Hungary without a visa. Throughout that period, a lot of Chinese people came to Hungary as it was so easy without a visa. Most of these people are still in Hungary as are their children, forming the base of the Chinese community in Hungary. “After the fundamental social and political changes that took place in Hungary in 1988-90, political and economic relations with China declined. From 2003, the then Hungarian government began to rebuild China relations and it has been continued by all Hungarian governments (with no exception) ever since, recognizing the political and economic weight of China in the world. The current government even announced its ‘Eastern Opening’ strategy shortly after it came to power in 2010,” he points out.

The role of Deloitte As to what role Deloitte Central Europe’s Chinese Services Group has played in this, the Business Development Director stresses that it is a global organization within Deloitte. It aims to serve Chinese enterprises outside China. w w w . d t e u r o p e . c o m

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The Central European Chinese Services Group was formed around 2010. Csaba Wolf joined the Group in 2012 after serving as commercial councilor at the Hungarian Embassy in Beijing for four years. “We are targeting all the Chinese companies who are already here in Hungary or in the Central European region in general, offering our services to them. These services help them settle down and operate more easily in a foreign country. As Hungary is member of the European Union, we are helping these firms to comply with EU rules and regulations (tax policies, etc.) and in many other aspects.

We are also visiting China 5-6 times a year and when we are there, we are targeting potential customers who have the interest, the capital and the will to invest in Hungary and our region. We go their headquarters, we talk to their leaders and we also introduce investment projects to those companies. We are goodwill ambassadors in the sense that we attract Chinese investment but, of course, it is a business-based ambassadorship because, if

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they decide to come and invest in Hungary, it is good for the country and also good for us as we can sell our services to those investors.”

Csaba Wolf and his colleagues have just returned from one of these regular roadshows in China.

As he explains, “this time, we were focusing on Hungary’s new tax regime that includes the 9% corporate tax that allows Hungary to become a hub for any kind of investor in the region. I believe this roadshow in four different cities was very successful in introducing the investment environment in Hungary and other countries of the CEE region as each presentation was attended by at least 40-50 potential clients.

We realized again that Chinese manufacturing companies show more and more interest in relocating manufacturing sites from China to Central Europe. Being inside the European Union gives them extra benefits like duty free access to EU markets. The feedback we got is that the interest is growing and we can be assured that in the next few years, Chinese investments in the region are steadily growing.”

Due to its central location, Hungary may play an important role in the ‘new silk route’ project planned for the distribution of Chinese goods in Europe. Csaba Wolf compares China’s investments in connection with the ‘new silk route’ to the Marshall Plan after World War II: (pre-)financing new markets. “It aims to create transportation (land, sea and air) routes for Chinese goods. Hungary, with its location in the heart of Europe, could be part of the land transportation route and could also be a distribution hub for air and sea distribution.

Hungary, as part of Central Europe, is suitable to become a manufacturing center for Chinese businesses, a research and development center for Chinese technologies and for shared service centers, as well.”

In one of his presentations, the Business Development Director talks about welltimed opportunities for Central Europe regarding doing business with China. “This ‘new silk route’ policy and the cooperation between China and the 16 East and East Central European countries was announced in 2011. The EU was not so happy to see China build relations with only a part of Europe and that the cooperation includes a few countries outside the EU. In addition, these 16 countries are competitors with each other, too. With all these problems, it started out slowly and sped up only last year.

We have seen growing Chinese investments in Hungary and the whole region in the past one and a half years. So, I think, this recent past and the next five years are the best time to see Chinese investments.”

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AN IMPORTANT POINT OF CONNECTION

have a much better chance of finding a market.”

China is reported to be planning an investment of some USD 750 billion abroad in the next five years. As to how much of that enormous amount could be utilized in Hungary and/or by Hungarian companies, Ernő Pető says “we have good chances because in East Central Europe, Hungary has received the most foreign direct investment from China: about two thirds of the FDI in the past 6-8 years. This is since China declared the ‘New Silk Road’ policy and the Hungarian government its ‘Eastern opening’ policy. It is not a secret that the Hungarian government (and the economic policy) wishes to take advantage of this and make Hungary the commercial, financial and logistics center line of this Chinese economic policy. Some of it has already been done while other things are on the right track. The regional center of the Bank of China is in Budapest and is, among others, the ‘operator’ of the Central European Yuan swap center; Hungary is the first country in the region that is preparing to issue Yuan bonds and it is also here that banks offer Yuan accounts and Yuan credit services. It means that Hungary is the place in Central Europe that has the financial stability but – at the same time – is located close to the target markets of Chinese investors.”

The infrastructure is also in place or under construction for the ‘New Silk Road’: preparations have been made for the BelgradeBudapest rail line while the Central European Trade and Logistics Cooperation Zone (CECZ) is already here as a Chinese ‘overseas Special Economic Zone’ and ‘Wanhua Industrial Park’ in Kazincbarcika.

“China established these two zones in the CEE region and we are proud that both of them are in Hungary.

ChinaCham provides its share of helping the birth of bilateral deals by providing reliable information to prospective business partners both on the Chinese and Hungarian sides,” the President concludes.

CHINESE-HUNGARIAN CHAMBER IMPROVES ACCEPTANCE AND AWARENESS

The Hungarian-Chinese Chamber of Economy (ChinaCham Hungary) looks back at a history of a dozen years. “I believe it is a great achievement in itself that we have existed for 12 years now,” the President of ChinaCham, Ernő Pető points out to Diplomacy&Trade. He adds that the main aim of the Chamber is to act as a point of connection between Hungary and the People's Republic of China. Accordingly, the declared overall objective of ChinaCham Hungary is to cultivate trading, economic and cultural relationships between the two countries, as well as to promote the business interests of the members of the Chamber.

The Chamber had been established as a nongovernmental organization and still acts as NGO, however, the initial number of members (10-20) has now grown to close to 100 private individuals as well as legal entities, who are interested in the Chinese market and believe a membership in this chamber will help them. “Perhaps, the biggest

achievement is that in China, as well in Hungary, ChinaCham’s acceptance and awareness have greatly improved. This is manifested in visits from China by business delegations who wish to discuss issues with ChinaCham, but we are also approached by the Hungarian office of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) and we have good ties to important partners like the National Association of Entrepreneurs and Employers (VOSZ), the Budapest Chamber of Industry and Commerce (BKIK) or organizations established by Chinese people living in Hungary. We have very good relations with the Chinese Embassy in Budapest and personally with the Ambassador and the same is true for the Commercial Counsellor and his office. However, we are not just involved in commercial and other business matters but also in cultural issues. It is a success of ChinaCham that, for the second year now, we are one of the main organizers and chief patrons of an international chorus and musical instrument festival. It is

a competition with predominantly Hungarian and Chinese participants. Last year, nearly 250 Chinese artists came here to take part in the event.

It was fantastic to see a little choir of 6-8 year olds as well as a 60-member choir,” he adds.

Another important achievement mentioned by the President is that views expressed by the Chamber are increasingly heard by Hungarian and Chinese companies. ChinaCham has a monthly Business Club event, for the third year now, with 25-35 people participating at each session. “Usually, we have two lecturers who speak on some topical issue. These are very popular events and there are 15-20 members who attend them regularly.

Lecturers in the near future are scheduled to be the representatives of the Chinese Quarantine Office and those of the Hungarian National Food Chain Safety Office (NÉBIH) to talk about what changes have been introduced recently in the area of their activity, what regulations are in place and the necessary compliance. The Club’s aim is to provide concise and precise information on topics that one can hear in the news but it is best to get the gist of it from an expert.

We never invite CEOs or Chairmen from companies but rather top managers who are involved in operative work but are very close to – or involved in – decision-making as they are the ones who can be approached later in concrete issues. The third aspect of the Club is the networking part, which is very often missing in Hungary. If SMEs find the right partners for a larger project through such networking, they

A CHINESE TRADE & LOGISTICS ZONE IN HUNGARY

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“The task this company was given was that that is helps – with legal support from the Chinese government, but following local law and based on market operation – Chinese manufacturing and commercial firms find markets in Europe, especially in Central Europe,” Ernő Pető, the chief advisor to the President and CEO of CECZ Group highlights to Diplomacy&Trade. The President commutes between Budapest and Beijing and Ernő Pető helps him with general issues related to the CECZ’s activities and, in particular, with logistics, which is his original profession.

CECZ facilitates the introduction of Chinese brands, Pető says, showing The Experience Center, the facility owned by CECZ in Budapest’s 15th District, and pointing to showrooms with products from different Chinese companies. CECZ’s job is also to establish joint ventures that serve Chinese exporters and importers. “We no longer talk only about ‘Made in China’ but also about ‘Made for China’, another task for CECZ is to find ways, products and partners in China to create opportunities for business transactions that supply Chinese citizens with goods and services. Of course, as its name suggests, it is also supposed to provide full logistics services to Chinese companies abroad,” he adds.

Regarding logistics, the chief advisor points to e-commerce, a branch that CECZ wants take a leading role in as this is the area that produces

photos by CHINACHAM,

The Central European Commercial and Logistics Cooperation Zone (CECZ) is dedicated to support companies in China-Europe and Europe-China relations to have successful business setup and business development. It is a Chinese economic policy program, created on the model of special economic zones formed in several coastal regions of China from the 1980s and developed for the modernization of the Chinese economy. These zones have well utilized the opportunity given them and set the world’s most populous country on a course of economic development that has led to where China now is.

After the year 2000, this “zone” concept was extended to foreign countries under the term ‘overseas special economic zones’ jointly established with local governments, starting from the far east part of Russia, Africa, South America. After years of preparations, a brand-new concept “trade and logistics zone” – the CECZ – was established as a pilot project in the CEE region. It is the first “virtual” zone consisting of different functional service bases in the region, because of the character of its main feature--logistics. The physical manifestation of this zone is the CECZ Central Europe Ltd., representing the zone with headquarters in Budapest. It is owned by a private Chinese company from Shandong province, a firm that performs the state’s “one belt one road” strategy, that is, the operation of this zone.

DÁVID HARANGOZÓ

CECZ CENTRAL EUROPE LTD. SERVES BOTH CHINESE AND HUNGARIAN FIRMS

china focus THE EXPERIENCE CENTER

the biggest boom between China and Central Europe currently. Another project CECZ is working on is the start of a direct rail cargo link between China and Hungary through the Trans-Siberian railroad line. As many as 40 containers will be loaded on the train in China with Budapest as the first destination. CECZ, in cooperation with other partners, is looking to fill as many containers as possible in Budapest with goods to be transported to China where the cargo train returns.

In late May, early June, the 2017 China Smart Expo organized by CECZ Central European Ltd. will be a three-day expo, fair and series of conferences, organized in ‘The Experience Center’ (TEC). The main purpose of the expo, organized for the 6th time and boasting nearly 200 Chinese and European exhibitors, is to find the manufacturers or CentralEuropean and Hungarian companies that will become long-term partners or representatives through the services of China Smart Expo.

The three-day event provides an excellent

opportunity for Hungarian enterprises to connect with the most suitable Chinese manufacturers, while learning about how CECZ solutions will assist them in achieving outstanding results faster. Including CECZ’s logistic and financing solutions, China Smart Expo aims to help Hungarian and Central-European SMEs with a comprehensive set of services.

What is special about this Expo is what Ernő Pető calls an ‘after exhibition service’. It means that – if they wish – Chinese companies may leave their displayed products, related information, the accessibility of the contact person, etc. here after the fair is over. As a result, the products can still be seen in The Experience Center whose staff will help interested Hungarian partners establish contact with the Chinese manufacturer. Of course, it works the other way, as well: the Chinese company can be assured that its products continue to be present after the three days are over – for as many as 180 days if need be – and the manufacturer also continues to be represented through the staff of the Center.

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

CHINA

93,028 sq km 110 9,874,784 (July 2016 est.)

91 -0.24% (2016 est.)

216 9.1 births/1,000 population (2016 est.)

207 75.9 years 92 1.3 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2016 est.)

57 $26,200 (2015 est.)

70 6.8% (2015 est.)

79 11.786 million 76 41 (2013) 104

9,596,960 sq km 4 1,373,541,278 (July 2016 est.)

1 0.43% (2016 est.)

164 12.4 births/1,000 population 160 75.5 years 101 -0.4 migrant(s)/1,000 population 125 $15,400 (2016 est.)

104 4.2% (2016 est.)

39 1,305.738 million 1 507 (2013) 14

Source: World Factbook

The Experience Center is a system of showrooms designed to host seasonal exhibitions on a continuous basis and to service prospective partners. As its name implies, CEE partners can “experience” the Chinese brand, products, business culture and services. It has been the exhibition center of conferences and B2B meetings of Chinese companies for nearly a decade. It not only showcases world famous Chinese brands on more than 43,000 sq meters of combined showroom capacity, but also accommodates a number of Hungarian and international ventures. The Center displays the products of prominent companies (including well-known brands such as Hisense, Haier, Gree, NVC, Lenovo, Aigo) as well as those of smaller and medium size manufacturers from Shandong, Shanxi, Hebei, Guangxi, Zhejiang province and Shanghai, Ningbo and Tianjin cities. All past exhibitors’ products and company information is conveniently available under one roof. People working at the Experience Center will help prospective clients connect with a suitable Chinese partner. Simultaneous with the expo opening, Shandong Premium Product Exhibition Center will open its doors covering almost 1,200 sq meters.

150 CHINESE COMPANIES

photo by PIXABAY.COM

are looking for local business partners!

31st May - 2nd June 2017

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I 1152 Budapest Szentmihályi út 171. I www.chinasmartexpo.com

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chinese gastronomy

THE SMART CUISINE OF CHINA

DID YO KNOW?

• All food in China is shared. Nothing is ever plated for the

GENERAL PRINCIPALS OF CHINESE MEDICINAL CUISINE

individual - the opposite of cuisine in the West.

• Cooking is considered in China as art. Food must be • tasty but also varied in taste and texture, such as sweet

Western medicine views the body as a set of cells that perform specific functions and disease as a problem with cellular function. TCM takes a different view of the human body, in which the body emerges as system of energy, called “qi” (pronounced “chee”). Qi runs through and around the body via paths called “meridians.” Generally speaking, qi consists of two main complementary energy forces: yin and yang.

and sour, crunchy and moist, yin and yang.

• China has four culinary regions: Peking, Shanghai, Sichuan and Canton.

• China is a country with a long history of ritual and

• Yin energy is slow and cold. Yin derives from quiet activities like resting,

etiquette, and eating is highly important feature of China’s culture, so naturally dining etiquette has developed to a high degree. Dining etiquette is said to have its beginnings in the Zhou Dynasty (1045-256 BC).

meditation, and deep breathing.

• Yang energy is fast and hot. Yang energy comes from challenging physical and • • • • • • • • • •

mental activities, such as exercise, concentrated effort, and external forces that cause stress.

According to TCM, fatigue, disease and sickness can arise when the body’s energy flow becomes imbalanced. In TCM, the stomach represents the center of the body’s qi movement. Thus, substances you put into your stomach can affect your qi.

Try to avoid overly processed food. Eat naturally.

Eat seasonal vegetables and fruits.

Always make sure the vegetables are cooked.

Sit down to eat at a quiet place.

Chew the food well.

Eat slowly. (mànchī /man-chrr/ ‘eat slowly’ means "bon appetite!" in China) Pay attention to your eating, and get away from distractions. In TCM your mind plays a part in how well you digest food, so pay attention to the tastes of the food.

Do not skip meals.

After lunch, take a nap or rest for a while.

Wang Mester Kínai Konyhája 1146 Budapest, Gizella utca 46/a +36 1 251 2959 info@kinaikonyha.hu • www.kinaikonyha.hu

COURTESY PICTURE, ANDRÁS BÉKEFI

MASTER CHEF WANG invites you to taste China!

Visiting his restaurant you may sample the traditional and truly authentic Sichuan cuisine. The menu features spicy, homemade dishes that are prepared freshly in an open kitchen that allows you to follow the cooking procedure step by step. The restaurant’s interior is an artwork itself, with beautiful and comfortable, handmade wooden furniture, unique frescos and carefully selected design accessories.

For an enchanting culinary adventure to the very center of China, you don’t even have to leave Budapest.

photos by

RECOMMENDATIONS Savory pork ear Guinea-fowl soup with varied mushrooms Five-color baby cuttlefish Peking duck Miss Mocha

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19.

finanCial Summit

20.04.2017

Sofitel BudapeSt Chain Bridge 1051 Budapest, széchenyi istván tér 2.

SPEAKERS JÁnoS lÁZÁr • JÁNOS MARTONYI • ISTVÁN STUMPF BORBÁLA CZAKÓ • HMA IAIN LINDSAY

the new world?

gloBal ChallengeS of europe and the uSa

he gaJuS SCheltema • DAVID J. KOSTELANCIK he heinZ-peter Behr* • tamÁS fellegi HE ZOLTÁN CSÉFALVAY • GYÖRGY SZAPÁRY* ÁRPÁD KOVÁCS • ÁKoS Bod pÉter tamÁS mellÁr • TIMOTHY ASH* • BARNABÁS VIRÁG BOTOND RENCZ • ÁDÁM BALOG • GYÖRGY JUSCSÁK * to Be confirmed

ORGANISER

MEDIA PARTNERS

DIAMOND SPONSOR

SUPPORTER

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analysis FRENCH PRESIDENTIAL ELECTIONS FIRST ROUND IN APRIL

’BONFIRES of ELITES’ enough to get the majority of the votes. There seems to be a ceiling for the FN in France: Marine Le Pen’s support is put in the 40s no matter who her opponent will be.

photos by

LIONEL BONAVENTURE/AFP, JEAN-FRANCOIS MONIER/AFP

BY TAMÁS MAGYARICS

The Economist speculated about the demise of the ’old [political] elite’ of the Fifth Republic as the ‘bonfires of the elites’. The candidates of the major political parties in the past few decades have fairly slim chances of getting into the second round of the French presidential election in May 2017. In fact, Benoît Hamon of the Parti Socialiste (PS) has next to zero chance of getting enough votes to make it into the May 7th final round. On paper, the ’old’ left might have some chance of getting enough votes for a second round contest if the far-left candidate, Jean-Luc Mélenchon (La France Insoumise, that is, Unsubmissive France) were willing to cooperate with M. Hamon. As things are standing at the moment, in mid-March, he is not even considering standing down in favor of the Socialist candidate. When François Fillon won the Republican ’primaries’, he looked a shoo-in in the coming presidential election given the extremely poor state of the Socialists, whose president, François Hollande decided not to run for a second term – which is without precedent in the recent history of France. However, the so-called Penelopegate (charges of misuse of funds through fake jobs for family members) has dramatically eroded his support; currently more than threequarters of the voters believe that he should drop out of the race because of the ethical challenges. (In the 1960s, President Charles de Gaulle was not willing to make some of the past actions of François Mitterrand’s public during the campaign saying that it would demean the presidential race and office; his Socialist successors in the Elysée Palace have had no qualms taking the low road.) It would take a minor miracle if M. Fillon made it into the second round. In reality, the question is whether he will be running at all; a formal w w w . d t e u r o p e . c o m

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Welfare state in crisis

investigation into his previous financial deeds started on March 15th, and there is a tremendous pressure on him by the Republican Party and the electorate alike to withdraw his candidacy.

Le Pen vs. Macron If opinion polls can be trusted, the most likely set-up in the second round of the French presidential election will be Marine Le Pen (Front National, FN) versus Emmanuel Macron (En Marche!). M. Macron is really ’on the move’: as a kind of centrist candidate, he has attracted quite a number of disillusioned voters from left and right alike. If we want to find historical parallels or predecessors, Bill Clinton with his ’triangulation’ and Tony Blair with his ’third way’ may come into mind. M. Macron is calling for more openness in economic matters (i.e., endorsing globalization); he is pro-trade, pro-competition, pro-immigration, and pro-EU, but he also promises to reduce labor protection, in other words, to make French labor laws similar to the more flexible Anglo-Saxon rules in this field. He also wants to jump-start the economy, to reduce deficit, and to bring down unemployment, which is standing about 9% of the labor force.

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Although, he prefers talking in generalities instead of getting into specifics, one thing seems to be a safe bet: his vision is almost diametrically opposed to that of the FN’s. Marine Le Pen is running on an anti-globalization, anti-euro, anti-EU platform (she called the EU an ’antidemocratic monster’); and she is for tougher measures against radical Islam (she suggests that radical mosques be shut) as well as immigration, which she would like to reduce to a trickle. Her social program is more liberal: she promises greater social welfare (no wonder that part of her support comes from the losers of globalization, i.e., among others, white workers in traditional manufacturing centers).

Marine Le Pen has smartly distanced the FN from her father’s, Jean-Marie Le Pen’s extreme right-wing views, and her rhetoric is not so incendiary against, for instance, minorities and immigrants, as his father’s were. However, there is the dark cloud of right-wing extremism over her head, and this image makes her unelectable according to most of the observers who predict that the political forces on the left, center-left and center-right will close ranks if she gets into the second round. The parallel in her case may be, mutadis mutandis, Geert Wilders and his Party for Freedom (PVV): the Dutch politician and his party do not practically have any potential partner in the political spectrum, and the PVV alone (and the FN in France) is not strong

The decline of the traditional centrist political parties and the (relatively) strong challenges posed by so-called populist political forces are indicating a widespread malaise with the elites from the U.S. through France and the Netherlands to Austria. In Europe, the welfare state seems to be in a state of certain crisis. In France, in particular, the state budget is some 57% of the GDP; the strong redistributionist tendencies do not seem to be beneficial in a globalized world of cut-throat economic competition.

The unemployment rate is 9% nationally in France, but about a quarter of the young people are without jobs, and some of the ’best and brightest’ go abroad, especially to the U.K., in search of employment. The high taxes also have a dampening effect on investment and employment; the economic sector is heavily regulated, while social tension is growing.

Euroscepticism has always been quite strong in France: the launch of the euro was supported only by a slim margin in 1992; while the draft EU constitution was rejected in a referendum in 2005. The popular mood is not improved by the fact that Germany has pulled ahead in the past few years in terms of, among others, purchasing power and unemployment rate.

The great majority of the French seem to share the opinion that the traditional political elites have been unable to give appropriate answers to the most pressing questions of the age, and now they are likely to give a chance to alternative political forces, though – as things are standing at the moment – the likely winner, Emmanuele Macron is as mainstream as one can be if his rhetoric is peeled away.

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business

DIGITIZATION AND THE SKILLS CRUNCH HUNGARIAN CEO SURVEY BY PRICEWATERHOUSECOOPERS

Hungarian CEOs are conf ident about their company’s growth prospects over the next 12 months, but are less optimistic about Hungarian and global economic growth.

As shown in a survey of Hungarian company executives by PriceWaterhouseCoopers (PwC) Hungary, CEOs identified innovation and human capital as the two areas they most want to strengthen in order to capitalize on new opportunities. They are concerned that key skills shortages, which have become more acute in recent years, could impair their outlook.

In fact, 92% of CEOs say this is the single biggest obstacle to their company’s growth.

This is the sixth year that PwC Hungary has gauged the opinions of Hungarian CEOs. The survey, conducted in cooperation with the Confederation of Hungarian Employers and Industrialists (MGYOSZ), suggests that 89% of Hungarian CEOs are confident that their company’s revenue will grow in the next 12 months. At the same time, 39% are less optimistic about global economic growth and 56% about Hungarian economic growth.

According to Nick Kós, PwC Hungary’s Country Managing Partner, both Hungarian and global

CEOs are planning to increase headcount, although they continue to be challenged by skills shortages and overregulation. They are largely positive about the impacts of globalization, but many of them also say that globalization has not helped to close the gap between rich and poor.”

While Hungarian CEOs continue to focus on Germany as their most important foreign market, the US and China have grown significantly in importance compared to the previous year. After Germany (41%) and the US (23%), Hungarian CEOs are looking to Romania (22%), Russia (19%) and Slovakia (17%) for growth.

As to what areas companies are planning to develop in order to increase competitiveness, prioritizing innovation and human capital development are deemed key to future success both in Hungary and globally - in addition to technology and digital capabilities.

In particular, the importance of innovation was underlined by financial and automotive CEOs, while human capital ranked higher than average in retail, technology and telecoms.

As Anita Mekler, Partner at PwC Hungary’s Tax and Legal Services practice pointed out, “skills shortage is a pressing concern. Yet despite this, the majority of respondents plan to increase headcount over the next 12 months, both globally and in Hungary. In Hungary, technology and telecom companies and privately owned businesses have the most ambitious plans to increase their staff numbers. Globally, only 16% of CEOs plan to cut their company’s headcount over the next 12 months; in Hungary, 13% expect to do so.”

Having witnessed the rapid technological advances of recent years, the overwhelming

majority of Hungarian CEOs say technology will continue to have an impact for the next ten years.

Three years ago only 62% said this. According to Hungarian CEOs, digitization will have the greatest transformative effect on transportation, communication, and the automotive industry.

Personal attitudes are also changing: Hungarian CEOs regard themselves as having a high degree of digital literacy, which is also apparent in their media consumption habits. However, unlike post-millennial digital natives only a small portion of them are active on social media or make most of their purchases online.

LIDL WINE EXPO HUNGARY THE RETAIL CHAIN’S HUNGARIAN WINE EXPORTS DOUBLED IN VALUE

The Purchasing Director at Lidl Hungary, Zoltán Nepp said at the Lidl Wine Expo Hungary and Wine Exhibition’s press conference in Budapest this March that 52% of the company’s exports were Hungarian wines in 2016. He explained that about 11% of the total wine export revenue realized by Lidl Hungary was from Hungarian wines. In 2016, the company sold Hungarian wines abroad in a value of more than HUF 3 billion (appr. EUR 10 million), which is more than double of the amount of the previous year.

It was for the 4th time that the Lidl Wine Expo, which is aimed at popularizing Hungarian wines abroad and encouraging their export, welcomed wine experts from Hungary and ten other countries. A statement released by Lidl says that trends in recent years have shown that the quality of Hungarian wines continues to grow, the selection of wines is more advanced

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with wine exports dynamically growing.

This increase is supported by the Lidl Wine Expo where wine experts from 10 European countries selected the Hungarian wines, which will be available in Lidl stores abroad in 2017.

Nearly 800 Hungarian wines were presented, produced by more than 100 wineries in 21 wine-growing regions. As a result of such wine expos in previous years, Hungarian wines are now available in over 5,000 Lidl stores in 10 European countries, demonstrating the growing popularity of Hungarian wines abroad.

The event this year was again opened by Dr. László Szabó, Deputy Minister in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade. He stressed that "the balance surplus of Hungarian exports and that of the foreign trade increased to a record level in 2016 and is now close to EUR 10 billion, which is nearly 16% more than the

previous year. Food and wine exports play an important role in maintaining the dynamics of export growth. In 2016, the value of Hungarian wine exports amounted to EUR 87.7 million, a 6% increase over the previous year." He emphasized that “the Ministry pays special attention to the promotion of high-quality Hungarian food and wine. We want wine consumers to be familiar with our country through the quality Hungarian wines."

Lidl’s purchasing director highlighted that "in our shops, we always offer our customers high-quality products, and this philosophy applies throughout the company, regardless of the country. This excellence is represented by A P R I L

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Hungarian wines. We are pleased that in 2017, the Lidl Wine Expo Hungary once again enjoyed outstanding success among domestic wineries."

The Lidl statement also says that through this event, in accordance with the Hungarian government's export ambitions as well as with the "Lidl for the Hungarian suppliers" program, the retail chain set itself the goal to increase the export of Hungarian wines.

Under the auspices of this program, the company has been constantly expanding its product assortment from Hungarian suppliers since 2013. Today, consumers can find 2,500 products from 320 domestic enterprises on Lidl shelves in Hungary.

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In 2016, the Hungarian wineries exported 6.1 million bottles of wine through the retail chain Lidl Hungary - considerably more than the 4 million bottles of the previous year.

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th.

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3/30/17 1:10 PM

HIGHER GROWTH, HIGHER INFLATION

business

FORECAST FOR 2017 BY GKI ECONOMIC RESEARCH INSTITUTE

photo by

123RF.COM

The growth rate of the Hungarian economy slowed down considerably in 2016 compared to the previous two years, mainly due to the decline of EU transfers and the resulting fall in investments. GDP grew 2% - slower than anticipated by the government (2.8%) and the National Bank of Hungary (2.5%).

According to data appropriate for international comparisons, the growth rate in 2016 (1.8%) was the same as the EU average, only Estonia and Latvia had lower rates than Hungary in the CEE region; Romania and Bulgaria grew significantly faster. Investments fell by 15% in Hungary whereas they grew by almost to 2% in the EU. However, households’ consumption expanded by 4.2% in Hungary, much faster than the approximate 2.7% average growth in the EU. GDP growth was boosted by consumption alone. The 0.8% growth rate of Hungary’s industrial GDP lagged behind the EU average of close to 1.5%. Everybody agrees that the growth rate of the Hungarian economy will accelerate in 2017, primarily due to the increase in EU transfers. The predicted rate varies between 3 and 4%.

Primarily due to the statistical effects of the performance of investments that had been much lower than previously expected, GKI raised its GDP forecasts for 2017 to 3.2% from 3%. This is halfway between the projections of the IMF (3%) and the EU (3.5%), and it is lower than the expectations of the Hungarian government (4.1%). Production will be boosted by construction, which has already regained a large proportion of its decrease last year, and trade, which began expanding rapidly last year.

Growth can be projected in all sectors, with the exception of agriculture, where a “natural decline” can be expected after last year’s uptick. Inflation will accelerate.

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Two conflicting ideas can be detected in Hungarian economic policy: preserving continuity (including external and internal equilibria based on EU transfers) and realizing the unsustainability of the current situation (GDP growth based on cheap labor was sputtering, economic competitiveness was deteriorating, and Hungary became excessively dependent on EU transfers). The government regarded the rise of populist forces in the world last year as evidence justifying its policy of “freedom fight” against the EU. However, this trend was broken by the Dutch elections and similar results can be expected after the French and German elections as well. 2017 will hardly be the “Year of Rebellion” in Europe.

Voices of those wishing to strengthen integration, at least within a narrow circle, and to search adaptive solutions for tensions have become louder within

the EU. This requires an improvement in the competitiveness of individuals (employees), individual countries and the EU as a whole. In the long run, isolation and exclusion from the decision-making circles of the EU are strategic mistakes for the export-oriented Hungarian economy, notwithstanding the possible widening of the national room for maneuvering.

The consumption of households increased by 4.5% in 2016, reaching its level of ten years earlier. In 2017 the expansion of consumption is accelerating for the fifth consecutive year. Although, the growth of real wages and income will slow down slightly in 2017, the growth rate of consumption may accelerate to around 5% due to carry-over effects, the slow increase in net borrowing, and the strengthening of the propensity to buy. The pick-up in public sector wage increases, the increase of minimum wages, and the resulting general pressure to raise wages everywhere is obviously part of an economic policy influenced by the forthcoming elections. However, this is a “cheap” solution as far as the general government is concerned, since the impact of tax cuts might be offset by the tax burden imposed on wages. However, since there is no free lunch, the results will include deterioration in the competitiveness of businesses (especially small ones).

development (in terms of the functioning of institutions, maintaining specific regulations, neglecting market solutions, and starting real structural reforms). Although the government frequently emphasizes the importance of competitiveness, it is no more than empty lip service.

Global economic growth will slightly accelerate in 2017 mainly due to the slightly more dynamic growth of emerging countries, most specifically those producing crude oil and commodities (Russia, Brazil and the Middle East oil producers), and some improvements in the US. However, the world economic order established after the Second World War and the globalization process are facing great challenges. The realization of the isolationist and protectionist ideas of Donald Trump may rearrange the relations of the power centers of the world and may dampen the previously expected acceleration in the expansion of world trade. The future of the EU is significantly affected by the timing and method of Brexit, elections to be held in France and Germany, as well as the Greek and Italian financial and economic situations. In addition, the present trends in the world economy favorable for Hungary, such as very low interest rates and energy prices, are slowly coming to an end.

The EU’s economic sentiment index in February was slightly higher than at the end of 2016. The GKI economic sentiment index has fluctuated in a relatively narrow band for three years, and it was somewhere around the top of this band in March. The construction confidence index reached its nineteen-year peak and the consumer confidence index its eleven-year height.

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witty leaks WITTY

LE A K S

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

CONNECTING PEOPLE IN CULTURE SERBIAN REPRESENTATION IN HUNGARY’S RICH CULTURAL LIFE

helped the organizers of this event, the Serbian Cultural and Documentary Center from Budapest, by hosting a fashion show by prominent designers from Serbia. Two years ago, the designer host was Biljana Tipsarevic, the spouse of the famous Serbian tennis player Janko Tipsarevic. We once also had an exhibition of the photos of the worldrenowned Serbian tennis star, Novak Djokovic.

Besides the traditional offers of cultural products, the Embassy encouraged the organizers to give space also to the modern cultural events and in 2015, we had the exhibition of industrial design.

In 2016, a young designer from Belgrade participated in the Design week of Budapest, and used this opportunity to present her works in the framework of the Month of the Serbian culture in Hungary.

More cultural promotion needed In spite of such a rich activity, and the quality of the cultural offer, I must confess that a Serbian culture is still not well enough known in Hungary, our northern neighbor. In 2015, Serbia and Hungary signed a program of cultural and educational cooperation, valid until 2017, but that didn’t help increase an exchange of cultural programs or individuals. State support, as well as support from the municipalities of Belgrade and Budapest, are missing and it is necessary to better involve them.

Budapest is certainly one of the most beautiful capitals in Europe, a big city full of events from all around the world. The same is true of Belgrade, situated on the confluence of the rivers Danube and Sava, with famous gastronomy, fantastic hospitality and beautiful landscape. Belgrade is also a city which is unifying the traditional and the modern, offering to foreigners a beautiful panorama of the city, unforgettable traditional dishes and rich cultural programs.

It is important to note that in Belgrade, there is a Hungarian cultural center from 2014 that organizes cultural events, which is a good step forward, but certainly not enough.

Knowing that and having in mind that Serbia and Hungary are neighbors, one would expect that both countries would be much more aware of the culture of the other. Especially because the Serbs and Hungarians live in the same region of the world and have a lot in common.

This gives us a reason to work more to connect people in culture and tourism in both countries and capitals and search possibilities to know each other better and find ways to cooperate in the interest of both, Serbia and Hungary.

Multidimensional importance In spite of that, I must admit that there is strong and efficient activity by the Serbian community living in Hungary, their cultural institutions and Serbian Orthodox Church.

I have to say that I really admire the efforts that the Serbian community is deploying to organize rich and broad cultural activities in this country. Throughout the year, different Serbian cultural institutions existing mainly in Budapest but also in the outlying municipalities and towns with ethnic Serbs, are organizing different cultural programs that have multidimensional importance.

One of the first goals of these programs is to maintain and reinforce the connection and the relations between the Serbian communities. Another very important goal is to communicate in Serbian language, revive the Serbian tradition and preserve Serbian identity. It is also necessary to point out that these cultural events are very popular and well attended, especially in small towns. However, and this is the most important meaning, they are mostly oriented towards the Serbian population in Hungary and don’t attract the interest of a broader public. This is pity because the number of the cultural programs, the variety of the cultural fields in which they are transmitting cultural messages and their high quality, make me proud and have the merit to attract more attention from the Hungarian and international public. Such an activity is also an achievement because the number of Serbs living in Hungary nowadays is really small, officially about ten thousand. But they

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are very well organized and have a number of cultural institutions, with the support of the self-government of Serbs in Hungary and with strong political and financial support of the Hungarian government.

Cultural month The main cultural program of Serbs is certainly ‘The month of the Serbian culture in Hungary’. It has become a traditional manifestation, successfully held for seven consecutive years. From a small community, with limited cultural activists, it is a big effort to organize a very successful and rich program of cultural activities every year, very much appreciated by the Serbian

public, and only in part by the international one, mainly with the presence of the foreign ambassadors at some cultural events.

Every year, we have the opportunity to visit exhibitions of paintings and photography; watch performances of the Serbian theater in Budapest; listen to concerts from traditional Serbian music and dance to the modern ones; view the making of traditional Serbian handcrafts and gastronomic specialties; have conversations with well-known Serbian writers and poets from Serbia, Hungary and other countries of Europe; and discuss cultural issues, political questions, problems of the Serbian language abroad and in Serbia.

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After I arrived in Budapest in May 2013, I began to realize how strong and rich a cultural life exists in Hungary, especially in Budapest.

My next realization was the number of tourists from all over the world that are exploring Budapest every day, its beautiful boulevards, old dignified buildings, the impressive Buda Castle, and romantic banks of the river Danube - and, of course, enjoying the rich cultural life of Budapest.

During my stay in the Hungarian capital, I’ve had the opportunity to visit a number of expositions of famous painters, listen to famous opera singers, enjoy the performance of the well-known philharmonic orchestra and attend many other interesting cultural events. But, in such richness of cultural events, I have noticed with sadness that there is no cultural content from Serbia or better to say, not on the scope of the ‘grand public’.

COURTESY OF EMBASSY OF SERBIA, IVÁN JAKSITY

BY RADE DROBAC, AMBASSADOR OF THE REPUBLIC OF SERBIA IN HUNGARY

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society Pakistan Republic Day The Ambassador of Pakistan to Hungary, Muhammad Syrus Sajjad Qazi invited guests, including fellow diplomats, to the Hotel Sofitel Budapest Chain Bridge for the celebration of his country’s Republic Day, a national holiday in Pakistan to commemorate the Lahore Resolution passed in March 1940 and the adoption of the first constitution of Pakistan in March 1956.

Saint Patrick’s Day Celebration The Ambassador of Ireland, Pat Kelly welcomed members of the diplomatic corps accredited to Budapest in the building of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences to celebrate the Irish national holiday of Saint Patrick’s Day (or the Feast of Saint Patrick). A separate reception was held by the Ambsassador for Irish expats living in Hungary.

Spanish Tourism Reception

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RUSSEL SKIDMORE, DÁVID HARANGOZÓ, TIBOR ILLYÉS/MTI, COURTESY PICTURES

The Ambassador of the Kingdom of Spain, José Ángel López Jorrín and the representative of the Spanish Tourism Board for Hungary, Jaime Hecht Lombardo held a reception at the Embassy in Budapest for their partners promoting Spain (travel agencies, tourism journals). The Spanish Tourism Board was also present at the traditional Travel Expo in the Hungarian capital early this March.

New Ambassadors At the end of March, four new ambassadors accredited to Hungary presented their credentials to Hungarian President János Áder at the Sándor Palace in the Buda Castle (pictured from left to right): Myo Aye from Myanmar, Aleksandar Moštrokol from Montenegro, Marcel Robert Tibaleka from Uganda and Jakkrit Srivali from Thailand.

Tunisia Independence Day To celebrate the 61st anniversary of her country’s Independence Day, the Ambassador of Tunisia, Samia Ihlem Ammar held a reception for invited guests, including members of the diplomatic corps in Budapest, in the Museum of Military History in the Buda Castle. It was a commemoration of March 20, 1956 when Tunisia achieved independence from France.

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india

COMPETITIVE FEDERALISM PRIME MINISTER MODI URGES COMPETITION AMONG THE STATES OF INDIA The Republic of India is a federal union of 29 states and seven union territories. In order to draw more foreign direct investment to the country, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has initiated a plan to enhance competition between the states and they have responded by sending high-level delegations to several countries like Japan, China and those of Southeast Asia (especially Malaysia and Singapore). Investments are encouraged mostly in the sphere of infrastructure. Trusting the states with these

Evaluation The first exercise in the ‘Ease of Doing Business’ was carried out in 2015. States were evaluated on 98 agenda points related to starting of a business, starting of construction, labor compliances, availability of land and even mundane issues like getting electricity connection. The results showed that only

seven states had implemented over 50% of the agenda points in 2015 and no state had crossed 75%. The World Bank has noted an interesting point that in 2016, four of the seven states with the lowest income levels in India ranked in the top ten, while all seven of the states had an implementation rate of over 75%.

Andhra Pradesh

rank it among the three best states by 2022 and as a developed state by 2029. It has ambitious plans to increase the number of airports from 5 to 12 by 2020 and is also involved in developing 14 ports and three mega cities, including the greenfield capital city of Amravati, as well as 14 smart cities. It is also expanding its Petroleum,

The state of Andhra Pradesh offers investment opportunities in virtually every sector, and is a leader in pharmaceuticals, IT, infrastructure, tourism, education, and healthcare. The state also offers opportunities in the infrastructure sector.

The ‘Andhra Vision 2029’ document aims to

3RD INTERNATIONAL DAY OF YOGA AND 2ND GANGA-DANUBE INDIAN CULTURAL FESTIVAL JUNE 23-25, 2017 The Embassy of India in cooperation with the Hungarian representatives of several prominent yoga schools are organizing the Ganga-Danube Indian Cultural Festival on June 23-25 in Budapest and several other cities across Hungary. The festival offers a variety of programs to raise awareness of a healthy and conscious lifestyle among the people following the ancient, traditional art and health-care of India.

MORE INFORMATION

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COURTESY PICTURES, BALÁZS FARKAS-MOHI

reform measures was a sensible decision as they are the administrative units in India and are responsible for implementing policies at the ground level. Ultimately, it is the business and investment environment in each state which impacts the perception of investors.

On Prime Minister Modi’s coming to power in 2014, India started ranking its states on the 'Ease of Doing Business'. These rankings are done by the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion and the World Bank. The states have accepted the competition plan in good spirits and have even hired top consulting firms to help them with the reform process.

Meanwhile, the central government is keeping a tab on their reform progression – termed by Finance Minister Arun Jaitley as ‘competitive federalism’ – being carried by the states on a real time basis.

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india Chemicals and Petrochemicals Investment Region (PECPIR) project. In the last ten years, the average Gross state Domestic Product [GSDP] of Andhra Pradesh has been 10.99%. It is estimated that the state could post 5-6% higher growth than the national average in the next few years.

Andhra Pradesh has a good educational infrastructure with 368 engineering colleges with 160,000 students enrolled, 18 state universities, 400 management schools, 128 pharmacy colleges and 78 industrial training institutes. This is also a state with surplus power and a focus on green energy, two large industrial corridors and coastal economic zones.

The state of Andhra Pradesh is headed by a very dynamic Chief Minister, Mr. Chandrababu Naidu. At the ‘Sunrise Andhra Pradesh Investment’ meeting, held in January 2017, he emphasized the thrust areas in the state to be agro and food processing, life sciences, textiles and apparel, electronics and IT, aerospace and defense, automobiles and auto-components. His strategies involved visionary leadership, uninterrupted power supply, conducive business environment, an industrial land bank, progressive labor policies, skill development, robust infrastructure, fiscal incentives and effective law and order. In terms of ‘Ease of Doing Business’, Andhra Pradesh boasts timely clearances and responsive post-investment facilitation services that have been identified as the cornerstone for improving the business environment.

Andhra Pradesh has a Single Desk Portal and a 21-day deadline for approvals to set up an industry covering 26 clearances across 16 departments. This platform integrates requisite pre-establishment and pre-operating stage clearances provided by multiple agencies and departments, with the provision for online filing and tracking.

Telengana

The ‘Ease of Doing Business’ The ‘Ease of Doing Business’ is an index published by the World Bank. According to the definition by The Economic Times of India, this index is an aggregate figure that includes different parameters which define the ease of doing business in a country. It is computed by aggregating the distance to frontier scores of different economies. The distance to frontier score uses the 'regulatory best practices' for doing business as the parameter and benchmark economies according to that parameter. For each of the indicators that form a part of the statistic 'Ease of doing business', a distance to frontier score is computed and all the scores are aggregated. The aggregated score becomes the ‘Ease of doing business’ index.

Indicators for which distance to frontier is computed include construction permits, registration, credit, tax payment mechanism etc. Countries are ranked as per the index.

90 billion Delhi-Mumbai Industrial Corridor.

With just 5% of India's population and 6% of its land mass, Gujarat accounts for 7.6% of India's GDP, almost one-tenth of its workforce, and 22% of its exports. The state has a long coastline and a quarter of India's sea cargo passes through its ports. During the Chief

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The state of Telengana, which shared the top slot with Andhra Pradesh in the 2016 ‘Ease of Doing Business’ rankings, also has big plans for infrastructure development. The state plans the expansion of a metro network in a big way and has plans to have two more international airports. It wishes to create one million jobs in the ICT sector alone.

It has allocated 11,000 acres of land for a Mega Pharma city which is set to become the largest in the country. A 1,000-km world class road network is also scheduled to be built. A lot of emphasis is being placed on the creation of sports facilities in the state.

Three industrial corridors are planned on the lines of the existing Hitech City [Hyderabad IT and Engineering Consultancy City].

The Telengana IT and Industries Department has unveiled the creation of the FICCI Ladies Organization Women Green Industrial Park, which will be the first such women entrepreneur park in the country.

Gujarat Another state with a very well developed infrastructure and sound industrial base is Gujarat. It has 45 ports, 18 domestic airports and one international airport. There are 106 product clusters and 60 notified special economic zones (SEZs). Large scale investment is expected in Gujarat as part of the USD w w w . d t e u r o p e . c o m

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Ministership of Narendra Modi (2001-2014), Gujarat's GSDP growth rose by almost 10%.

Tamil Nadu The state of Tamil Nadu has also done well in attracting investments. Apollo Tyres, which is building a tire plant in Hungary, has a factory

in Tamil Nadu. The state has a well-developed infrastructure with an excellent road and rail network, three major ports, 23 minor ports and seven airports across the state, providing excellent connectivity. Tamil Nadu has a 21.2% share in overall automobile exports from India.

The government of Tamil Nadu plans to invest in the development of a heavy engineering sector in the state. There are 16 operational SEZs for IT/ITeS companies, where some 350,000 people are directly employed and 750,000 indirectly. Despite having a robust infrastructure and pro-business policies, the state slipped in the ‘Ease of Doing Business’ rankings from 12th place in 2015 to 18th in 2016.

Even faster growth The Indian government is keen to roll out the Goods and Services Tax on July 1, 2017, which will truly make India a unified market and will simplify the tax regime for businessmen. This single measure is likely to add one percentage point to the economic growth. India is already the fastest growing large economy with a growth rate of 7.5%.

However, the government wants the growth rate to reach double digits. Narendra Modi is a reform minded politician. He industrialized the state of Gujarat and, after becoming Prime Minister, he has taken various nationwide initiatives for modernization, including projects like ‘Make in India’, ‘Digital India’, ‘Smart Cities’, ‘Clean India initiative’ and ‘Start Up India’. His stated objective is to make India, the 'Easiest Place to do Business'. His government has scrapped 1,159 obsolete laws, compared with only 1,301 junked in the previous 64 years. The laws, regulations and procedures are being simplified and put on the e-biz portal with the aim of cutting red-tape and promoting self-certification. For instance, under the 'Smart Cities Initiative', over 100 smart cities are being built across India. Work on industrial corridors all along the coast and their connection with the hinterland is apace.

With all the positive factors like a young work force, domestic demand, an independent judiciary, a reform agenda and being the world’s largest democracy, India is going to be the country to watch for in the years to come.

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what's on CIRQUE DU SOLEIL: VARE KAI

MAY 12 TO 14 AT THE BUDAPEST ARENA Cirque du Soleil is returning to Budapest with a 3-day engagement of Varekai, a captivating forest at the summit of a volcano inhabited by whimsical and enchanted creatures. The word Varekai (pronounced ver·ay·’kie) means “wherever” in the Romany language of the gypsies - the universal wanderers. Directed by Dominic Champagne, this production pays tribute to the nomadic soul, to the spirit and art of the circus tradition, and to those who quest with infinite passion along the path that leads to Varekai.

From a group of 20 street performers at its beginnings in 1984, Cirque du Soleil became a major Québec-based organization providing high-quality artistic entertainment. The company has 4,000 employees, including more than 1,300 performing artists from close to 50 different countries. Cirque du Soleil has brought wonder and delight to more than 160 million spectators in more than 400 cities, in over sixty countries on all continents. www.livenation.hu

BUDAPEST100 – JUBILEE EDITION

ON APRIL 22-23 ALL OVER THE CITY Open Society Archives (OSA), an organization committed to the preservation of architecture, initiated this program five years ago to open as many 100-year-old houses to the public as possible. This month, as part of the joint 100 Year-Old Buildings of Budapest project, on the 99th and 100th day of the year, OSA and the Hungarian Contemporary Architecture Center will open several dozen buildings, erected in Budapest in 1917, to the public. “These events give the residents of the buildings the opportunity to get to know each other and the often hidden treasures of their houses,” organizers say. “We are organizing walking tours from building to building, from district to district.” Each building has its own story, and maybe its own historian. Budapest100 offers the opportunity for these hidden attractions to be discovered. In 2013, a journalist from the Guardian, Laura Benett selected Budapest100 as one of Europe’s best arts events. “It's a brilliantly simple concept – you wonder why more cities don't follow suit.” This year Budapest100 celebrates the Waterfront, with the motto ‘The Danube is the lifeblood of Budapest.’ Many displays, exhibitions and concerts will be held all along the ten-kilometer stretch of the Danube connecting the Árpád and Rákóczi bridges, sharing the stories of people living and working along the waterfront, revealing both the advantages and disadvantages of living in this splendid location. www.budapest100.hu

NON-ALIGNED MODERNITY

MAY 2 AT THE AKVÁRIUM KLUB Platinum-selling artist Natalie Imbruglia has announced an international tour titled 'Acoustic' this spring. The three-time Grammy nominee will play smaller venues for a more intimate, acoustic tour to show her appreciation to her fans who continue to support her year after year.

“I'm so excited to be heading back out on the road again and have chosen these smaller venues as a thank you to my fans,” the singer said. “I love the feel of smaller rooms. It's as if I get to perform for each of them personally and really see them taking it all in.” Natalie will be performing songs from her entire catalogue, including her most recent release, Male. Released in the summer of 2015, Male was Imbruglia's first album in six years. The singer found inspiration for her new album from her favorite male artists. Male is a collection of classic and contemporary songs performed by men including those of Cat Stevens, Damien Rice, Tom Petty, Pete Townshend and Zac Brown Band, among others. The first single, "Instant Crush" was released on April 22, 2015 and was originally recorded by the electropop Grammy winners, Daft Punk. Of her unique take on the song, Imbruglia says, “On the original version, you can't really hear what the song is about because of the effect that Julian's voice has, which I love, by the way. However, it is such a beautiful story that I want people to hear it and connect with the words. I'm really proud of the way it turned out.” www.livenation.hu

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APRIL 20-23 AT MILLENÁRIS PARK Budapest’s International Book Festival is considered the largest event on the Hungarian book scene.

The festival’s 24th edition offers a great number of cultural programs and at least 50,000 books as well as the opportunity to meet noted authors (up to a hundred, from 30 countries), including Turkish novelist and Nobel prize winner Orhan Pamuk. The author of The White Castle, The Black Book, The New Life, My Name Is Red, Snow, The Museum of Innocence, and A Strangeness in My Mind will receive the festival’s prestigious Budapest Grand Prize this year. The festival will also feature the V4 countries as guests of honor. Concerts, record and film screenings will make the event a true festival. www.konyvfesztival.com

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APRIL 8 AT TRAFÓ The thirteenth installment of Electrify showcases the tip of the iceberg of the East Coast experimental scene’s new generation.

The three bands set to appear are Brooklyn-based, wildly tenacious experimental trio Zs, methodical musical revisionists Horse Lords and cartoonish art-rockers Cloud Becomes Your Hand. www.trafo.hu

GERGELY SCHÖFF, PIERRE TOUSSAINT, ALEKSANDAR SRNEC, TRAFO, PIXABAY.COM

ELECTRIFY VOL. 13 WITH ZS, HORSE LORDS AND CLOUD BECOMES YOUR HAND

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UNTIL JUNE 25 AT THE LUDWIG MUSEUM A comprehensive array of avant-garde art from the former Yugoslav states and some neighboring countries, focusing on the Cold War era, is on show at the Ludwig Museum. For the most part, the selected artworks are from the private collection of Marinko Sudac, which, in addition to pieces of art and groups of works, also comprises complete documentations and archives of great art historical significance. The exhibition comes from Milan: selected by chief curator Marco Scotini, the exhibition was on display in the halls of the recently inaugurated FM Centro per l’Arte Contemporanea. The Budapest show is a revised adaptation of this selection. www.lumu.hu

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what's on 37TH BUDAPEST SPRING FESTIVAL

MARCH 31-APRIL 23 AT MULTIPLE LOCATIONS IN BUDAPEST This festival has developed into one of Europe’s major cultural events offering opera, classical music, jazz, world music concert, contemporary circus and theatrical performances, and visual arts. With the best Hungarian performers and world stars, the Budapest Spring Festival is a truly special occasion, presenting premieres and co-productions with partner institutions.

There will be dozens of venues in 2017: in addition to the Müpa Budapest and Liszt Academy, the Hungarian State Opera, the Bálna Budapest, the Vigadó, the Budapest Music Center, Várkert Bazár (Castle Garden Bazaar) and other Budapest theaters, cultural institutes and museums will also be home to outstanding events. Realized again in a cooperation between the Müpa Budapest, the Budapest Festival and Tourism Centre, and the Hungarian Tourism Agency, the event series continues to broaden its offer by involving the leading cultural institutions of the city. www.btf.hu

35TH HUNGARIAN PRESS PHOTO EXHIBITION

UNTIL MAY 21 AT CAPA CENTER This year, 2,284 works by 234 photographers competed for the prestigious awards, and altogether 6,259 photos were submitted in single and series categories. Traditionally organized by Tamás Szigeti, an exhibition of the winning photos opened on March 27 at the Robert Capa Contemporary Photography Center in Budapest, at Nagymező utca 8 presenting the cream of Hungarian photojournalism from 2016. www.capacenter.hu

ALEXANDROV ENSEMBLE

MAY 28 AT PAPP LÁSZLÓ SPORTARÉNA As you may know, last year on December 25, while enroute to Latakia, Syria for a Christmas celebration, the Alexandrov Russian Army Song and Dance Ensemble lost 64 members, all but three of its choir singers, in a plane crash. After the initial shock, culture and military officials pledged to keep the ensemble alive by hiring a new choir and conductor. And so, the choir was reformed anew in 5 weeks. Most of the new members joined through auditions held in January by the Ministry of Defense of Russia. The choir announced they will start their Russian and European tour in spring 2017, stopping in Hungary in May. Dubbed "Russia's singing weapon, the ensemble was originally born to serve and sustain the Soviet state by increasing the morale of the Red Army. today, the ensemble carries on in the traditional sense of choirs and ballets, with singers, musicians and dancers. In the past seven decades they have given more than 7,000 concerts on every continent to more than 20 million people. They opened the 1980 Summer Olympics in Moscow, and the 2014 Winter Olympic Games in Sochi, and have performed with international stars such as Celine Dion.

With classics such as The Song of the Volga Boatmen, Kalinka, Moscow Nights, Katyusha and the Partisan Song, the choir’s repertoire is composed of countless Russian traditional folk songs, sacred music and popular opera pieces. Their concert is complete with dancers and acrobats, who perform Russian folk dances, army dances and the world-famous Cossack dances: their giant bounces, spins and crouches challenge the rules of physics, human anatomy and physiology. www.budapestarena.hu

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MÁRTON KÁLLAI/SZABAD FÖLD, OLDTIMER SHOW, TIBERIU MARTA

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OLDTIMER SHOW

ON APRIL 7-9 AT THE RAILWAY MUSEUM This show is one of the largest veteran vehicle exhibitions in Central Eastern Europe, according to organizers. If you have an eye for beautifully restored antique, nostalgic and classic vehicles, don’t miss this event! Oldtimers represents true values of craftsmanship and preserves memories of the car industry. This year’s event offers a large outdoor and indoor space (100,000 square meters) for exhibitors and visitors alike, with interactive and family programs, including steam engine rides, velorails or railbikes, a train rotating platform, railcars and an omnibus. An animal farm will present farm animals; kids are also invited to play in the bouncy castle and enjoy face-painting. A gastrostreet will offer Hungarian meat specialties, such as Csabai kolbász, and other taste treats. www.oldtimershow.hu

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representing Hungary’s and Budapest’s buzzing hospitality sector. Following the awards ceremony, in line with the gala’s theme ’Starring Hungary’, guests enjoyed a lavish “Hungary-inspired” dinner buffet created by the hotel’s chef Imre Maráczi.

The feast was complete with a selection of Hungarian wines that arrived from Bock Pince, Holdvölgy, Kertész Családi Pincészet, Koch Borászat, Kovács Nimród Winery, Malatinszky Kúria, St. Andrea and Zsadányi Szőlőbirtok & Pincészet, spirits from Schiszler pálinka and bubbly from the Törley Pezsgőpincészet, while Natur Aqua and Stella Artois quenched guests' thirst with mineral water. Sushi Sei prepared Hungarian sushi specialties

while SZEGA Foods presented a range of fragrant cheese and Panificio il Basilico brought the most heavenly bakery products along with fantastic cured ham. Nespresso Business Solutions offered fine coffee creations and Ráchel Raj designed a gorgeous cake by Torta. hu. Host of the evening, Ágnes Szabados entertained guests along with the worldfamous Virtuózok. The gala ended with a charity raffle to benefit the Magic Lamp Foundation. Sponsors of the event were Avis Hungary, Borsodi Sörgyár, Caprice, City Taxi, Duna Elektronika, Emirates, Five Stars, Fornetti Food&Beverage, JTB Hungary, Silka Fashion, Stan Ahuja and Wallis Motor Pest.

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DÁVID HARANGOZÓ, ZSOLT VENCZEL

The 24th Best of Budapest & Hungary Award Gala was held at the Budapest Marriott Hotel on March 25. The annual gala is one of the leading events on the hospitality industry calendar. Special guests including Alexandra SzalayBobrovniczky, Deputy Mayor of Budapest and Imre Deák, board member of the Hungarian Hotel and Restaurant Association congratulated the winners alongside Peter Freed, founder of the Best of Budapest & Hungary quality assurance system and Réka Alíz Francisck, Editor-in-chief of Best of Budapest & Hungary. On behalf the Budapest Marriott Hotel, General Manager Rick Enders greeted the 300 guests present at the event,

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2016 SPECIAL AWARD WINNERS The Best of Budapest & Hungary 2017 awards go to...

Based on more than online 10,000 votes, this year the Best of Budapest & Hungary prize are awarded in 46 categories to 211 service providers - the best of the domestic hospitality, hotel and further service industries.

Since 1993, Budapest Week Publishing has been a leading source to provide guidance to Hungarians, expats and tourists alike regarding the hospitality and services industry. Through an annual survey, a professional jury and the publisher’s editorial team, the Best of Budapest & Hungary quality assurance award is given out to the deserving establishments.

Look for the seal of approval and be assured. We look forward to your comments and participations in next year’s voting.

FOR THE FULL LIST OF THE AWARDEES, PLEASE VISIT: www.bestofbudapest.com

Hubert Hlatky-Schlichter RESTAURATEUR OF THE YEAR IN BUDAPEST – MODERN CATEGORY Owner of a number of cult places in Budapest such as KIOSK, Babel Budapest, Terasz, KIOSK BEACH and Terem, Hubert always aims for perfection. According to him, the key to a successful operation and a happy life is to give back from all the good he has received, therefore he and his team often organize charity events. His highly sought after fine-dining restaurant, Babel Budapest is a place that shows respect for the country’s traditions, paying homage to familiar classics, but interpreting them in the unique and contemporary style.

Gergely Cecei-Horváth, Tibor Cecei-Horváth Jr., Rita Marosi and Eszter Szerdahelyi RESTAURATEURS OF THE YEAR IN BUDAPEST – CLASSIC CATEGORY The former "Old-Buda," with its rickety houses, workshops, stores, little pubs inviting bohemians, artists and students, disappeared more than twenty-five years ago. Citizens of Swabian and Jewish origin used to live here together with their Hungarian neighbors in mutual appreciation. Restaurant Kéhli, surrounded by similarly old houses, retains an atmospheric little island oasis of the past among the monotonous rows of modern cubical houses, serving guests ever since 1899. Today, it is the hospitable CeceiHorváth family, making sure that the restaurant remains true to its century-old traditions.

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Anna Nagy CONFECTIONER OF THE YEAR Similar to the smallest princess in the folk tale who said to her father that she loved him as the people love salt – Anna uses the most wide variety of unusual ingredients for her heavenly desserts. With eight years in the business, two years at the New York Café and her past six years at Salon, she masterfully plays with tastes, colors, textures and shapes. In 2014 she won first prize in the Sirha Budapest dessert contest and last year in Rio, she represented Hungary at the Hungarian House set up for the Olympics. She constantly strives for improvement, hates to come in second and never allows herself to copy ideas from other confectioners.

Szabolcs Szabadfi BAKER OF THE YEAR Szabi, the baker – as many people call him – is the most dedicated baker in town who is deadly serious about his profession. To function, those basics he needs are flour, sourdough and coffee.

He barely sleeps and his mission is to find the recipe of the best white bread in the world. Born in a charming little town named Kőszeg, he wanted to discover the world, and worked ten years abroad in Austria, Malta, Italy and Sweden. Three years ago he opened the Panificio il Basilico (a fusion of a rustic Italian bakery and a bistro) in Budapest. He is most proud of his three children, his Labrador dog Winnie and the pizza he makes.

István Pesti RESTAURATEUR OF THE YEAR (COUNTRYSIDE) When István Pesti, as a chef of restaurant Tanti, was presented the Michelin star in March 2015, hewas already considering the idea of moving to the countryside for a while. Shortly afterward, he moved to Tata with a longterm plan, believing that the future lays in rural gastronomy. Leading the kitchen of Platán Restaurant & Café, working in the most wonderful natural and historic setting on the banks of the Old Lake lined with sycamore trees, István’s dishes are easy to recognize as he is considered by many as the chef who creates and presents the most beautiful dishes in Hungary.

Tamás Flesch HOTELIER OF THE YEAR IN BUDAPEST Tamás is one of the the owners and Managing Director of Continental Group, which, as a hotel management company, is a definitive force within Hungarian tourism. Over the past 10 years, the group opened the first boutique hotel in Budapest named Hotel Parliament, and launched Hotel Palazzo Zichy and Hotel Moments Budapest. Within two years, three more new hotels will open: Clark Hotel, D8 Hotel Budapest and the Hotel Four Elements. As a consultant, Tamás is also known for his persistent lobby work for the New Congress Center, and the development of the rail and road connections of the Budapest Airport.

Tamás Mihók HOTELIER OF THE YEAR (COUNTRYSIDE) Although Tamás has worked in the hotel and catering business for over 20 years now, he doesn’t regard himself as a professional hotelier. Originally a construction engineer, his approach towards hotel management is a little different: he observes everything thru the eyes of a very discerning guest. The moment he opened his than 6-room hotel and restaurant in Siófok, it became a success story.

Today, Mala Garden**** Superior Hotel Siófok has grown into a wellness hotel with 18 rooms and 4 suites. Inspired by the modern architecture of the island of Bali, it truly stands out among the hotels of Siófok.

Zoltán Kertész GASTRO-WINEMAKER OF THE YEAR Kertész Zoltán does not come from a multi-generation winemaking family. When he decided to establish a winery, he had to start everything from scratch, and thus the Székesfehérvár-based entrepreneur slowly became a winemaker and owner of the Kertész Family Winery in Etyek. He fell in love with bubbles – these days, consumers’ favorites are the excellent Kertész frizzantes and sparkling wines. The unique design of his bottles with their transparent labels has become a trademark and won the ‘most beautiful bottle design’ title. A true hedonist, Zoltán loves wine paired with other culinary delights, and his wine tasting events at the Mediterranean-style Carla Pezsgőház are well-known. More than 60 restaurateurs and sommeliers named him as the best gastro-winemaker in 2016.

András Jókuti GASTRO-SHOWMAN OF THE YEAR Any renowned gastro events we attend, András Jókúti’s timber stature (he played water polo for a long time) stands out from the crowd everywhere. Not only in Hungary, as Andrew travels and ‘eats’ the world – publishing reviews on his blog ‘Világevő’.

The showman role suits him well; he proudly represented Hungary as MC at the European final of Bocuse d’Or, the world's most prestigious cooking contest, and also at the world final in Lyon.

DÁVID HARANGOZÓ, FERENC CSÁRDÁS, ZSOLT VENCZEL, COURTESY PICTURES

Árpád László GASTRO-ENTREPRENEUR OF THE YEAR Should anyone ever devote a whole book to restauranteur Árpád László, it would surely be a robinsonade, an adventure story at its best. There is a hero and an island too. Only this hero’s ships have never wrecked, and he is, as he put it, surrounded by wonderful people. His Robinson restaurant on the City Park Pond celebrates its 27th anniversary this year. Árpád knows that times change, and so do the guests’ requirements, so he needs to renew from time to time.

“Ideas are constantly spinning in my mind”, says the restaurateur.

This is how he came up with the Columbus and Spoon restaurants, plus the BRGR hamburger bar and Vendetta.

Ádám Barna CHEF OF THE YEAR At primary school in Békés county, Ádám already knew he wanted to become a chef. Succeeding, he worked in Toronto and London, and almost settled in Salzburg, Austria, for good, as head chef of the five-star Hotel Oberforsthof’s kitchen.

That’s where he learned that a regional approach isn’t only a marketing trick but the path to understanding the underlying methods of cooking. Back in Hungary, he now flourishes at St. Andrea Wine & Gourmet Bar, with the goal of presenting something exceptional every day, striving for excellence.

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Alice Meződi LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT Alice's mom ran a restaurant in Paks where, as a young girl, she was standing on a step stool behind the bar, pouring guests a glass of Hungarian red or white. Later on, she probably held every possible position known in the restaurant business, slowly working her way up the ladder. Along with her family, she’s been managing her restaurant Remíz in Budapest for the past three decades, where once a year she cooks traditional Paks dinners: Christmas fish soup, stuffed cabbage and foie gras meatballs.

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A CLASSIC(AL) SUCCESS CREATOR OF ‘VIRTUOSOS’ RECEIVES STATE RECOGNITION

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and do it. It takes a lot of work, sometimes into the night, and a lot of traveling. However, it does not seem to be a burden, at all, because I love this project so much and I have such a good team that when it comes to receiving an award like this or achieving something we have worked hard for - like Placido Domingo visiting our talented kids or getting to Carnegie Hall in New York City -, it always occurs to us that that a feeling of emptiness (‘what now?’) may follow.

But no, we have new goals to follow, new challenges to tackle and we are very proud of that. This recognition is such a milestone, such a feedback that this is something worth doing,” the producer highlights.

‘Virtuosos’ go global

“I was the international concert manager for an orchestra for several years, organizing concerts for them, abroad as well as in Hungary, with such artists as Richard Clayderman, Ennio Morricone or Andrea Bocelli. What I noticed was that there were hardly any youngsters in the audience - and the performers! - of these concerts. As a mother, I started thinking of how to change this situation, how to make classical music more attractive, more trendy for young people.

As talent shows were already popular on TV, I thought this format would be a good exposure opportunity for kids to show what they are capable of, something that can earn fame for them,” Mariann Peller, the producer of the TV show ‘Virtuosos’ explains to Diplomacy&Trade.

She adds that it was not necessarily meant to be a talent show but rather a platform for youngsters where they can show their talents to the public. “I’m very happy that the ‘Virtuosos’ was able to prove that if a show is good there will be an audience for it.”

As Mariann Peller explains, “the international career of this talent show is a business activity: we have this ‘boxed’ product, a television show franchise to be distributed.

However, what we do here in Hungary, with a team of a handful of people, means much more to us. When I start explaining to foreign partners what this ‘Virtuosos’ show is about and the expression ‘classical music’ is uttered, they are usually taken aback, thinking that oh, that is for a special audience, only to be watched by around five per cent. My response in such a case is to present the domestic numbers (proportion

of viewership, brand recognition, etc.) that prove the viability of this format. Our partner in selling this license in the United States is Dick Clark Productions (also the copyright holders for the Golden Globe Awards). They say they like the ‘Virtuosos’ because this show is able to attract three generations to sit in front of the television set: kids, parents and grandparents. We have a chance to make this a TV program distributed worldwide and we very much hope that by 2020, it will be produced in at least twenty countries.”

Talents on stage, masters in the jury The producer stresses that among the ‘Virtuosos’, one of the most outstanding talents is Misi Boros, a real piano virtuoso, who has been welcomed with great affection on several continents. “We organize lots of concerts for him in many countries.

Many times, when he is asked to perform somewhere, he invites us to be there and partake of his success. Looking at the applicants for the third season that is to start this April on Duna Television in Hungary, we can see that it is also going to be a strong field. We are really glad that István Várdai, who was named as the world’s top cellist in 2014, has joined the jury that will also feature – among others – world-renowned pianist János Balázs.”

She says the children they have on the show

are all very enthusiastic about what they do. As an example, she mentions that when they had a day off in Paris and the group was about to take off to Disneyland, the kids wanted to go to the concert hall first to see the place and try the instruments – Disneyland was only the second thing on their agenda. “If we start teaching our children a classical instrument or singing, it is not only their memory that improves and the physiological benefits (like an anti-stress effect) that they enjoy but they can also inspire other kids, members of the new generation, and even inspire us, adults – producers and viewers -, as well,” Mariann Peller concludes.

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COURTESY PICTURES

Work, talent, diligence Mariann Peller’s achievement in creating the ‘Virtuosos’ was recognized this year with the Hungarian Golden Cross of Merit.

The laudation says she received this recognition for the creation of the ‘Virtuosos’, a uniquely successful classical music talent show in television history. “I have to say, however, that the real protagonists are the kids in this story with serious preparations, serious parental background.

Talent is very important but it needs to be accompanied by diligence,” she points out.

Personally, she was very glad to receive this recognition. “I was surprised to get the news.

In the hall where I received this decoration, I saw many people older than me, people with perhaps greater achievements, so I was very, very pleased to have earned this Golden Cross. It was a moment of joy because when you are actually involved in this job, you don’t really think about recognition, you just go w w w . d t e u r o p e . c o m

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wine The founding members share the belief that the conditions provided by nature in this wine region are outstanding.

Mátra is characterized by soils with good water retention and a climate that is warm but not too hot. These conditions are conducive to producing wines with intense aromas, fine balance and round tannins. Beyond these excellent primary conditions, the region also boasts vineyards of special merit; by discovering and exploiting the character of these plots, the winemakers are given a clear path to elevate the quality of their wines.

The flagship of the wine region will be the Magna wines.

The members have already agreed on the stipulations for this wine category. They believe that the key to a unique identity is to let the natural values prevail unhindered. To achieve this goal, Magna wines will be made exclusively from varieties traditional in the Carpathian Basin with a maximum yield of 1 kg per vine. After a transitory period, the grapes may only come from ecologically cultivated

vineyards, fermentation must be spontaneous and the wines must be made with minimum intervention in the cellar. The finished wines will be presented for tasting to the members for assessment. Subject to approval with at least 2/3 of the votes each winery can produce one white and one red Magna wine in each vintage.

Magna Mátra is not driven primarily by marketing goals, the founding members are well aware that this is just the first step and that membership needs to be widened to elevate Mátra to the position where it belongs. They are aware that there is a learning curve and, while setting their sights on the future, they must also respect the history and traditions of the region. Eight wineries have set off on an exciting adventure. They hope the direction set out by them will attract others and, with time, more and more wineries of integrity and high standards will join them. The first public event to introduce Magna Mátra took place on March 20.

Further details: www.magnamatra.hu

MAGNA MÁTRA Although, Mátra is the second largest wine region in Hungary, until recently, it has not received the attention it deserves. However, members of the newly established Magna Mátra have created a common vision to make it a wine region with strong identity.

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ATTILA KAZSU

The eight founding members of Magna Mátra (Benedek Pince, Centurio Szőlőbirtok, H2 Pince, Kékhegy Pince, Levente Szőlőbirtok és Pince, Losonci Pince, Nagygombos Borászat, Szignárovits-Maka Pince) intend to establish a unique identity for the region by relying on the traditional varieties of the Carpathian Basin. To achieve this goal, the members, for the next few years, will focus on identifying the red and white varieties that may act as prospective flag-bearers for the wine region. They all agree that Kékfrankos will play a central role and, later on, it may be joined by Kadarka. Further experiments are needed to identify other suitable indigenous varieties.

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Many people probably have no idea that the wealthiest society ladies endowed with the most sophisticated tastes would kill for a certain Champagne, either of a special edition or vintage, inherently out of reach of the average person. For example, US president J F Kennedy’s wife, particularly popular among woman, is said to have given anything for Veuve Clicquot Champagne, while her rival, Marilyn Monroe swore by Piper Heidsieck. The story goes that when asked in 1953 what she wore to bed, the beloved actress replied, “five drops of Channel No. 5, whereas I always start off the day with a class of PiperHeidsieck, as it warms me up”. Marie Antoinette was also a fan of the brand, which is perhaps also why these drinks can command such prices.

You might also think that the British royal family’s sophisticated tastes would inevitably make them the typical lovers of such drinks. Maybe many people were shocked to discover that Elizabeth II’s favorite nepenthes is Dubonnet. This sweet liqueur was also a favorite tipple of her mother, the Queen Mother who died in 2002 aged 102, which she of course consumed well-fortified with gin. It seems that following the documentary on the Queen, which publicized her preference for the drink, public demand for the liqueur soared.

The author of Harry Potter, J K Rowling, who has accumulated a not inconsiderable fortune from her tales of the apprentice wizard, also has very British tastes. Although the characters Rowling brought to life in the series prefer Butterbeer, the star author is sticking with her classic gin and tonic. However, not everyone in the British Isles is so patriotic. The Irish ancestors of Dublin-born Paul David Hewson, better known as Bono, must be turning in their graves as the rock star is an consummate imbiber of American Jack Daniel’s whiskey. Any sparkling wine or wine brand can enhance its reputation if a recognized and respected person puts their face to it, and perhaps turns out inadvertently to be a dedicated consumer of that particular drink too. In

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such cases, the owners of the winery are delighted and frequently give generously of their product to such a loyal celebrity. Less frequently, although it may happen, brand managers of a winery effectively ban celebrities they consider undesirable from drinking their wine. This is what happened to Beyonce’s husband, American rapper Jay Z, who adored Cristal champagne, Roederer’s flagship wine, costing hundreds of dollars a bottle. The increasing popularity of Cristal amongst black rappers was mentioned by one manager at the company in an ambiguous statement as detrimental to their special target group, which led to Jay Z boycotting the elite drink; he no longer rapped about it and bought himself into a rival Champagne house – to the tune of about fifty million dollars. There are also some stars who are not content with intense wine tasting, but have also founded their own wineries. Grammy Award-winning actress Olivia Newton-John is behind Australia’s Koala Blue Wines, whose wines are unfortunately not readily available in Europe. It’s much easier to get your hands on Sting’s nectar though. He bought a hundred-hectare vineyard close to Florence for millions of euros, which he’s added to over the years. Mick Hucknall, lead singer of Simply Red, in collaboration with an Italian winemaker near Etna, has launched wines christened Il Cantante.

Hucknall has drunk himself into an expert, also praising a wine from the Villány Bock Pince in a Twitter post. And, while we’re on the subject of Hungarian wines, although at one time every diplomat worth their salt had to lay in a couple of cases of Tokaji before their most important meetings, nowadays foreign celebrities are singing the praises of a wide range of Hungarian wines. James Foxx recently posed with a St Andrea wine, while the previously mentioned József Bock was also surprised to hear Placido Domingo’s first words on arriving at Budapest airport a few years ago: Bock Magnifico!

Special masterclasses at the huge VinCE Budapest Wine Show in March gave visitors the chance to become familiar with the top ten favorite drinks internationally which are virtually unaffordable for the average person.

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