Diplomacy & Trade 2018 March by Diplomacy&Trade

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SHORT-TRACK SKATERS WIN HUNGARY’S FIRST WINTER OLYMPIC GOLD

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Since an agreement to establishment of diplomatic relations was signed almost three decades ago, there has been growth in multiple areas of bilateral relations between the Republic of Korea and Hungary but the greatest achievements can be seen in economic ties, according to the Ambassador of 18012 Republic of Korea to Hungary, Kyoo-sik Choe. In an extensive interview with Diplomacy&Trade, he also discusses cultural relations and the significance of 980700 the PyeongChang Olympics. 9 771558

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In 2017-18, Hungary holds the Presidency of the Visegrád Four group. As Krisztina Dóra Varju, Ministerial Commissioner for the 18002 18008 Presidency explains to Diplomacy&Trade, the four political pillars of the Hungarian Presidency reflect “the kind of Central Europe we 771558Regional 980700 strive for: European9Visegrád, Visegrád, Digital Visegrád and Global Visegrád.” see page 16 18003

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letter from the publisher

Sparkling wines by Csaba Koch

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Hungarian short track skaters wrote their names into the history books by winning the country’s first Winter Olympic gold in PyeongChang. Congratulations! However, that is by far not the only news we have from the Republic of Korea in this issue of Diplomacy&Trade. Our Focus this month is on Korean-Hungarian bilateral relations that have grown and prospered for three decades. Our interview with the new Korean Ambassador in Budapest, Kyoo Sik Choe covers themes like bilateral economic relations (including trade and investment) as well as cultural, social and civil ties. Hungary is well into its Presidency of the Visegrád Group (V4). We talk to the ministerial commissioner about the achievements of the Presidency and discuss two V4 programs in detail.

Our cinema page carries an interview with Hungarian actress Alexandra Borbély of the Oscar-nominated the movie ‘On body and soul’. Of course, you will also find our program guides, wine and hospitality pages and society picture compilations. We say our final goodbyes to the familiar DT license plates on diplomatic vehicles as new CD plates are deployed throughout the diplomatic community. The original idea for a new magazine focusing on the priorities of diplomats formulated while I was following those DT plated limousines around Budapest through the 1990s and early 2000s. Diplomacy&Trade was inaugurated in June 2003 as Hungary was preparing to join the European Union. From small ideas... Diplomacy & Trade is celebrating its 15th year of publication. THANK YOU for your support of our efforts.

contents Love and dreams in ‘On body and soul’

05 ON THE RECORD 06-07 COMPANY BRIEFS 08-15 KOREAN FOCUS

Interview with Ambassador Kyoo-sik Choe; Deputy Foreign Minister Yoon Soon-ku; LOT Polish Airlines; KOTRA; Hankook; Where Greek fables fail (analysis); Cultural Institute

16-19 V4 PRESIDENCY

Interview with Ministerial Commissioner Krisztina Dóra Varju; Start-up Tour; V4 Gastro; Virtuosos

Peter Freed PUBLISHER

20-21 DIPLOMACY AND DON’T FORGET

monthly in print - daily on the web

www.dteurope.com

Bulgarian EU Presidency debut in Budapest

page 27

Australian Foreign Minister visits Budapest; Interview with Bulgaria's Deputy Prime Minister Valeri Simeonov

22-23 SOCIETY

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24 ANALYSIS

Pakistan in regional power games

25 WITTYLEAKS by the Chargé d’Affaires of the US Embassy

26 CULTURE

Rafael Y Herman exhibition

27 CINEMA

Interview with Hungarian actress Alexandra Borbély

28-29 WHAT’S ON

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

30 WINE & GASTRONOMY

Koch sparkling wines; Good France

31 HOSPITALITY

Mellow Mood; Párisi Udvar Hotel showroom

PUBLISHER: Peter Freed EDITOR: Sándor Laczkó 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, David J. Kostelancik PHOTO CONTRIBUTORS: Zsolt Czeglédi/MTI (Cover), Pixabay.com, Shutterstock.com, Can Stock Photo Inc., Tamás Szigeti, Nikolaj Lund/adamfischer.

SWEDISH FOCUS - COMING SOON

at, K. Moczulski, Maja Hitij/Getty Images, SEG Automotive, HB Reavis, Lee Beomsu/Korea Tourism Organization, Kim Jiho/ Korea Tourism Organization, Árpád Csikós, Tommer, Korean Cultural Center, 130Studio, Károly Árvai/kormany.hu, Enterprise Hungary, Virtuosos, ODPictures Art Studio, Embassy of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Attila Németh/US Embassy Budapest, József Rosta, Rafael Yossef Herman, Balázs Glódi, Sandro Miller, Dean Chalkley, Müpa, Live Nation, Philipp Horak/www.philipphorak.com, Josh Goleman, Kirk Edwards, Oldtimer Show, Body the Exhibition, Lennart Laberenz, PIXELTASTER, Zoltán Bencze, MTI Photos: Zsolt Czeglédi, Attila Balázs, Noémi Bruzák, Zoltán Máthé, Zsolt Szigetváry, Zoltán Balogh, Tibor Illyés

In the April issue of Diplomacy & Trade, the country in focus will be Sweden. The Nordic country is an important investor in Hungary, with over EUR one billion FDI committed since the early 1990s. Moreover, there are about 180 Swedish companies doing business here, providing jobs for more than 17,000 people. In addition to an extensive interview with Ambassador Niclas Trouvé, discussing political, economic and cultural relations we will also present the Swedish Chamber of Commerce in Hungary, inform readers as to how the trade promotion agency Business Sweden contributes to a more livable environment in the Hungarian capital and disclose why the Scandinavian House cultural center in Budapest is called ‘the 4th Scandinavian embassy’.

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

DÁVID HARANGOZÓ, COURTESY PICTURE, PIXABAY.COM

Our international analyst looks at the Pakistan’s role in the power games of the region and its relationship with the U.S. In Diplomacy, we talk to the Bulgarian Deputy Prime Minister as his country holds the rotating presidency of the EU while in the WittyLeaks column, the Chargé d'Affaires of the American Embassy, David J. Kostelancik who explores Hungarian culture and history through music.

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AUSTRALIAN FOREIGN MINISTER AT BUSINESS LEADERS FORUM IN BUDAPEST

UPCOMING NATIONAL DAYS March

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DÁVID HARANGOZÓ, COURTESY PICTURES, TAMÁS SZIGETI, NIKOLAJ LUND/ADAMFISCHER.AT, ZSOLT CZEGLÉDI/MTI

Practice shows that female executives make the point of view of organizations more diversified because they bring their own aspects and life experiences to discussions, the Australian Foreign Minister, Julie Bishop pointed out at the Hungarian Business Leaders Forum working breakfast, on ‘Women in leadership’, in Budapest this February. The topic of the panel discussion was gender balance as well as women in leadership positions in the world and in the Hungarian public sector. The voice of women should be heard, the Minister said. She mentioned that in Australia, women’s success is celebrated: this year, a young scientist became the woman of the year. Julie Bishop emphasized that women can fill any function and their leadership role is an advantage. She also stressed the importance of fairness in the workplace. Julie Bishop said that although, she was the 38th Australian Foreign Minister, no woman had ever been in this post before. She called it a step forward that while at the introduction of the twenty-member government in 2013, she was the only female minister, there are now five. In her portfolio, 48% of the staff are women, she said, noting that the private sector is not as "successful", in this respect. She added, however, that the number of women are not as important as their role and their influence. She stressed that women would like to fill leading positions not because of their gender but due to their talent and performance. Therefore, they do not want quotas but rather changes in people’s mindset on this issue.

DUNA ELEKTRONIKA HONORED AT THE 2018 DELL EMC PARTNER AWARDS Duna Elektronika has been named the Dell Services Partner of the year at an award ceremony held in the National Gallery in Budapest. Peter Freed, founder and Managing Director of Duna Elektronika reflected by saying that “service is the key to successful IT implementation and integration as well as maintaining a lower total cost of systems ownership.” He further stated that “our continued investment in staff training and manufacturer certification pays off for us and our customers.” Duna Elektronika entered the Hungarian market in 1991 as a US/Hungarian joint venture and has consistently been a leading provider of IT solutions and services since then.

PUBLIC FUNDING FOR QUANTUM TECHNOLOGY PROGRAM MANAGERS OF THE YEAR '17

The production and sharing of quantum bits (or qubits, the counterparts in quantum computing to the binary digits or bits of classical computing) and the creation of a quantum information network will be the goal for the next four years by the HunQuTech consortium of researchers, research institutes and industrial companies that will operate under the leadership of the MTA Wigner Physics Research Center. This February, the opening event of the HunQuTech quantum technology consortium was organized at the headquarters of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences. A consortium, formed with the combination of several Hungarian research institutes and state-of-the-art technology companies, will be able to count on support from the Fund of the National Research, Development and Innovation Office (NKFI), during the next four years, in performing research activities necessary for the implementation of quantum technology systems. "It is especially fortunate to start a larger volume of research because this way, several groups are working, and if one of them gets stuck, the results that group achieved can be incorporated into the work of others," the President of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences László Lovász said. He also talked about his years at Microsoft when he also became acquainted with the work of a research group on the mathematical foundations of a quantum computer. NKFI President József Pálinkás highlighted that the NKFI Fund has already financed 16 thematic programs, through the allocation of HUF 80 billion, to cover research in the areas of major social, economic and environmental challenges. He added that these programs encourage the social and economic utilization of exploratory research in a strategic area where Hungarian researcher excellence can be the most competitive, therefore the National Quantum Technology Program is also implemented through the collaboration of academic, higher education and corporate research institutes.

It was for the 24th time that this February, the National Association of Managers held its traditional Manager Ball and Award Gala, in the ballroom of Corinthia Hotel Budapest. Awards were given in three categories to the most talented managers. Ferenc Lajkó, Waberer’s CEO, was chosen Manager of the Year; Dr. Gábor Kepecs, Member of the Management Board, Chief Executive Officer of Aegon Central & Eastern Europe, received a Life’s Work Award; Tímea Pesti, CEO, LeasePlan Hungária Zrt., received the Manager Association’s and Volkswagen’s Special Blue Innovation Award. The participants of the contest for the awards included – either by way of recommendation or by directly entering the competition – Hungarian business managers playing an outstanding role in the management and achievements of their respective companies. Priority was given, in the evaluation of the participants’ accomplishments, to managers who achieved outstanding results with their respective businesses in 2017. Recommendations were submitted by the international chambers (including the German-Hungarian Chamber of Industry and Commerce, AmCham, the British Chamber of Commerce, the Joint Venture Association, the National Association of Employers and Industrialists and Young Entrepreneurs Association Hungary). Three nominees in each category were selected by a committee chaired by Prof. Dr. Péter Ákos Bod. The awardees were ultimately chosen by the Presidency of the National Association of Managers, by secret ballot. The award ceremony was followed by a gala dinner with a charity raffle the proceeds of which went to the foundation ‘Csodalámpa Alapítvány’. w w w . d t e u r o p e . c o m

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HUNGARIAN CONDUCTOR SHARES PRESTIGIOUS PRIZE WITH FORMER BEATLE Hungarian conductor Ádám Fischer has been named – along with former Beatle Paul McCartney – as the recipient of Israel’s prestigious Wolf Prize in the music category. The Wolf Foundation called Ádám Fischer “an inspirational conductor and eloquent defender of human rights,” while McCartney “is one of the greatest songwriters of all time.” The 2018 winners were announced this February along with laureates in the fields of chemistry, agriculture, mathematics and physics. Since 1978, the prestigious prize has been awarded annually to outstanding artists and scientists in these five fields for their achievements for the benefit of mankind. About three dozen winners have gone on to receive Nobel prizes. 69-year-old Ádám Fischer, who is the general music director of the Austro-Hungarian Haydn Orchestra, the chief conductor of the Danish National Chamber Orchestra, and the chief conductor of the Düsseldorf Symphony, was suggested for the prize by the University of Music and Performing Arts in Vienna, of which he is a graduate. In their praise of the Hungarian conductor, the Foundation highlighted that “his support of human rights, and in particular, his protest against the political developments in his native Hungary, make him an artist of exemplary integrity – a quality that shapes his interpretations as well as the morality of his stance. The Wolf Foundation is proud to recognize in Ádám Fischer a musical leader beloved around the world, whose aspirations serve as an inspiration to us all.” Laureates will receive their awards – and prize money of USD 100,000 for each field – from the President of the State of Israel at a special ceremony at the Knesset building in Jerusalem in May this year.

HUNGARY WINS HISTORIC GOLD IN PYEONGCHANG The Hungarian quartet of Csaba Burján, Viktor Knoch, Liu Shaoang and Sándor Liu Shaolin won the men's 5,000-meter short-track event at the PyeongChang Winter Olympics, taking the first ever gold medal for the country in its history. It is also the first podium position since 1980 when the ice dancing pair of Krisztina Regőczy and András Sallay became silver medalists in Lake Placid in the United States. The first Hungarian gold is the seventh medal at Winter Olympic Games after two silvers and four bronzes.

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company briefs CONTINENTAL INCREASES PRODUCTION IN HUNGARY

the air bellow manufacturing capacity, and expanded its infrastructure with a 2,000 m2 warehouse complex and a 4,500 m2 logistics hall. Continental started to establish its concerns in Hungary in 1991. Currently, it is present with 5 companies and operates 7 sites in the country. In addition to Nyíregyháza, it is engaged in manufacturing activities in Makó, Szeged and Veszprém, where the focus is on auto electronics: braking systems, hybrid control panels, electric steering systems and wide range of sensors are manufactured. With approximately 8,000 employees, the company is constantly expanding in Hungary: it invested more than EUR 43 million in its concerns here in the past two years. The recent development of the ContiTech division is part

As a result of a comprehensive EUR 20 million development project, ContiTech Magyarország, which belongs to the Continental Group, has expanded production in Nyíregyháza, the Hungarian Investment Promotion Agency (HIPA) reports. The German automotive giant, one of the top five suppliers in the world, has started to manufacture automotive cooling and heating pipes, installed modern caoutchouc mixture production lines, increased

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of recent years, Metyx is able to further develop its European activities here in Hungary. The main activity of the mother company Telateks, established in 1940 and based in Istanbul, is the manufacture of textile products. Its 2017 sales revenue was EUR 51 million, with 450 employees. A division of Telateks, METYX has two factories in Turkey and one plant in Hungary. METYX Hungary has been present in Kaposvár since 2013, where it has specialized primarily in the manufacture of glass and carbon fiber raw materials for wind turbines and for the automotive industry, as well as composite products made from these raw materials. The products include amplifiers and vacuum packing units. The company is an important TIER1 supplier for the market leading Siemens wind turbines. As a result of the development just announced, the current staff size of 150 will increase by 182, including high added value positions, and the manufacturing area will increase by 6,000 square meters, where new production lines will also be put into service.

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FOSS quadruples their number of employees in Hungary by adding 100 new, high value-added R&D jobs to the existing 30 positions. Moreover, Soft Flow, the subsidiary of the Danish biotechnology company is building a 2000 square meters, complex, Scandinavian-style office. The new building will include everything needed, from offices, meeting rooms, SW development, R&D laboratories, facilities for simulations, mechanical engineering to reagent production with necessary Service and Quality Control laboratories that allow for the release and distribution of goods. The building is expected to be completed in December 2019. The Hungarian Investment Promotion Agency (HIPA) assisted the EUR 6.3 million project with comprehensive project management services. FOSS creates end-to-end solutions that secure and improve food quality, from raw materials to finished products. Their analysis instruments refine measurements into information management that enables businesses to run intelligent data-driven production with less waste and bigger yields. The family-owned Danish company, founded in 1956, is headquartered in Hillerød, Denmark, while development and production takes place in Denmark, China and Hungary. 80% of the grain, and 85% of the milk marketed globally is tested by products of the Danish company. FOSS, employing more than 14,000 highly qualified employees worldwide, has products marketed and sold through a global network in 30 countries. The Hungarian subsidiary of FOSS, Soft Flow Hungary has grown into an international recognized R&D company and today employs more than 30 talented people working with biotechnology, research and assay development with bioanalytical services. The Pécs unit in southern Hungary has strategic importance, because they produce chemical elements that are the 'soul' of the most innovative FOSS products. “One key reason for us to expand in Pécs is the very good and long-term cooperation with the university there. Knowledge is of outmost importance to us and the very key to unlock the potentials in Biotech,” FOSS Senior Vice President R&D, Niels Degn said.

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LEADING BIOTECH RESEARCH COMPANY EXPANDING IN PÉCS

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The Turkish company Metyx has announced a significant project in its Kaposvár plant in Western Hungary: the firm, which is engaged in the manufacture of glass and carbon fiber raw materials – and composite products made of them –, will double the number of its employees, creating high added value jobs, as well in the county town of Somogy County. With the HUF 3.2 billion (cca EUR 10.3 million) project, the manufacturing area will increase by 6,000 square meters and four new production lines will also be installed. The Hungarian government has agreed to pay over a quarter of the investment costs (HUF 902.5 million). According to the Hungarian Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade, Péter Szijjártó, the investment project being realized by the Turkish-owned company employs advanced technology and is creating jobs that require a high level of training and provide a dependable livelihood. The Managing Director of Metyx Hungary Ltd., Ugur Üstünel told reporters that the company is planning additional projects in Kaposvár because, in view of the rate of growth

ATTILA BALÁZS/MTI, K. MOCZULSKI, METYX HUNGARY, NOÉMI BRUZÁK/MTI

From May this year until October 27, LOT Polish Airlines is going to operate regular flights between Budapest and the southern Polish city of Cracow six times a week. Prior to that, from April 28, the airline will operate five flights per week, on this route. The departure flight from the Cracow-Balice Airport is scheduled for 7.55 a.m. and the arrival in the capital city of Hungary is scheduled for 9.00 a.m. Departure flights from Budapest to Cracow are scheduled for 9.35 a.m. to arrive in Cracow an hour later at 10.35 a.m. The flights on that route will be operated with Bombardier Q400s with seating capacity of 78 passengers and three travel classes. Starting from March 25, the Polish airline will also increase the number of flights to five a day on the WarsawBudapest route. Those flights will be mainly operated using Bombardier Q400s, and sporadically also Embraer 170s. According to Adrian Kubicki, the Director of Corporate Communications at LOT, “Hungary is now among LOT’s key Central and Eastern European markets. We strive to ensure the best services and the highest number of available flights to the passengers from the region. Direct flights from Cracow mean not only a greater number of flights to the second largest city in Poland but also connecting flights to other destinations, including Chicago.” The CCO of Budapest Airport, Kam Jandu highlights that “our passengers have told us for a long time that a direct flight to Cracow is high on their wish list ‒ the potential market is more than 30,000 passengers – so, it’s great to have finally solved this travel problem for them with our increasingly important partner LOT Polish Airlines. The travel time is around eight hours by car – the flight time is just over one hour – so, that is a significant time-savings for all.” From May, LOT will fly from the capital city of Hungary to New York City and Chicago – the first direct flights to the USA from outside Poland in the history of the airline. LOT is going to station one of its eight wide body state-of-the-art aircraft – B787 Dreamliner – in Budapest.

TURKISH FIRM DOUBLES ITS NUMBER OF EMPLOYEES IN KAPOSVÁR

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LOT LAUNCHES NEW CONNECTION FROM BUDAPEST TO CRACOW

of a two-step expansion in the Makó and Nyíregyháza plants, with a total value of EUR 32 million. The Nyíregyháza unit receives EUR 20 million, from which it increases air bellow manufacturing capacity, starts the production of automotive cooling and heating pipe and, installs modern caoutchouc mixture production lines. Additionally, a 2,000 m2 warehouse complex and a 4,500 m2 logistics hall have been constructed. The complex expansion creates 600 new jobs in total, which not only expands the production portfolio, but makes ContiTech one of the most important employers in the region. Besides these investments, another project is underway: in September, 2017 ContiTech began to offer electronics technician classes.

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company briefs HUNGARIANS HELP DEVELOP OLYMPIC ANALYTIC SYSTEM Hungarian and American software engineers of GE Healthcare developed the analytic management system of the Olympic Winter Games. Designed in partnership with the International Olympic Committee (IOC), the digital analytical system allows doctors and healthcare professionals obtain real-time data on the health status, injuries and possible illness of the competitors. The system will be used by the International Olympic Committee at the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games, as well. Based on the information stored in the cloud, the medical staff of the Games can obtain specific information about the health condition of athletes, and they can make fast decisions on necessary treatment. Furthermore, the aim of the application is also to improve the safety of the Olympic Games and to help preserve participants’ health through the use of analytical data. The GE ‘Athlete Management Solution’ collects and makes accessible several different kind of information, including results of examinations and diagnosis of the athletes, imaging studies (X-ray, MRI), physiological data or information related to sport events and venues. Based on all these, the application provides real-time analytics to enable medical staff to provide a personalized treatment for the athletes and can also identify the possible trends and causes of the injuries and illnesses. For example, the tool can flag a ‘hot spot’ where multiple injuries are occurring, or a spike in illness among spectators who attended an event at a specific venue. The tool is cloud-based, embedded with appropriate security controls, and enables remote entry of and internet access to data by clinicians anywhere and at any time – whether they are in a Polyclinic, the facility that provides care to anyone involved in the Games, a local hospital, or their hotel room.

HB REAVIS RECEIVES PRESTIGIOUS REAL ESTATE AWARDS

ATTILA BALÁZS/MTI, K. MOCZULSKI, METYX HUNGARY, NOÉMI BRUZÁK/MTI

MAJA HITIJ/GETTY IMAGES, SEG AUTOMOTIVE, HB REAVIS, ZOLTÁN MÁTHÉ/MTI

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LARGEST LOGISTIC CENTER IN THE REGION INAUGURATED IN MISKOLC A twenty-thousand square meter logistic center has been opened by SEG Automotive's domestic unit, which specializes in the development and production of highly competitive starter motors and generators. The technologically advanced warehouse – featuring indoor GPS-tracking – is the largest interconnected hall in the region and testament to how important the Hungarian branch is for the global success of the company. The company’s press release says that the existing Miskolc site was a shared service unit, so to invest in the sustainable future of the location, global management decided to invest in a new warehouse for its Hungarian branch. The brand new logistics center is distinguished by state-of-the art technology, procedures and processes and employs 215 people. The center supports the production of starter motors and generators, in nine subfields, in a factory just one kilometer away. The total capacity of the warehouse is 18,035 pallets, which is an outstanding size in its category and opens the door for future growth. One of the great novelties of the new logistics center is the innovative, next-generation line-up, which makes it possible for the base and packing material to be constantly provided for the factory within three hours. This makes work efficient and minimizes idle time. Trucks and other delivery tools deliver supplies to the factory at the right load level, providing the production lines with raw materials at the right time. Another revolutionary innovation is a breakthrough in the records and accounting of materials. Automated bookkeeping based on an indoor positioning system – like GPS-tracking – makes it possible to automatically fill in raw materials that are rolled over through virtual boundaries in the inventory system. Without human interaction, it is now more accurate than ever before to track goods movements, stock inventory, and inventory management. After all, the manufacturing of competitive products is closely related to the development and continuous upgrading of technology-leading infrastructure. This strategic investment is part of the global growth strategy of SEG Automotive, which services almost all major OEMs through 16 tions across the globe.

The HB Reavis real estate development group has won two prizes at the prestigious Iroda.hu Gala Awards with its AGORA Budapest project. Its Agora Park and Showroom was named ‘Best Community Place of the Year 2017’ among 35 entries while the Agora Budapest project, itself was named ‘Best Planned Commercial Real Estate Project of the Year 2017’. In the ‘Best Community Place of the Year 2017’ category, the jury evaluated the specially creative, community-specific spaces of architectural interest that serve as a venue for quality relationships for unique or innovative, leisure and innovative ideas. HB Reavis's 5,000-square-meter public park, with its unique container showroom in the center, is specialty real estate that did not exist, in this form, in Hungary before. The high-tech showroom, made of used marine vessel containers, presents in a truly exclusive way – on the construction site – to the future tenants of the new city center, Agora Budapest, how their future office is being built. The showroom, built in three months, was designed by the MádiLáncos Studio while its unique furniture was provided by Kinnarps. The developer gave a glimpse of the showroom to the public in a recent open day – an occasion to be repeated in the future. The Agora Budapest Showroom anticipates how Agora Budapest will renew and make the environment more enjoyable for residents, workers and the capital city. The award-winning development, located at the junction of two main roads, will be one of the city's most exciting building complexes: a multifunctional, modern city center that will beautify the capital with not only unique contemporary architectural solutions but also with green spaces and community spaces while also offering diverse services. Agora Budapest, in addition to its sustainable and innovative solutions, was able to attract the attention of the jury due to its community-building and environmental function, as well. HB Reavis group-level community office service, the HubHub, will have its own co-working office located in the building. Agora is being worked on by such well-known foreign and Hungarian designers as the London-based MAKE Architects and the FINTA Studio of Budapest, which designs iconic buildings.

CONTINENTAL TO OPEN ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE CENTER IN BUDAPEST Continental Automotive Kft., a subsidiary of Germany’s Continental AG, will open an artificial intelligence (AI) competence center in Budapest in May 2018, with the Hungarian government providing a quarter of the HUF 5.5 billion (EUR 17.7 mn) investment cost. The Deep Machine Learning Competence Center will be an integrated part of the global network of the Advanced Driver Assistance Systems (ADAS) business unit. According to a report by the Hungarian Investment Promotion Agency, the focus of the new site will be Deep Machine Learning for embedded and safety-critical real-time software applications for autonomous driving. With a hundred software and hardware experts, the new center will shape the future of self-driving technologies from Budapest. Continental's business unit Advanced Driver Assistance Systems (ADAS) has been using Machine Learning and neural networks for many years. In complex driving scenarios, decisions need to be made on the basis of not just one object or one sensor, and not just in environments that can be easily predicted. Deep Machine Learning based methods will enable vehicles to capture (sense) and interpret their surroundings (plan), and react accordingly (act). With artificial intelligence (AI) systems, mastering complex driving tasks will no longer require a human driver to sense, plan and act. Karl Haupt, head of Continental AG's Driver Assistance Systems business unit said one of the most important trends in the automotive industry is the development of self-driving cars. It is the fastest growing area in this industry. Continental develops complete systems for cars that drive alone. The Head of Engineering Sensorics, Thomas Brohm said, that in the field of artificial intelligence, the Budapest team will lead innovation within the company, while Hungarian technical traditions and the economic environment will successfully support the company's ideas. Continental, which has 29 branches and 233,000 employees worldwide, has been present in Hungary for 27 years. Within Hungary, there are six factories and a tire sales center, and nearly 5,000 of the 8,000 employees work in the automotive industry for Continental. w w w . d t e u r o p e . c o m

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INTERVIEW WITH KYOO-SIK CHOE, KOREAN AMBASSADOR TO HUNGARY

Next year the Republic of Korea and Hungary celebrate the 30th anniversary of entering an agreement on diplomatic relations. Ambassador Choe highlights to Diplomacy&Trade that “over these close to three decades, bilateral relations have been cherished, in an exemplary manner, in the political, economic, cultural and defense areas. Next year, I would like to elevate these ties to the next level in order to deepen the bilateral relations.” He adds that “of course, this 30th anniversary does not only mean that we will offer colorful programs of celebration to the population in the two countries

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but that we would also like to make the present cooperation even tighter. Therefore, from now on, I would like to be very much involved in the preparatory work. My goal is not only to celebrate but also make relations wider and stronger in as many fields as possible.”

Building on a legacy During the tenure of the previous Korean ambassador, Geun-hyeong Yim, bilateral relations were greatly developed. To build on the legacy of his predecessor and further enhance KoreanHungarian ties, Ambassador Choe first mentions the fields of science and technology and that of the pharmaceutical and medical industries as well as defense cooperation. “Working together in science

and technology covers the areas of research and development (R&D) and innovation. The Republic of Korea has developed innovations in several fields and when these are introduced to Hungarian researchers of natural science, it can create a special synergy of development. As an example, this February, Hyundai Electric inaugurated a new technology center in Budapest. This March, another Korean firm, SK Innovation will hold the groundbreaking ceremony of their new factory in Komárom, west of Budapest, while at the end of March, the 9th bilateral science and technology joint committee will hold a session here in Budapest. Also, the Visegrád Four (V4) countries will hold a think.BDPST conference where the Republic of Korea will be the guest of honor.” M A R C H

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BY SÁNDOR LACZKÓ

DÁVID HARANGOZÓ, LEE BEOMSU/KOREA TOURISM ORGANIZATION

ELEVATING TIES TO THE NEXT LEVEL

The Ambassador says he heard that in Hungary the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries are the most developed among the countries of East Central Europe. He quotes 2016 statistics suggesting that “the pharmaceutical industry showed a growth of 18.9%. In that year, Hungary imported, from the Republic of Korea, products in the value of USD 950 million with pharmaceutical goods and pesticides as the main items. A new product, developed as a result of cooperation between the Korean company Celltrion and Hungary’s Egis, became a big success with huge quantities sold in Europe and the countries of the former Soviet Union.”

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korean focus THE OLYMPICS OF PEACE

During the term of Ambassador Yim, Hungary and the Republic of Korea saw great development in defense cooperation, including the establishment of the office of military attaché and the signing of an agreement between the two countries on the exchange and mutual protection of classified military information. “So, the legal framework is there; now, during my term as ambassador, the task is to concentrate on practical cooperation. In 2014, the Hungarian government announced a tender for purchasing helicopters. It was followed by talks between the Korean and Hungarian governments but then, things died down. This January, however, the chief-of-staff of the Hungarian Army said that the government would buy 40 choppers. Korean suppliers are among the interested suppliers,” he adds.

DÁVID HARANGOZÓ, LEE BEOMSU/KOREA TOURISM ORGANIZATION

KIM JIHO/KOREA TOURISM ORGANIZATION, ZSOLT CZEGLÉDI/MTI

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Successful investments Korean investments in Hungary, Hankook Tire, Samsung, LG and other Korean firms, play an important role in bilateral economic ties and they also contribute to Hungary’s economic performance. Ambassador Choe explains that in the past three decades, there has been growth in several areas of bilateral relations but the greatest achievements can definitely be seen in economic ties. “According to the latest statistics available (2016), the number of jobs provided by Korean companies in Hungary was 7,700 and the sales of these firms amounted to EUR 3.2 billion. Of course, these companies contribute to the development of the Hungarian economy, including the creation of jobs and the transfer of high technology. At the same time, the presence of Korean companies in this country also means a bridgehead for them to the market of the European Union. I would also like to emphasize that Korean companies do not repatriate the profit they make in Hungary but rather re-invest it in the development of the company.” As regards the social responsibility policies of the corporate sector, the Ambassador points out that Korean companies have contributed a lot to local communities in Hungary. He mentions the example w w w . d t e u r o p e . c o m

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of Hankook Tire that provided tires for Hungarian ambulance cars free of charge, a donation of about 10,000 tires. The Samsung Electronics factory in Jászfényszaru, SE of Budapest, gave various information technology devices to the local government to support the ‘smart school’ initiative in children’s education. He is of the view that “the reinvestment of the profit and these CSR activities on the part of the Korean companies is a kind of return to the Hungarian governments for providing a favorable business environment, good conditions for investment in the country.” He highlights that Hungary is located in Europe’s geographical center, providing good access, on roads and railroads, to forward goods, to some twenty countries in the region. “In other words, the country’s location is excellent from the point of view of logistics. Of course, the skilled and relatively cheap labor is another attractive feature in Hungary. It is also favorable that the corporate tax has been reduced to 9%, while the rate of social security contributions to be paid by firms went down from 27% to 19.5%. These favorable conditions mean a lot to Korean companies in making their investment decisions – like that of the 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

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30 years after the Summer Olympic Games in Seoul and the 2002 Soccer World Cup, the Republic of Korea has once again hosted one of the major sports events in the world, the Winter Olympic Games in PyeongChang. Ambassador Choe proudly points out that the Republic of Korea is, in fact, a member of a small elite group of countries as far as the hosting of major international sports events is concerned. Only five countries in the world have hosted the world’s four most popular sports events – the Summer Olympic Games, the Winter Olympic Games, the FIFA Football World Cup and the World Athletics Championships – and the Republic of Korea is one of them. “The Winter Olympic Games in PyeongChang has a special meaning, not only for my country, but for the world. As an Ambassador of the Republic of Korea, I would like to call people’s

attention all over the world to the fact that this was the Olympics of Peace. For the first time in Olympic history, the two Koreas marched under a common flag at the opening ceremony of the 2018 Winter Games and the women’s ice hockey team included players from both Koreas. There were prominent visitors from North Korea, as well, like the sister of Kim Jong Un. This gives us hope for the continuation of dialogue between the two Koreas and thus, the easing of tension on the Korean Peninsula and contributing to peace in the world. I would be very happy to see the world media talk about this event in PyeongChang as the embodiment of one of the Olympic goals, that is, peace,” Ambassador Choe stresses. He goes on to say that “if we speak about the Seoul Olympics, we have to mention the two previous Summer Games, as well. In 1980 in Moscow, it was like a ‘half Olympics’

already mentioned SK Innovation, which invests USD 770 million in Komárom. According to the Hungarian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade, last year, 96 companies invested in Hungary a total amount of EUR 3.5 billion and 3 of those 96 companies were Korean. While in 2017, the number of Korean firms operating in Hungary was around 50, this number is now over 90 and there are several more that consider Hungary an investment destination.”

Cultural relations Ambassador Choe points out that “of course, economic relations are important but, in the background, it is much more important that the two peoples get to know each other and understand each HUNGARY

KOREA

93,028 sq km 111 9,850,845 (July 2017 est.) 92 -0.25% (2017 est.) 214 9 births/1,000 population 205 76.1 years 91 1.3 migrant(s)/1,000 population 54 $28,900 (2017 est.) 69 4.4% (2017 est.) 59 11,779,908 78 41 (2013) 104

99,720 sq km 110 51,181,299 (July 2017 est.) 27 0.48% (2017 est.) 155 8.3 births/1,000 population 220 82.5 years 11 2.5 migrant(s)/1,000 population 36 USD 39,400 (2017 est.) 45 3.8% (2017 est.) 45 58.935 million 27 111 (2013) 53

because the event was boycotted by the market economy based countries while four years later, the countries of the Eastern bloc boycotted the Games in Los Angeles. These were all due to the cold War situation but, fortunately, by the time of the Seoul Olympics in 1988, both sides were won over by the Olympic spirit and it became the Olympics of reconciliation. The PyeongChang Olympics, which had a record number of countries (92) in attendance, and a record number of athletes

(2,925), was mentioned by the International Olympic Committee as a very well organized Olympics where things worked professionally.” He also speaks proudly of what he calls the phenomenon of the fourth industrial revolution: the latest Korean technology (fifth generation in info communications) was presented to the world at the opening ceremony where 1,218 drones were controlled by a single person to formulate the five Olympic circles.

other. All this is much easier to do through history, culture and language. The Korean Cultural Center opened in a rented place in Budapest in February 2012 but early next year, it will move to a new building that provides much bigger space and many more opportunities. I have heard that the Hungarian government also intends to open a Hungarian cultural center in the Republic of Korea.” As an example of cultural programs, he mentions the annual Korean Film Week organized by the Korean Cultural Center. Last year, it took place in four Hungarian cities and attracted about 7,000 people. “I am happy to state that Hungarians showed similar great interest in other programs of the Center, as well. It means that cultural relations between the two countries are developing and cultural values are cherished. In 2014, there was a Hungarian exhibition in the Republic of Korea, that presented the treasures of the Hungarian Royal Palace and it was a huge success.” The number of Korean tourists visiting Hungary every year is over 120,000 and the number is constantly increasing. “On the other hand, numbers going in the opposite direction are not that high but we hope they will also improve. Throughout their history, both the Republic of Korea and Hungary went through a lot of difficulties and suffering due to external attacks. Still, they have preserved their identities through their own culture and traditions. I hope that in the coming years, bilateral relations will further improve and I, as the Ambassador of the Republic of Korea, will do my best to assist this development,” Kyoo-sik Choe concludes.

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korean focus Deputy Minister for Political Affairs at the Ministry Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Korea, Yoon Soon-ku has recently been in the Hungarian capital to attend the fourth Republic of Korea – Visegrád Group (V4) meeting of Deputy Ministers for Political Affairs to discuss, with his counterparts, issues of mutual interest that include cooperation between his country and the V4 as well as the situations on the Korean Peninsula and in Europe. The security situation on the Korean Peninsula – and its implications for the world – was also the subject of his lecture at the József Antall Knowledge Center in Budapest.

ROK, China and Japan. The region is affected by the strategies of two global powers: China has declared a “new type of great power relations” during the 19th Party Congress of the Chinese Communist Party in 2017 and the United States has turned away from the policy of “Pivot to Asia” to an “America First” approach under President Donald Trump. In the current security situation in the Korean Peninsula, the most significant development is that North Korean leader Kim Jong Un recently claimed that his country has become a nuclear power. The North Korean nuclear weapons tests show a worrisome escalating trend, while the country’s ballistic missile capability has expanded to reach even the Western coast of the United States, the Deputy Minister said.

War is not an option

East Asia is a region of economic and cultural richness and potential, yet economic cooperation between the great powers – the Republic of Korea, Japan, and the People’s Republic of China – is oftentimes complicated due to political and security disagreements. The North Korean nuclear program poses the greatest challenge to the region, an issue which sparks complex political interactions not only between the regional powers but in the United States of America, as well. These highly important issues that deeply affect the future of the Korean Peninsula were discussed by the Deputy Minister in his lecture entitled ‘Security situations in East Asia and North Korea's nuclear issue’.

Human development Yoon Soon-ku began his lecture by giving an overall picture of the Republic of Korea (ROK), a country with a population of about 51 million people but having one of the lowest fertility rate on Earth. The country is an economic powerhouse that has achieved – after the devastation of World War II – a USD two trillion

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GDP (PPP), high living standards of USD 37,900 GDP/capita (PPP), an annual growth rate of 2.7% and a healthy surplus in its trade balance. The basis of this success story lies in the country being one of the highest achievers in terms of education, national competitiveness ranking and overall wellbeing of its citizens, as represented by the ROK’s remarkable Human Development Index scores. Regarding the relationship between the Republic of Korea and Hungary, the Deputy Minister recalled the year 1989 when his country embarked on its ‘Northern diplomacy’ with Hungary. In fact, Hungary was the first country in the CEE region to establish diplomatic relations with the Republic of Korea. Since then, the two countries have been close partners, their trade volume is on a steadily rising curve, and significant investment has been accumulated by Korea in Hungary with a focus on high tech industry that combines Korean capital and knowhow with highly skilled Hungarian labor. The two countries’ high-level partnership is further strengthened through the V4+ format.

The growing importance of Northeast Asia As far as the security environment of Northeast Asia is concerned, Yoon Soon-ku underlined that the self-perception of the ROK is that it is a small country surrounded by big and powerful neighbors, further complicated by the fact that the Korean peninsula was divided by the great powers after the Second World War. The Deputy Minister, putting Northeast Asia in a global context, pointed out that the economic gravity of the globe is shifting back to the East, a process demonstrated by the fact that by 2050, more than 50% of global GDP is projected to be produced in Asia. Even today, in terms of population, GDP and military spending, Northeast Asia is responsible for one quarter of the global sums. Northeast Asia presents a complex situation, an intensifying paradox, as it is a highly interdependent economic region, but the security and political dynamics do not copy this cooperative framework, though people-to-people contacts have been steadily increasing between the M A R C H

According to the South Korean government, war is not an option: the estimates show that three to four million would perish in such an armed conflict. South Korea remains open to dialogue and engagement with its Northern counterpart, which does not mean that Seoul does not possess the required strategies for a powerful deterrent capability against a Northern aggression. This Triad System of three level deterrence includes strategies designed to counter a North Korean military strike and punish the North Korean regime if such a catastrophic event would occur. South Korea would not have to introduce its own nuclear arsenal, even though it possesses the capability to do so, with a nuclear industry that is one of the most developed in the world, because the extended deterrence of the American nuclear umbrella protects the ROK against any nuclear aggressions. The ROK also steadily increases its defense expenditure and further strengthens its alliance with the United States in order to meet the challenges of our times. Deputy Minister Yoon emphasized that the Republic of Korea is looking for a turning point in the current security situation and it is open to resume inter-Korea dialogue. Seoul hoped to organize PyeongChang 2018 as an Olympics of Peace and reach out to its Northern neighbor. Concluding with the prospects of reunification of the Korean Peninsula, Yoon Soon-ku underlined that a gradual approach is needed for unification, as the two Koreas are very different societies, and such a process would realistically take a long time to achieve its goal. 2 0 1 8

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LOT Polish Airlines, Europe’s fastest growing airline, is continuously strengthening its position in Central and Eastern Europe; it has launched as many as 50 new routes since 2016. For passengers departing from Budapest, this means that they will be able to travel conveniently, via Warsaw, to numerous destinations worldwide, such as South Korea, the ‘Asian Tiger’ and one of the top business and tourist destinations in the region. Its capital, Seoul is one of the most important business centers in Asia and a cradle for gigantic, well-known corporations of global reach that have been investing in Central and Eastern Europe for a number of years now. More than 100,000 passengers have already benefitted from LOT’s direct flights to Seoul since the route was first launched, in October 2017. Many of them transfer to other destinations throughout Central Europe. Such excellent results prove that potential exists to expand the connection in order to cater for the needs of the growing tourist and business traffic between Poland, the CEE region and South Korea. Seoul has also proven to be an incredibly popular destination for travelers from all over Central Eastern Europe and beyond, luring them with its attractions, cultural heritage and excellent cuisine. The airline says that LOT’s non-stop service from South Korea also provides its Korean customers with the opportunity to travel conveniently to Hungary. The launch of the connection is expected to boost the number of Asian tourists visiting Budapest. LOT’s service is currently the most convenient of all offers available on the market to passengers flying between Hungary and South Korea. The total travel time equals as little as 12 hours and 45 minutes, with a connection time at the Warsaw hub of only 60 minutes and there are as many as five flights per week. On top of that, LOT guarantees an outstanding flight experience aboard the world’s most technologically advanced aircraft in the world – the Boeing 787 Dreamliner.

HARANGOZÓ

KOREAN DEPUTY FOREIGN MINISTER’S LECTURE IN BUDAPEST

FLYING TO THE ASIAN TIGER

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WAR IS NOT AN OPTION

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FACILITATING TRADE AND INVESTMENTS HUNGARY, A FAVORITE INVESTMENT DESTINATION FOR KOREAN FIRMS

TRADE AND INVESTMENT – FIELDS AND NUMBERS

• According to Korean statistical data, the country was ranked the 27th largest trade partner of

Hungary, in 2016, in terms of exports. The export volume was the fourth highest among nonEuropean nations. Trade balance between Korea and Hungary has decreased since 2010 when Korea had the largest trade surplus (USD 1.98 billion). By 2016, the trade balance had narrowed to USD 280 million. This was mainly due to the rapid increase of Hungary’s exports to Korea. Hungary exported to Korea in the value of USD 99.2 million in 2001, This amount increased by 556%, to USD 651 million, in 2016, when Hungary ranked as the 37th largest exporting country to Korea. The volume of trade from Korea to Hungary was USD 953 million in 2016, according to the Korean Trade Association (KITA). Korean exports to Hungary mainly include pesticides and pharmaceuticals, automobiles and parts, synthetic resins, etc. The export item portfolio has changed recently, compared to the main export items in the past, such as video devices & ship-related products. As an example, Celltrion Healthcare now exports pharmaceuticals to Hungary, and after the final finishing process at its Hungarian subsidiary, the products are distributed throughout the Western Europe through the Netherlands. In the Hungary-to-Korea direction, the main fields of export are motors and pumps, automobiles and parts, instruments and control analyzers, etc. A noticeable change is that Hungarian exports of meat have increased by 22%. Hungary has significant competitiveness and low unit prices for meat and grain. Mangalica pigs and Tokaj wines are widely known Hungarian products. These have already been considered high-quality ingredients in Japan, thus, there are inquiries from Korean companies for sourcing of these Hungarian products.

• According to figures by the National Bank of Hungary, the cumulative volume of Korean

investments in Hungary in 2016 was EUR 14.4 billion. In 2015, Korean companies invested EUR 1.65 billion here (0.7% of total investment in Hungary). Korea became the largest investor in Hungary among the non-European countries. The proportion of investment in manufacturing is overwhelmingly high. In 2016, 58.3% of total cumulative investment value in 2016 was in manufacturing. Investment proportion is the second highest (accounting for 24.8%) in the financial and insurance field. (In the case of financial services, KDB Europe, expanding its network throughout Eastern Europe, invests huge amounts in Hungary.) According to Korean companies, the most attractive factors for investing in Hungary are (1) flat terrain, (2) slight temperature gaps between summer and winter, (3) high level of water accessibility, (4) road infrastructure and (5) the ‘mild character’ of Hungarians.

The largest Korean investors in Hungary:

• Hankook Tire arrived to Hungary in 2006 and has since completed the third expansion of the plant and has a fourth expansion planned.

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Investment considerations

KOTRA Budapest is designated a commercial section of the Korean Embassy in Hungary. “Since we don’t act as a trading company, we operate many programs to support Korean companies’ exports and imports with market analysis, trade promotion activities, the organization of delegations to Hungary and invitations to distributors for exhibitions in Korea. We also operate the online trade promotion platform ‘buykorea. org’ and our office provides services for Korean importers, based on their specific requests,” the Director General points out. On the investment side, there has been a remarkable increase of Korean firms in the past few years. According to statistical data by the Hungarian Central Bank, Korea ranks first among non-European investors (excluding investments through 3rd countries). KOTRA Budapest actively supports Korean companies to make an investment decision and set their business up in Hungary, under close cooperation with the Hungarian Investment Promotion Agency (HIPA).

As to whether Korean investments of larger volume can be expected in Hungary in the near future, Director General Kum Ha highlights that “due to the investment decision of USD 1 billion for Samsung SDI's second tier battery production plant for EV in 2016 and SK Innovation’s recent investment in Hungary, many Korean companies are conducting or considering investment for the purpose of project execution and expansion of partners. So, there is a good outlook for exporting to Hungary. However, the most worrying part of Korean companies' investments in Hungary is the supply and demand of manpower. Unemployment rate in Hungary has recently dropped to 3.8%. When considering investment in Hungary, the first thing to consider is availability of labor. If the problem of supply and demand of manpower can be resolved by an active policy support of the Hungarian government, investment from Korea to Hungary can increase continuously.” From the viewpoint of would-be Korean investors, it is important M A R C H

• Samsung Electronics arrived in 1989, during the transition of the political system

in Hungary. Samsung Electronics was the first Korean company to arrive in this country. It established a joint venture with Orion. In 2007, they built new production facilities in Hungary and expanded production facilities in 2014. • Samsung SDI decided to invest here in 2016. They are planning to manufacture electric vehicle (EV) batteries for supplying products to BMW, Volkswagen and Audi. Mass production of EV batteries will start in May 2018. • SK Innovation decided to invest in Hungary in 2017, for the production of EV batteries, to supply Mercedes-Benz. The plant will have its groundbreaking ceremony in March 2018.

how satisfied the already established companies and business partners are with the business environment in Hungary. In this regard, Lee Kum Ha is of the view that “most Korean companies are highly satisfied with their investments in Hungary, and a large number of companies have invested second and third increments in Hungary. However, there are difficulties in supply and demand of manpower due to reduction in unemployment rate, in obtaining a visa and as a result of complicated administrative procedures.

Tourism As tourism demand from Korea to Hungary has been increasing recently, the number of tourism businesses targeting Korean tourists is also increasing. Recently, Budapest has become one of the 2 0 1 8

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most popular tourist destinations for Koreans. According to a recent survey in Korea, tour packages to Budapest ranked the second most reserved in Europe in the spring of 2018 (behind Dubrovnik). Lately, Budapest has appeared more frequently in Korean broadcasts, and, due to the recent terrors in Western Europe, Budapest, which is relatively safe and has accessibility to neighboring countries, is becoming more popular. “According to Hungarian government statistics, about 120,000 Koreans visited Hungary in 2015, more than doubling their number over the past five years. On the other hand, there are no direct flights from Korea to Hungary, but if non-stop flights are opened, more Koreans are expected to visit Hungary,” the Director General says.

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More investors

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“Since the Korean TradeInvestment Promotion Agency (KOTRA) opened its Budapest Office in 1988, we have been supporting Korean companies trading with Hungary as well as those investing in this country,” the Director General of the office (Korea Business Center), Lee Kum Ha tells Diplomacy&Trade. He goes on to say that “in particular, we have brought many Korean investors to Hungary, from small to large corporations, like Samsung Electronics, Hankook Tire, LG Electronics and Kia Motors. There are also newer investors such as Samsung SDI and SK Innovation here. At KOTRA Budapest, we try our best to support new investors from Korea.” At the same time, the Office also works to facilitate the exports of Korean SMEs to Hungary. Recently, Korean FMCG products such as cosmetics, medical devices and renewable energy related products have become more popular on the Hungarian market. “Also, we have other activities such as researching market feasibilities for Korean products, CSR activities that contribute to Hungarian society and organizing Korean business society in Hungary,” he adds.

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QUALITY AND COMMITMENT HANKOOK SUPPLIES PREMIUM QUALITY TIRES FROM RÁCALMÁS

Living and improving together

“It has been an exciting ten years with a persistent focus on quality and productivity,” Hwang Seong Hak, the Managing Director of Hankook’s production facility in Rácalmás, central Hungary sums up the company’s history in Hungary for Diplomacy&Trade. He was appointed in January 2017, having previously managed the Hankook facility in Juaxing, China. For him, one of the biggest challenges was to accommodate. “China is still closer to Korea when it comes to corporate culture, and we were surprised to see that employees in China are sometimes more flexible than in Hungary. We listen much more to the employees here. This has proved to be a fruitful tactic: they often come with extremely useful ideas and it is important to learn from each other.” The Korean brand Hankook is one of the five biggest tire manufacturers in the mass production of tires in the world with over 20,000 employees in 180 countries. It was in 2005 that Hankook decided to build its world-class European production plant in Rácalmás. The factory launched its production in 2007 with 30,000 tires a day and continuous development (two more phases of the investment were finished in 2011 and 2015). Hankook Hungary today employs over 3,000 people and the production capacity has increased up to 19 million tires a year. According to the Managing Director, the next decades will not be less challenging.

photos by ÁRPÁD

CSIKÓS, TOMMER

Fuel efficient, eco-friendly driving Regarding prospects for the industry in the future, Hwang Seong Hak stresses that “our focus is still on quality. Research and development is a priority for Hankook in Korea and in Europe, too. We are committed to develop tires that are fit to all standards. I personally think that the future will bring us even more economical solutions, tires will save more and more on fuel. Europe is already moving in the direction of green tires, we experience quite a positive change with regards to our sales numbers.” Based on a deeper understanding of how tires perform and behave in real world conditions, Hankook tires are designed to limit noise, vibrations and harshness on the roads, to allow an optimal driving experience. With ‘Kontrol technology’ introduced in 2008, Hankook's aim is to improve performance, safety and comfort – and make eco-friendly tires. This means that while reducing the rolling and rotational resistance, their special rubber and silica mixture ensures that w w w . d t e u r o p e . c o m

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cars equipped with Hankook tires use as little fuel as possible – saving the environment from exhaust fumes, but at the same time becoming even more safe with e.g. shorter braking distances. When a car uses less fuel, it lowers the amount of carbon-dioxide emission which in turn reduces environmental pollution. In addition, Hankook is gradually replacing crude oil and other synthetic substances, such as synthetic rubber by eco-friendly and more sustainable materials like

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natural oils and resines. They are also investing in the future to realize an ecofriendly environment by purifying water contaminants, reducing odors, and minimizing greenhouse gas emissions due to the production process.

Tangible quality Starting his career in the field of research and development (R&D) at Hankook, Hwang Seong Hak believes that what makes the brand known and favored on the market are

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continuous improvement, innovation and premium products. High quality standards make it possible that the factory at Rácalmás today delivers tires as original equipment for as many as 50 models of 11 car manufacturers. If the manufacturing process is strictly controlled, then the production of OE tires is a hundred times more so. The factory delivers OE tires for Audi, BMW, Ford, Hyundai, Kia, Mercedes-Benz, Opel, Porsche, Skoda and Volkswagen.

Hankook is one of the largest employers in the region, having 3,000 employees and providing lodging for around 400 of them. In 2011, the company built a hostel for those employees living far from the Rácalmás plant. According to the residents, the hostel meets all their needs: the four-story building has 254 apartments each equipped with air-conditioning, kitchen and bathroom. There is a separate launderette, a computer room and a gym available. Moreover, it is completely free of charge for employees, and it is only a five-minute walk from the factory. “We take it seriously that investment in a country means not only new developments and new production lines but investment in the people and in the community, too,” he adds. This is also reflected in the company’s activities, which is one of the best practices in Hungary when it comes to employee engagement. Hankook Hungary started its Employee Volunteer Program in 2013 and since then, they have supported 119 employee initiatives with HUF 42 million and with 11,940 hours’ of volunteer work. Although, most of the projects were local, altogether 48 cities were involved in one or more initiatives. As the Managing Director puts it, they are really proud that the plant and the local community live together and improve together. He believes that no business can succeed without the support of its environment, and this is the idea that drives them when they think about the community. Hankook's successful initiative – another pillar of the CSR strategy – gave the nearby town of Dunaújváros a renovated fire station, a renovated ambulance station, an open-air training facility in 2016, and a dog park in 2017. The company introduced two other programs in the last few years. To promote healthy and responsible mobility, they invite their employees and the community to bike for a cause: collect kilometers and change it into money that is, in the end, donated to civil organizations. Education is also a part of the company’s strategy: in 2017, four schools received respectable donations to improve or to purchase new digital equipment. After a year, Hwang Seong Hak is happy to say that he enjoys living in Hungary. He has found a home with his wife in Budapest and, being a lover of classical music, takes full advantage of the cultural opportunities the city offers. Sport also plays an important role in his free time: he is fond of winter sports, loves iceskating, and as the weather improves, golf also comes into the picture.

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korean focus WHERE GREEK FABLES FAIL AN EQUATION WITH MULTIPLE VARIABLES ON THE KOREAN PENINSULA

South Korean President Kim Dae-jung (1998-2003) decided to apply a Greek fable to reality. The story is about a man’s cloak, the wind and the sun. The latter two compete to remove the cloak but even in the strongest wind, but the man takes off his cloak when the sun shines. The moral of the story was clear for President Kim Dae-jung: a ’sunshine’ policy would be more effective in his dealings with another Kim, Kim Jong-il (1997-2011), the North Korean leader, than any sort of coercion, including sanctions. Seoul wished to address problems arising out of a growing economic gap between the North and the South, to restore communication between the two capitals, to cooperate on issues in which interests overlapped and to facilitate people-to-people connections. However, the sun was shining over these initiatives for a relatively short period. By the end of the 2000s, North Korea was back at its time-honored policies in which nuclear blackmail alternated with temporary concessions when the going was getting too rough for the Communist leaders of the erstwhile ’Hermit Kingdom’, partly because the new South Korean President, Lee Hyung-bak terminated the ’sunshine’ policy in 2007.

Much higher stakes Currently, the million-dollar question (and much more costly for the people

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on the Korean peninsula and the region) is whether the ’sun/son of Pyongyang’ has made a ’glorious summer’ by sending a reconciliatory New Year’s message and making such gestures as allowing a few North Korean athletes to compete in the PyeongChang Winter Olympics. Given the previous record of Kim-dynasty members, most observers believe that Kim Jong-un is simply following the pattern that his grandfather and father were pursuing with some success, including the tendency to probe each new South Korean president. Nobody really knows how many times one can step into the same river; the Kims seem to believe that there is no upper limit. However, the security situation has changed over the past few decades – for the worse, as the stakes are much higher now than they were in the latter half of the 20th century. The most important difference is the increased military capability of the Pyongyang regime.

The North Korean potential From Kim Jong-un’s point of view, the intensive nuclear program, the improvement of the missile technology, and also the enhancement of the conventional military capabilities are basically defensive in nature. He has most likely learnt a lesson from the fate of Saddam Hussein or Muammar Qaddafi: if you are not armed to the teeth, and if you are not able to inflict considerable damage on your opponent, your fate is doomed. It is stating the obvious that Kim Jong-

un does not really believe that North Korea would be able to defeat the U.S., South Korea and possibly Japan in an armed conflict; his strategy is to acquire capabilities which increase the threshold of potential casualties so high that they deter his opponents. Seoul is within reach of the thousands of artillery weapons like rocket launchers, etc. on the North Korean side of the border; the 25 million people (including tens of thousands of Americans) in the metropolitan area of the South Korean capital are practically held hostage. Moreover, according to U.S. estimates, the North Koreans are in possession of a number of nuclear bombs (some 20-60), with yields ranging 2-10 kilotons (but possibly up to 20-30 kilotons). It is not only the exposure of American cities on the West Coast to North Korean ICBMs, but the cooperation of the North Koreans with a number of threshold countries (Egypt, Iran, Syria, etc.) and non-state actors that makes the North Korean nuclear and missile programs so dangerous, with a potentiality of creating or enhancing instability in various regions of the world.

Pressure or dialog A ’value-added’ of the North Korean policies is a sort of wedge Pyongyang has been able to drive between the U.S. and South Korea. Even before the joint Winter Olympics participation, Washington and Seoul clashed over the deployment of the THAAD (Terminal High Altitude Area Defense) system. President Moon Jae-in distanced himself M A R C H

from his predecessor’s policies centered around sanctions against North Korea, as he prefers cooperation and dialogue instead. The deployment also soured U.S.-China relations as Beijing suspects that the missile defense system can also be used against Chinese missiles. The question is all the more important as the problems surrounding North Korea cannot be practically solved without the active involvement of China. Beijing’s latest ’mediation’ proposal is a ’freeze-for-freeze,’ that is, North Korea should freeze its nuclear program, and South Korea and the U.S. should do likewise with their joint military exercises. In general, there is a kind of disconnect between current South Korean policy toward North Korea and Washington’s ’maximum pressure’ policy, as exemplified by the tough new UN-sanctions. Moreover, the situation is not made easier by the sometimes contradictory messages from Washington; at one point, while Secretary of State Rex Tillerson was talking about the possibilities of a dialogue with North Korea, President Trump undercut his top diplomat by declaring that talking to Pyongyang was ’a waste of time’. The differences between the U.S. and South Korea do not end here: threat perceptions are different in the two capitals; there is no ideological consensus in either countries about the way forward (thus, there is a discord between the conservatives and the progressives in South Korea); and the burdensharing debate is not restricted to the U.S. and its European allies, either. 2 0 1 8

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Geopolitical considerations Though the North-South dialogue or even some sort of détente between Pyongyang and Seoul is a welcome development, the Korean ’powder keg’ will only be rendered harmless if and when the U.S., China and Russia agree on the steps to be taken. Sanctions are hurting North Korea to some extent, but as long as China (and to a lesser degree Russia) have no intention to enforce them, the Kim regime survives. North Korea is regarded as a buffer zone against the U.S. presence in East Asia by the Chinese and the Russians alike, thus geopolitical considerations dictate that the regime should be kept afloat. Unification might be a nightmare for China, but, in fact, even the majority of the younger generations in South Korea are not very keen on the idea. They have a cautionary tale before them: the huge economic, social, and even some political challenges the (re)united Germany has been facing over the past quarter of a century or so. The truth is that the current situation is not against the basic interests of the two Koreas, as well as the great powers which have a stake in the region. If Kim Jong-un follows his grandfather’s and father’s rational irrationality in international life, the sun and the wind will continue to compete on the Korean peninsula for some time to come as well. Tamás Magyarics is a foreign policy analyst

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photo by SHUTTERSTOCK.COM

BY TAMÁS MAGYARICS

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DID YOU KNOW?

Hungary was the first Eastern European country to establish ties with Korea in 1989, with the two countries having an inter-government agreement on culture and education under which specific cooperation is laid out every two years.

PRECIOUS PEARLS AND EVEN MORE

DIVERSE PROGRAMS AT THE KOREAN CULTURAL CENTER BUDAPEST

photos by KOREAN

CULTURAL CENTER, 130STUDIO

The Korean Cultural Center in Budapest (KCC) opened its doors on February 10, 2012. The center’s inauguration marked the opening of the 22nd overseas Korean Cultural Center and the 8th on the European continent following openings in France, the UK, Germany, Russia, Poland, Spain, and Turkey. Located in district 12, the two-story center runs diverse cultural programs for the Hungarian public, including Korean language education, taekwondo classes, exhibitions, film screenings, concerts and cooking classes for authentic Korean cuisine. Often collaborating with Hungarian organizations, the center supports club activities for local communities, while paving the way for active person-to-person and cultural exchanges on both sides.

Precious pearls Opening the new year, KCC’s first exhibition of 2018 presents aesthetics of Korean art and culture. Supported by the Korean Royal Craft Culture Institution and the Korean Royal Heritage Gallery, the exhibition titled ‘Korean Mother of Pearl, the light in the millennium’, has traveled around Europe, and recently arrived in Budapest from Italy. The exhibit will be open until the end of March, with 37 pieces of artwork made from mother-of-pearl, created by w w w . d t e u r o p e . c o m

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31 Korean master artists, who used traditional Korean techniques with a modern twist, proud of both the past and present of their nation’s art culture.

7:30 pm. In addition, KCC is planning to hold a Gugak Improvisation workshop while the band is in Budapest.

‘The New Scent of Korean Music’

On April 24, the Korean Cultural Center and the Daejeon Municipal Yeonjeong Korean Traditional Music Center will jointly present ‘An Evening of Korean Traditional Music and Dance’ at the MOM Cultural Center. This will be an opportunity for Hungarian audiences to experience diverse aspects of authentic Korean traditional performances on one stage, including royal court music, folk music, traditional percussion music ('Samulnori'), as well as traditional dance and musical theatre (‘Pansory’). Conducted by Kong Wooyoung, a full-size orchestra of Korean traditional string, wind and percussion

On March 26, KCC will present an emerging Korean ensemble, the KIM DoYeon Band, for the first time in Europe. The KIM DoYeon Band is a creative music group featuring new interpretations of Gugak, Korean traditional music, with leanings toward contemporary music. Band leader DoYeon Kim combines the Korean traditional string instrument Gayageum with Korean folk, Free Jazz, and other world music traditions, to create a new musical language. The musician had the honor of being invited to perform at the 2017 Boston New Music Festival and she gave several performances at ‘The Stone’, a prominent contemporary music hall in New York. In 2018, her first album ‘GaPi’ was nominated to be the best crossover album of 15th Korean Music Awards. Collaborating with DoYeon Kim, in this project created for European audiences, are London based Gugak percussionist, Ji-hye Kim, New York based contemporary guitarist, Kenny Cha (Heechan Cha), and eclectic Jazz pianist, Jacob Hiser. The concert will take place at the Budapest Music Center’s main hall starting at

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More music plus dance

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instruments will enchant audiences with its magnificence and extraordinary musical harmony. The Daejeon Yeonjeong Korean Traditional Music Center is a municipal company of Daejeon, one of Korea’s major cities. With a wide range of programs that include Korean music, dance, storytelling and singing, it has earned both international and national acclaims. Upon registration via www.koreaikultura.hu, attendance at this concert is free.

Santopalato To open the summer season, a multifaceted exhibition project titled Santopalato will start at KCC’s Studio Gallery, which serves as an exhibition space of the Studio of Young Artists’ Association. Accompanied by various

side events, Santopalato will showcase works of artists and designers focusing on the present and future of food on May 29-June 29 (please note that the date is subject to change). As organizers introduce the project, “Food is a basic need - at the same time, it is one of the most complex phenomena: it is a result, a consequence and a formative power of social, cultural, economic and ecological processes. Food can be a source of joy and sensory pleasure. A cornerstone of personal, communal or national identities, an agglutinating force that bonds or a barrier that divides. Our diet and food choices are determined by hierarchies of power; of geographical and social realities.” According to KCC, the works on display will engage visitors with the contemporary reality of food, with how our past has at certain times been defined by and through food and with potential narratives around the present and the future of food and eating. “The aim is to offer a kaleidoscopic blend of artistic positions that will serve as food for thought for the audience and to create a discursive space around the cultural, ecological and political understandings of food, food systems and the rituals of eating.”

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v4 presidency

CONNECTING THE VISEGRÁD FOUR HUNGARY IS IN THE SECOND HALF OF ITS PRESIDENCY OF THE VISEGRÁD GROUP

By its slogan ‘European Visegrád’, the Hungarian Presidency focuses on jointly shaping EU policies in key areas like the economy, the Multiannual Financial Framework, energy, defense, cohesion policies and agriculture. Contributing to the discussion on Europe’s future – in which Central Europe is no longer a spectator – is also a priority for the Hungarian Presidency. This was demonstrated by the V4 Prime Ministers’ panel discussion on the future of Europe after their Budapest summit on January 26 (see picture) where the leaders shared their views on how to make Europe stronger. The Hungarian Presidency has hosted several ‘V4+’ meetings involving other EU member states. For instance, in February 2018, ministers responsible for Cohesion Policy of

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Digital Visegrád

the V4 and Croatia agreed to their common position on the cornerstones of EU Cohesion Policy beyond 2020, at their meeting with other like-minded countries in Budapest. Talks at the first V4+UK meeting of ministers responsible for external economic relations, in September 2017, focused on maintaining strong relations and building an even closer economic cooperation after the United Kingdom leaves the EU. “Our position is that the V4 is pro-European and Euro-realistic at the same time and is therefore able to offer down-to-earth perspectives and workable solutions. The V4 countries place special emphasis on safeguarding the EU’s achievements, most importantly, peace and stability on the continent, security and the ‘four freedoms’ which are essential to preserve Europe’s competitiveness,” the Commissioner points out. She adds that the Visegrád Group remains consistent in advocating a responsible approach to migration, as it has since the very beginning of the crisis. The V4 countries continue to emphasize security including proper external border control, the need to address the root causes and cooperation with various external partners. “In this respect, I would like to highlight the coordinated activities of the Hungarian Presidency, which enabled the V4 to decide to jointly contribute EUR 35 million to an Italian-led initiative aimed at ensuring the defense of Libya’s borders,” says the Commissioner.

FACTS AND FIGURES

The V4 countries, combined, represents a market of 65 million people and a region with the third largest export capacity with the fastest growth rate in the EU. Taken together, they would form the fourth biggest EU Member State after Germany, France and the UK, as well as the world’s 15th largest economy. Germany’s trade with the V4 combined is now 55% larger than its trade with France and it is twice the volume of the trade between Germany and the UK. These data show that the four countries together are able to improve the region’s visibility and the possibilities in terms of foreign policy, economy and tourism.

regional partners from the EU, such as Austria, Bulgaria, Croatia, Romania, Slovenia and the Baltic states, as well as the Western Balkans and Eastern Partnership regions in the first half of the Hungarian Presidency. The Commissioner underlines that the Visegrád Group truly understands and wants to keep high on the EU’s agenda the crucial importance of EU enlargement and an effective neighborhood policy in ensuring stability and prosperity on the continent. Accordingly, under the Hungarian Presidency the V4 demonstrated again their commitment to an EU that remains open towards countries that share its values

and want to advance cooperation. Besides political support, the V4 is providing practical help to the Western Balkans and Eastern Partnership regions by sharing its transition and integration experience via projects of the International Visegrád Fund or in other frameworks. The Hungarian Presidency is proud that the Western Balkans Fund, established by the governments of the Western Balkans region based on V4 inspiration and know-how, started its operation in November 2017, contributing to facilitating mutual understanding in a region where that is more than needed. Commissioner Varju emphasizes that, in the field of connectivity, the

Regional Visegrád Under the ‘Regional Visegrád’ priority, Budapest hosted ministerial meetings between the V4 and other important M A R C H

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D I P L O M A C Y

“We could also highlight the V4 Smart Platform, an initiative of our Presidency aimed at ensuring the interoperability of certain services like e-mobility, parking and tourism within the V4 region.” She mentions that the V4+Google Innovation Forum (December 2017), the Regional Digital Summit (January 2018), the upcoming think.BDPST innovation conference (March 2018) and the BrainBar festival (June 2018) in Budapest all contribute to furthering V4 cooperation for the sake of a ‘Digital Visegrád’ that is ready for the digital age. In the framework of the Startup Campus V4 Global Tour (see page 18), the V4 and its Hungarian Presidency continues to support the mobility and the joint promotion of innovative startup companies from the region,” she adds.

Global Visegrád “The Presidency’s ‘Global Visegrád’ priority, under which we support cooperation with global partners, the addressing of global issues and the further strengthening of the V4 brand, has also been translated into actions. Budapest hosted the first-ever V4+Egypt and V4+Israel summit meetings. The latter resulted in the launching of a V4+Israel innovation cooperation which will, among other things, include an innovation training program for young people from the Visegrád countries in Israel. The Visegrád Group continues the successful political dialogue on foreign and security policy, the cooperation in the field of R+D, and the organization of joint thematic events with other V4+ partners, like Japan and South Korea. The newly launched highlevel V4+ dialogue with Australia and the Central Asian countries are also excellent examples of strengthened global cooperation,” the Commissioner highlights. As a result of common efforts, the first joint international development project of the V4, the development of an agricultural processing plant in Kenya, can also be launched during the Hungarian Presidency. This is an outstanding example of how the Visegrád Cooperation can deliver tangible results also in a global context.

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HARANGOZÓ, KÁROLY ÁRVAI/KORMANY.HU

European Visegrád

Presidency focuses on improving energy and transport links in our broader region, especially North-South corridors. On Hungary’s initiative, highlevel discussions are underway about establishing a high-speed railway line connecting the four countries.

photos by DÁVID

Hungary holds the rotating Presidency of the Visegrád Group (V4) between July 1, 2017 and June 30, 2018, before handing it over to Slovakia. The V4 is comprised of four Central European countries (the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland and Slovakia) historically connected by common values, culture and traditions. The grouping’s name comes from the Hungarian town where, in 1335, Bohemian (Czech), Polish, and Hungarian rulers held a regional meeting. The V4 cooperation was revived in 1991 with another meeting, of leaders of the then Czechoslovakia, Hungary and Poland, in Visegrád, and the V4 has since become a long-standing framework for representing the region’s joint interests in Europe and beyond. As Krisztina Dóra Varju, Ministerial Commissioner for the Hungarian V4 Presidency explains to Diplomacy&Trade, the four political pillars of the Hungarian Presidency reflect the kind of Central Europe we strive for: European Visegrád, Regional Visegrád, Digital Visegrád and Global Visegrád. Its motto (V4 connects), refers to the significant positive impact of the Visegrád cooperation in connecting the four countries in terms of politics, economy and culture, while also stressing the Presidency’s focus on physical connectivity. The latter includes improving energy and transport links in the broader region, as well as cooperation aimed at ensuring a swift transition to economies based on digitalization and innovation. Equally important is the Presidency’s commitment to further improving cooperation between the V4 and its European and global partners.

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BETWEEN 1ST JULY, 2017 AND 30TH JUNE, 2018 HUNGARY HOLDS THE PRESIDENCY OF THE VISEGRAD GROUP (V4). The Visegrรกd Group is built on mutual trust and interests, sharing the same tradition and values since its formation. The successful alliance of Poland, Czech Republic, Slovakia and Hungary sets a great example. We share a common destiny in the heart of Europe.

v4kozosen.hu / v4.gov.hu

Hungarian Tourism Agency

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v4 presidency

STARTUP CAMPUS V4 GLOBAL TOUR

A GATEWAY FOR THE V4 REGION’S INNOVATIONS AND STARTUPS

Enterprise Hungary launched the 'Startup Campus V4 Global Tour' event in February 2018, enabling innovative companies in the V4 countries to introduce themselves to investors and large business partners. The main objective of the Startup Campus V4 Global Tour is to boost the discoverability of the Visegrád Group (V4) regional startup ecosystem, specifically

highlighting the economic and innovation potential of the V4 countries – Hungary, Poland, Slovakia and the Czech Republic. The tour across ten cities and venues worldwide aims to promote this

region, with special focus on the V4 countries. According to Zsolt Kovács, the Managing Director of Enterprise Hungary, which is the initiator and main organizer of the program, “the Startup Campus V4 Global Tour is a gateway for the V4 region’s innovations and startup entrepreneurs. This event series gives startups the opportunity to access ten international startup centers where they can introduce their ideas at independent V4-centric side events within larger technology events. This initiative aims to make the V4 region more discoverable to investors, large corporations and professional partners.” 8-10 early-stage V4 startup teams that have prototypes and have received investments or are already on the market are able to join these international startup events. The tour consists of conferences, exhibitions and events worldwide, complemented by V4-centric sub or satellite events. The main purpose of these events is to connect startups with important investors and to create a suitable startup environment with various interactive workshops, conferences and round table discussions. The ministerial commissioner of the current Hungarian Presidency of the Visegrád Group,

Dóra Krisztina Varju pointed out that one of the political aims set for the Hungarian Presidency has been what she called ‘Digital Visegrád’, that is, to create a competitive region that contributes to the competitiveness of the European Union by helping innovative companies. “Our objective is investing in the future. We would like to concentrate on research and development and innovation, not only in Hungary, but also by cooperating with regional partners,” she said. The first stop on the Startup Campus V4 roadshow was the World Business Angels Investment Forum (WBAF) in Istanbul, Turkey on February 1820, 2018 (see picture). The other destinations are Berlin, New York, Vienna, London, Hong Kong, Tel Aviv, Dubai and Los Angeles. For each of the Startup Campus V4 Global Tour events, 8-10 innovative startup companies operating within the V4 region are selected and given the opportunity to introduce themselves to international markets. Startup Campus organizes V4-centric side events at each stop, in coordination with local embassies, sponsors and event organizers, which serve as an excellent opportunity for the outgoing startups to achieve fundraising or market expansion.

VISEGRÁD DAYS IN BUDAPEST A SPECIAL V4 MENU WAS PREPARED BY CHEFS OF THE FOUR COUNTRIES

Member countries of the Visegrád Group (V4) introduced a joint menu at the Sirha Budapest 2018 international food and HoReCa exhibition in Budapest this February. The V4 menu was compiled by the Hungarian Bocuse d'Or Academy as well as invited Slovak, Czech and Polish chefs who created traditional and modern dishes from ingredients typical of the member countries. Slovakia’s cold meal included deer-terrine with sheep-cheese crunches, buckthorn pearls with walnut pesto and salad while Hungary's contribution was a modern goulash soup with a gremolata spice mixture. The Czech Republic prepared a delicious pork steak with beer sauce, cabbage varieties and potato dumplings and Poland's main course was duck with sweet potato chips, celery root puree, smoked cheese dumplings, fondant potatoes and horse beans. The last item on the menu was Hungary’s dessert, a modern version of Somló dumplings. The Hungarian dishes were conceived by Tamás Széll and Szabina Szulló, the chefs of Stand25 Bistro. Hungarian wines for the courses were recommended by Hungarian sommelier champion Mátyás Szik. The Hungarian Tourism Agency, which coordinated the V4 stand, announced ‘V4 Menu Week’ where all the dishes presented could be sampled by anyone for seven days in participating restaurants. The V4 menu was part of the series of events ‘Visegrád Days’, organized by the Hungarian Tourism Agency in honor of the 2017-2018 Hungarian Presidency of the V4 and the signing of the Visegrád Convention on February 15, 1991.

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D I P L O M A C Y

Another event of the ‘Visegrád Days’ series was the Visegrád Four Carnival held in the Várkert Bazaar event center on Sunday, February 11. For this occasion of music and family programs, there were jugglers, street theaters, dancers, musicians, a handicrafts workshop, evening light painting and fireworks awaiting visitors in the Bazaar and its surroundings: the audience was presented with typical four-nation shows. In addition to the carnival atmosphere, concerts entertained guests. In the evening, visitors were able to see spectacular light paintings followed by fireworks. Firework bombs fired from the Chain Bridge were clearly visible on the Danube River, from the embankment in front of the Várkert Bazaar, from the Fisherman's Bastion, the Buda Castle and other places.

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photos by ENTERPRISE

V4 CARNIVAL

HUNGARY, ZSOLT SZIGETVÁRY/MTI, ZOLTÁN BALOGH/MTI

The event series was aimed at strengthening relations between the member countries and presenting common values, including the presentation of the gastronomic culture of the V4 countries. The V4 booth also hosted a special ‘Gastro Hub’ to present domestic producers whose products are of high quality to the Hungarian general public and food industry. This was to help them to get their products into the domestic gastronomy market.

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v4 presidency

BRINGING MUSIC CLOSER TO PEOPLE

photos by COURTESY

OF VIRTUOSOS, ODPICTURES ART STUDIO

NEW YEAR CONCERT IN BUDAPEST FEATURED TALENTS FROM THE VISEGRÁD COUNTRIES

It has become tradition that the artists of the world’s first classical music talent show, ‘Virtuosos’ perform in the great hall of the Academy of Music in Budapest for a New Year concert. However, unlike in the past, the concert that greeted 2018 not only featured Hungarian classical music progenies but young hopefuls from the countries of the Visegrád Four (V4) also introduced themselves to the Hungarian audience in honor of Hungary’s presidency of the Visegrád Group. Diplomacy&Trade talked to some of the artists who performed at the concert.

heard before but they received a lot of energy that I transferred to them.” He is of the view that the Virtuosos competition, where he was the youngest participant, was great. Again, his greatest experience there was playing with an orchestra. Teo speaks Hungarian well as his maternal grandfather is Hungarian and his mother, Lubomira makes sure Teo and his sister speak this language, as well. As for his ambitions in life, little Teo says he aspires to be a conductor and a great violin artist: “I would like to play in the world’s biggest hall and tour the world extensively.”

Widening the horizon Pianist Apor Szüts

Huge value for society

(24) was a participant in the first, season of Virtuosos in 2014. He says he is glad to take part in such events as “Hungary tends to look at the other three member states of the V4 Group as brotherly countries. So, I think it is a very good initiative. On the one hand, it is not that often that the Hungarian audience can enjoy the performances of talents of such caliber as that of the participants of this concert. It is also a great opportunity for the talents of these countries to present themselves to the Hungarian audience. The performing artists and the audience have the opportunity to hear composers and compositions they may have never heard before and that “definitely widens our horizon.” He is of the view that “one may look at ‘Virtuosos’ as a competition where musicians have the opportunity to present and compare their talents but I believe this is not about playing music against each other but rather for each other and for something that ‘Virtuosos’ embody: bringing music closer to the people.” Apor Szüts took part in ‘Virtuosos’ as a pianist but he also composed a special piece for the occasion. He says he considers himself as a musician. “My goal is to learn and develop myself, that is, to come up with musical productions that have not been before.”

Happy about singing The 2017 winner of the ‘Virtuosos’ talent show, singer Réka Kristóf (28) was “very glad to w w w . d t e u r o p e . c o m

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see and hear this colorful music at the V4 concert because it is not that very often that Czech, Polish and Slovak pieces can be heard on Hungarian stage. The exception is perhaps the popular ‘Song to the Moon’ song from the Dvořák opera ‘Rusalka’. The concert had a great atmosphere, and we, the participants had a good time behind the scenes.” As to what she gained from taking part in the ‘Virtuosos’ series, Réka says it was exactly why she applied in the first place: an opportunity to sing, to perform in front of an audience. “This is what really matters to me.” Currently, she is studying in Germany to be an opera singer. She, herself is a ‘V4 person’ in the sense that she is from the Csallóköz region that borders on NW Hungary in Slovakia. “I have always sang – even in the kindergarten. I started more serious voice lessons in the last year of grammar school. However, at the time, I was not longing to be a stage performer and I was not playing a princess, or wearing a fancy evening dress on stage. I have always loved music and to sing and I happened to encounter the path of classical music – something I’m very happy about. After finishing the school in Germany, she would like to sing in Hungary and also try to appear on stages abroad.

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“We’ll see but so far, I am satisfied with where I am,” she concludes.

First pianist in the family Pianist Jan Vojtek (22) from the Czech Republic also believes the V4 concert was a good idea. “Relations between the four countries of the Visegrád Group are quite strong nowadays. The atmosphere of the New Year concert was great, I wish more young musicians could come and play at this event. I believe both the performers and the audience enjoyed it very much.” He says he had contacts with some ‘Virtuosos’ participants before. “Apor Szüts was my schoolmate and some other people from ‘Virtuosos’ knew me beforehand and that is how I was invited to play at this concert.” Jan’s mother as well as her parents are all musicians, although, he is the first pianist in the family. “At home, we had a small electric piano and I got to play with it when I was around four years of age, and then, my mother enrolled me in a music school.” Jan speaks very good Hungarian as his father, just like Réka Kristóf’s family, is from the Hungarian populated area of Slovakia. Currently, he is attending the Liszt Ferenc Academy

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of Music in Budapest and also went to the Béla Bartók Conservatory of Music. Altogether, he spending his ninth year in Hungary.

Energy from Teo 8-year-old violinist

Teo Gertler

was selected for the ‘Virtuosos’ competition from the Slovak capital, Bratislava. His mother, Lubomira says she was happy to hear about the idea to organize this V4 concert. “It was the first opportunity where different and not so different cultures came together to form a togetherness of the region. We liked it very much and were happy to participate. The atmosphere was great even during the rehearsals, the participants spent a lot of time together and had a lot of fun.” Teo, himself explains that it was especially a great experience for him to rehearse with the orchestra and he liked it very much when he had the opportunity to sit and play among the members of the orchestra who helped him a lot. Teo confirms that he liked the concert because “I played with a great orchestra in front of a great audience. I played a fast piece that I think the audience had not

Polish saxophonist Łukasz Dyczko (20), winner at the Young Musicians Eurovision contest, shares the view that the New Year’s concert with participants from Visegrád countries is really good idea, “because it shows how many beautiful musicians we have. We can also promote new brilliant composers like Mikolaj Gorecki from Poland and Hungary’s Béla Kovács.” He met the director of ‘Virtuosos’, Mariann Peller Marian over one year ago. I heard that I made an impression on her. “When I got her message about the New Year’s concert, I immediately showed it to my manager and we decided to take part.” Talking about ‘Virtuosos’, he points out that “I don’t much like talent shows, because many times the talented people and their abilities are less important than other things. On the other hand, this kind of competition helps us learn a lot of things, which we never learn in normal competition (like behavior in front of camera etc.). I also heard that ‘Virtuosos’ isn’t like every other talent show program and what is the most important, this project is only about classical music. This is a huge value for society.” Łukasz Dyczko started singing and playing on the keyboard when he was three years old and he went to music school five years later. “First, I played the flute but after two years, I changed it for saxophone.” His aspiration in life is “to meet the greatest musicians in the world and play with them because every meeting inspire me and make me better and better.”

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diplomacy

This February, the Australian Minister of Foreign Affairs, Julie Bishop paid a short visit to Budapest, where she met her Hungarian counterpart as well as representatives from the business community. Diplomacy&Trade talked to her about the main topics of discussion in those meetings and what tangible results could come from them, in the near future, in trade and other aspects of bilateral relations. “Minister Szijjártó invited me to Hungary some time ago and my visit to Budapest gave us the chance to discuss a broad range of issues that are of bilateral significance,” she explains, adding that “of particular importance is the value to both Hungary and Australia of a future Australia-EU Free Trade Agreement. We want to work closely with like-minded countries

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who support free liberalized trade and investment, to enhance existing markets and find new markets for our goods and services.” She believes Hungary has much to gain from an Australia-EU FTA – from potential tariff cuts in sectors such as passenger vehicles, manufactured goods and food, to regulatory cooperation, government procurement, and preferential services and investment.

Australia and the V4 Julie Bishop was the first Australian Foreign Minister to attend a Foreign Ministerial meeting of the Visegrád Group (V4). Regarding the importance of this regional group, within the European Union, for Australia and the important subjects touched upon by the participants, she stresses that Australia values the views of the Visegrád Four, collectively and as individual nations. “With a combined GDP of over USD one trillion and continuing, strong economic growth, we share common views on open economies, trade and investment liberalization. In this context, the V4 plus Australia Foreign Ministers meeting complements our already strong bilateral relations, which are built on common values and strong people-to-people links, underpinned by vibrant diaspora communities in Australia. Indeed, there are around 293,000 Australians with heritage from V4 countries.” She says they exchanged views on opportunities for bolstering trade relations through an M A R C H

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AUSTRALIAN FOREIGN MINISTER MEETS V4 COUNTERPARTS IN BUDAPEST

Australia-EU FTA and also on global and regional developments and challenges. “Australia and members of the Visegrád Group are already cooperating in a number of ways to advance our mutual security interests. Australia and Hungary, for example, are working together in the United Nations, where we are serving on the Human Rights Council. We are also cooperating through deployments to support international peace and security in Afghanistan and through participation in the Global Coalition against ISIS.” In summary, the Australian Minister of Foreign Affairs highlights that her country is interested in the V4 grouping because “it brings a fresh perspective to the EU that we have not previously accessed. There is much potential to grow Australia’s relationship with the V4 and my visit allowed me to explore and to ensure we can build on our already very warm relations.”

photos by TIBOR

WORKING CLOSELY WITH LIKE-MINDED COUNTRIES

“My meetings were also an opportunity to exchange views on migration. Australia supports legal and sustainable migration. We are one of the most successful multicultural societies on earth and a nation of immigrants. Over half of Australia’s population was born overseas or has at least one parent born overseas. Australia has settled over 865,000 refugees since World War II and each year accepts around 190,000 migrants from all corners of the globe,” she points out.

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diplomacy

A RICH AND COMPREHENSIVE AGENDA INTERVIEW WITH BULGARIAN DEPUTY PRIME MINISTER VALERI SIMEONOV

On January 1, 2018, a decade after its accession to the EU, Bulgaria assumed the rotating Presidency of the Council of the European Union for the first time. There was a launch ceremony of the Presidency in Budapest, as well with Deputy Prime Minister Valeri Simeonov as the main speaker. On this occasion, Diplomacy&Trade had the opportunity to talk to the Bulgarian politician. According to the Deputy PM, “Bulgaria took over the EU presidency in challenging times. The second phase of Brexit negotiations is starting now, and we still need to find an agreement on issues such as migration and asylum, so, it is not only a great honor but also a great responsibility.” However, he is of the view that it is also a time full of opportunities. “Since last year, all member states in the EU have enjoyed economic growth, and we can work on deepening the European Monetary Union (EMU), and completing the Banking Union. The first Permanent Structured Cooperation (PESCO) in the field of defense has been agreed to, and now it has to be implemented. The Digital Single Market, the discussions on the post-2020 Multiannual Financial Framework and the future of the Cohesion and Common Agricultural Policy, the EU perspective before the Western Balkans and handling the refugee crisis are all on the table. So, the Bulgarian Presidency has a rich and comprehensive agenda.”

photo by DÁVID

HARANGOZÓ

Priorities The Deputy Prime Minister highlights the four priorities of the Bulgarian Presidency during the six month term. The first priority is the future of Europe and the young people – economic growth and social cohesion. It includes strengthening the EMU, environment and climate, youth and education, and the negotiations on the future Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF), Cohesion Policy and Common Agricultural Policy (CAP), which will begin under the Bulgarian Presidency and will continue under the coming Austrian and Romanian Presidencies. “Our second priority is entitled ‘security and stability in a strong and united Europe’. It encompasses the Dublin reform, protection of EU external borders, exchange of information between national and EU services to improve internal security and the fight against terrorism, completion of w w w . d t e u r o p e . c o m

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Schengen reform, external aspects of migration such as such as coordination and cooperation with countries of origin, returns and tackling root causes of migration. In terms of external security, we will work on the implementation of PESCO and the 17 projects that it includes. The Energy Union also falls under this priority as it is essential to Europe’s stability.” He explains that Bulgaria wants its Presidency to be remembered as the Balkan Presidency. That is why its hallmark priority is the European perspective and connectivity of the Western Balkans. “We are convinced that the prosperity and stability of the EU is directly linked to the stability and prosperity of its neighbors, including the Western Balkans. The best guarantee for these countries to live in peace and democracy and to prosper economically is the prospect to join the EU when they are ready,” he adds. He points out that Bulgaria does not want to create false expectations. The EU enlargement remains a rules-based process including strict conditionality. “In May, Sofia will host an EU-Western Balkan summit. It will be the place to pass this message. We hope to have it clearly spelled out in a declaration and to have a specific plan for each of the countries concerned by the date of the summit. We are also focused on the completion of the EU Digital Single Market which is critical to underpin growth and jobs in Europe. This is reflected in our fourth priority: ‘digital economy and skills needed for the future’.” According to Valeri Simeonov, Bulgaria is known as the ‘Silicon Valley of Europe’, and its ICT sector is booming. “The number of jobs available in the software industry has tripled in the last ten years, and revenue in the sector has increased six-fold. The ICT sector is particularly attractive to young people: over 90% of jobs are occupied by people under 35 years of age. Bulgaria

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be able to effectively stand up for our values and principles, only if they are shared by all as stated by the Bratislava and the Rome Declarations,” Valeri Simeonov stresses. As to how the Bulgarians intend to implement this in practice, the Deputy Prime Minister has a straightforward answer: “First and foremost – by being an honest broker.” Additionally, he mentions that “also, by carefully listening to all parties, by closely working both with the European Institutions and with all member states; as well as by proposing pragmatic, flexible, and working solutions that will enable the EU to deliver for its citizens. Because to be credible, the EU needs to deliver solutions for its citizens.”

Dealing with migration

has the best gender balance in the ICT sector of all EU member states. Almost a third of ICT specialists in Bulgaria are women, Eurostat data shows.”

have agreed to take forward, is the Western Balkans. EU commitment to the countries in the region needs to be stable and continuous.”

Preceded by Estonia and followed by Austria

United We Stand Strong

Bulgaria is in a Presidency Trio with Estonia and Austria. The Deputy Prime Minister says “the continuity is obvious in the big challenges and opportunities ahead of us – migration, PESCO, the digital agenda as well as the discussion about the Future of Europe. As I said, the discussions on the next MFF and on the future of the CAP and Cohesion Policy will continue under the Austrian and the Romanian Presidency together with the debate on the post-Brexit shape of the EU. Another key priority which we are happy the Austrian Presidency, (and the Romanian afterwards)

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‘United We Stand Strong” is Bulgaria’s national motto. It comes from the very foundation of the Bulgarian state in the 7th century A.D., and is written on the façade on Bulgaria’s parliament. “Bulgaria chose this motto for its first ever EU presidency because we believe that preserving EU unity in our turbulent times is an overarching priority. We believe that the EU is our common destiny. We are all in the same boat, and we cannot expect its bow to sail on, while the stern is sinking. The challenges that we face are global and only together can we meet them. We will

Illegal migration to Europe is one of the foremost problems for the EU today. Regarding a practical solution the Bulgarian Presidency may suggest, the Deputy Prime Minister points out that “Eurobarometer surveys have shown that migration remains among the subjects of most concern to European citizens. Bulgaria is among the countries guarding the EU’s external border, and as a result, we understand the issues at stake very well. The number of illegal arrivals in the EU has decreased, but we continue to monitor the situation very closely, especially in the Mediterranean. We will continue efforts at the European level to stem the flows on all Mediterranean routes, improve conditions in transit countries like Libya by supporting the UNHCR and IOM, continue the implementation of the EU-Turkey Agreement and enhance returns of irregular migrants.” He insists that this should go hand-inhand with work on the EU’s internal mechanisms to deal with migration. “Negotiations to reform the Dublin system started in 2016. It is time to reach an agreement. An agreement that will make the necessary changes and provide for unity and effectiveness. The Bulgarian Presidency will work hard to finalize this work. Bulgaria has repeatedly called on its colleagues and the EU institutions to draw a clear line between legal and illegal migration. We should not allow or encourage illegal entries into the EU. We have to strengthen the security of all EU external borders so that all entries take place through legal border crossings,” he concludes.

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society

National Day of Serbia

▶ Serbian Ambassador Rade Drobac hosted a reception at the Serbian Embassy in recognition of the National Day of Serbia and the Day of the Serbian Armed Forces. In attendance were the state secretaries from the Serbian and Hungarian foreign ministries.

New Ambassadors

▶ Four new ambassadors accredited to Hungary presented their credentials to Hungarian President János Áder this February at the Sándor Palace in the Buda Castle (pictured from left to right): Abdulhamid Abdulfattah Kazim Abdulfattah Al Mulla from the United Arab Emirates; Kyoo-sik Choe from the Republic of Korea; Ramesh Prasad Khanal from Nepal and Iftekhar Aziz from Pakistan.

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HARANGOZÓ

▶ The Ambassador of the People’s Republic of China, Jielong Duan, welcomed guests, including many members of the Chinese community in Hungary, to a reception and dinner as well as traditional Chinese entertainment in the ballroom of the Budapest Marriott Hotel to celebrate Chinese New Year, the Year of the Dog.

photos by DÁVID

Chinese New Year

HARANGOZÓ, COURTESY OF THE EMBASSY OF THE KINGDOM OF SAUDI ARABIA

▶ Ambassador Mohammed Almatrafi of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to Hungary hosted a welcome luncheon at his Residence in honor of the first Ambassador of the United Arab Emirates to Hungary, Abdulhamid A. Al Mulla, on the occasion of opening the new Embassy of the United Arab Emirates in Budapest. It was attended by diplomats of several Arabic countries as well as Hungarian government officials. In his welcome speech, Ambassador Almatrafi conveyed his best wishes and great success to Mr. Abdulhamid A. Al Mulla in his new posting and praised the excellent and cordial relations between the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. Ambassador Almatrafi also expressed his gratitude to the other new Ambassadors to Hungary Ms. Joanna Azzi from Lebanon, Mr. Iftekhar Aziz from Pakistan and the new Chargé d’Affaires of Libya, Mr. Salah Serksi. The Saudi Ambassador also thanked the Council of Arab Ambassadors and other Arab friends attending the event, as well as the representatives of the Hungarian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade who included Deputy State Secretary for International Cooperation Dr. Ferenc Dancs, Chief of Protocol Dr. István Manno and the Head of Department for Middle East and North Africa Mr. András Kovács as well as Dr. László Szőke, Director for Foreign Affairs at the President’s Office.

photos by DÁVID

Welcome Luncheon by the Ambassador of Saudi Arabia

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society

The Centenary of Lithuania

▶ The Ambassador of the Republic of Lithuania, Rasa Kairiene, welcomed guests to a concert and reception at the Liszt Ferenc Academy of Music in Budapest to celebrate the Restoration of the State of Lithuania. At the concert, the audience was entertained by Lithuanian pianist Muza Rubackyte.

Kuwait National Day

▶ The Ambassador of the State of Kuwait, Dr. Hamad Mohammad H M Burhamah, welcomed guests to a reception and dinner in the ballroom of the Budapest Marriott Hotel to celebrate his country’s National Day which marks the creation of Kuwait, as a nation, in 1961.

Brazilian concert

HARANGOZÓ, COURTESY OF THE EMBASSY OF THE KINGDOM OF SAUDI ARABIA

HARANGOZÓ

photos by DÁVID

▶ The Italian Cultural Institute, the Italian Embassy in Budapest and the Embassy of Brazil in Budapest organized a concert by the Savaria Symphony Orchestra conducted by Brazil’s Miguel Campos Neto with the participation of Italy’s Carlotta Dalia (guitar) and Thiago Bertoldi (piano) of Brazil at the Italian Cultural Institute.

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analysis

TO BE ALLIES, OR NOT TO BE ALLIES

is, in other words, strengthening the strategic and economic ties between Islamabad and Beijing. Therefore, it should not have come as a surprise that in response to the announcement by the White House that Washington would suspend USD 255 million in military aid in retaliation to Islamabad’s perceived non-cooperation in the global war on terrorism, Beijing declared that it would stand firmly with Pakistan in all situations – even filling in the gap left behind by the Americans in Pakistan’s military related expenses. Moreover, there are signs that China would like to play a more prominent political role in Afghanistan (or even beyond); witness the idea, shared by China, Iran, Russia, and Turkey besides Pakistan, that peace talks with the Taliban would be the right choice instead of fighting them.

RELATIONS BETWEEN THE UNITED STATES AND PAKISTAN

”… [Pakistan has] given us nothing but lies and deceit, thinking of our leaders as fools,” thus spake the President of the United States in early January 2018. ”[The U.S. is] a friend who always betrays,” retorted Pakistani Foreign Minister Khawaje Arif, who added – so that there would be no misunderstanding – that ”Islamabad’s alliance with Washington is over.” No matter what, this is not the kind of exchange of words that one would expect from allies of decades, at least not in public. In fact, the mutual recriminations go back to the early 2000s when, after the 9/11 attacks, the Bush administration decided to attack Afghanistan, which was seen as the major sanctuary for al Qaeda.

Commitment questioned The U.S. and Pakistan were working closely together in the Cold War. The relationship was predominantly dictated

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by balance of power politics: as India was cozying up to Moscow, especially under the Nehru-Gandhi political dynasty, its arch enemy in the region was a natural choice for Washington to balance the leftist forces in South Asia. However, the close military and intelligence cooperation became tested in the 2000s. Pakistan provided substantial assistance to the Americans in their war in Afghanistan and, in general, the ’global war on terror’ by, among others, offering vital transit routes, intelligence, and even active fight against terrorist groups operating in Pakistan. The U.S. administrations, however, repeatedly criticized and questioned the Pakistani commitment; the impression in Washington was that the Pakistani authorities, first and foremost, the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) were less than enthusiastic in fighting terrorism, and had suspicious connections with the Taliban and the Haqqani network. The charges were, naturally, vehemently denied by the Pakistanis who, for instance, called attention to the thousands of dead they lost in fighting

the terrorists. In fact, Foreign Minister Arif has even declared recently that the political instability in Pakistan was a result of a terrorist backlash created by the misguided American policies in the region. Despite all these public and private spats, Pakistan has received in excess of USD 30 billion in military aid in the past 15 years – if President Trump is correct about this figure (for a change).

Realpolitik The not so hidden secret of this American largesse can be found in regional geopolitics. The vital supply routes for the U.S. troops fighting in Afghanistan were (and are) running through Pakistan; the alternative for them would be through Russia. It is true that Moscow at one point opened its airspace for U.S. transport planes, but because of the Russian Realpolitik linkage, Washington had to (and should) make concessions in other areas, which have been out of question for some time for various reasons. At the same time, power relations have undergone quite a M A R C H

change in South Asia since 2001. The previously strained U.S.-Indian relations started to improve; one of the most spectacular and significant steps in this respect was the beginning of nuclear cooperation between the two countries in the early 2000s. In parallel with India’s drifting closer to the United States, the China-Pakistan relations started to improve. In point of fact, nuclear technology transfer had been going on between the two countries even in the late 20th century, but the bilateral relations have started to improve spectacularly lately. First, in accordance with classic Realpolitik, their enemy’s friend is their friend; in other words, both view India as their major rival in the region. This logic got reinforced by President Trump’s rhetoric about the shared interests in the Indo-Pacific region (even if his words do not necessarily overlap with his actions). China is keen on incorporating Pakistan in its One Belt One Road (OBOR) initiative, while there are plans to expand the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), as well; that 2 0 1 8

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Tamás Magyarics is a foreign policy analyst

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photo by CAN

BY TAMÁS MAGYARICS

As the latter idea suggests, Russia would like to have a greater say about what is happening in South Asia, too. In essence, what Moscow is up to is classic soft balancing of the United States by trying to tie down U.S. resources and energy far from Eastern Europe. Zbigniew Brzezinski wrote about strategic triangles in South and Southeast Asia; one of them is the China-Pakistan-Russia relationship. Another one is the China-India-United States triangle. Here, the key question is how the U.S. would ultimately define its strategy toward China; currently, it is oscillating between identifying China as a strategic partner, a strategic competitor and a potential global rival. Pakistan’s future positions, and bargaining power vis-á-vis the U.S., will be defined to a large extent by the actual outcome of the ambitious Chinese projects, including the OBOR. Here, China is likely to encounter a pushback by the U.S. and India in South Asia, while in Central Asia, Russia is likely to try to weaken the economic project and the growing political-strategic influence of China that is going hand in hand with the economic penetration. Finally, U.S.-Pakistan relations would also be affected by the China-India relationship; if it is becoming more confrontational because of, among others, territorial disputes, then China is bound to strengthen its ties with Pakistan, while the U.S. is likely to make the Washington-New Delhi bond tighter than it is today. In short, though Pakistan itself is a significant country strategically located in South Asia, its future relations with the U.S. will most probably be defined by what the relationship between the U.S. and such first-tier powers as China, India, and Russia are like. ”[T]hat is the question …”

STOCK PHOTO INC.

Power games

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witty leaks WITTY

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

LE A K S

LOVE OF MUSIC BINDS HUNGARIANS AND AMERICANS EXPLORING HUNGARIAN CULTURE AND HISTORY THROUGH MUSIC BY DAVID J. KOSTELANCIK, CHARGÉ D'AFFAIRES OF THE AMERICAN EMBASSY

As a musician, my love and appreciation for music is woven deeply into who I am, and it is something I’ve carried with me through all the stages of my life and career. In fact, one of the first things I knew about Hungary was Hungarian music. Growing up in Chicago and studying clarinet with a renowned orchestral player, I was exposed early and often to the work of the talented Sir Georg Solti, the Hungarian conductor who directed the Chicago Symphony Orchestra for 22 years. For us, high school students who scraped together money for tickets in the upper balcony of the Orchestra Hall to watch Solti and hear for ourselves how he had made the ensemble the world’s best, music was exhilarating; it was the voice of culture and history – sometimes old, sometimes contemporary. My fellow musicians and I studied under Solti’s students and his orchestra members, just as he had studied under several Hungarian greats – Béla Bartók, for example. Whether we were performing Liszt’s ‘Les Preludes’ or ‘Hungarian Rhapsodies’, we knew that those notes connected us to people from another century, another continent and another reality. They sparked our interest to know more.

photos by ATTILA

NÉMETH/US EMBASSY BUDAPEST

Coming to the country of Bartók and Kodály This early exposure to Hungarian music made my diplomatic assignment to Hungary even more special. I was thrilled to have the opportunity to live and work in the land that had produced such talented musicians and that maintains a deep and abiding respect for music as part of its culture. My excitement was affirmed in the earliest days of my Hungarian language classes at the State Department’s Foreign Service Institute, as both of my Hungarian instructors spoke repeatedly of the Hungarian greats, such as Bartók and Kodály, and talked enthusiastically about the great institutions of Hungarian music, such as the Liszt Ferenc Academy. Thanks to my early exposure to the world of European music that Maestro Solti and his students opened for me, w w w . d t e u r o p e . c o m

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I had a head start in some of my early Hungarianlanguage assignments in preparation for music opportunities once I arrived in Budapest. Yet, since I arrived in Budapest, my experiences have exceeded my expectations. I was awed to finally make my first visit to the Liszt Ferenc Academy of Music and see the tribute to Sir Georg outside, and in the hall named after him inside. Watching young pianists competing for the Liszt Ferenc Prize perform his works reminded me of the thrill of performing in the world premiere of newly-commissioned pieces as a clarinetist with the acclaimed Wind Symphony while a student at Northwestern University in Chicago.

Impressed by the Budapest music scene In my role as a diplomat, I’ve also had the tremendous honor of celebrating the cultural connections between the United States and Hungary. One of the highlights was when in March 2017, I welcomed the New York Philharmonic to MÜPA. What most excites me about Budapest’s classical music scene is the juxtaposition of old and new on concert programs. More than just ear candy, the most enduring music challenges us to allow ourselves to be transported to another time and place, and to learn something from what the composer is telling us through sound. I have continually been impressed by how the Budapest music scene succeeds on that level. A great example was the New York Philharmonic’s sold-out rendering of Bartók’s ‘Music for Strings, Percussion and Celesta’ and Mahler’s ‘Symphony Number 4’. These are complex pieces. The Bartók piece is interesting because there is almost no melody

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or repeated patterns or passages. Instead of having a melody line that is developed in different ways throughout the piece, it consists of many different tones and rhythms. Written in 1936, its themes have been repeatedly used in movies and television shows. The New York Philharmonic’s MÜPA performance put me in Bartók’s shoes and made me think of how he carefully worked elements of Baroque music into the composition. Pairing that with Mahler’s Second Symphony was genius, recalling Mahler’s association with Budapest as Director of the Opera at the end of the 19th century. I spent considerable time after the concert with New York conductor Alan Gilbert discussing the orchestra’s European tour and his conducting style. As a budding conductor myself, having led orchestras in performance of challenging Shostakovich works, I admired how he had managed both pieces.

A music loving country In addition to hearing and appreciating Hungarian music, it’s a joy to live in a country where music of all kinds is so loved. I was fortunate to see concerts here by Sting, Bruno Mars, Andrea Bocelli and Jose Carreras. I also had a chance to meet and hear the very talented Nicolle Rochelle when the U.S. Embassy sponsored her visit to Hungary last year. She’s a fantastic performer with a true passion for jazz, swing, and boogie music, and she had a great experience traveling around Hungary to perform and to meet Hungarians. Hungary’s long tradition of world-acclaimed musicians bring the past to the present, and gives us the chance to show our appreciation,

and to learn. In May 2017, I hosted Hungarian jazz musicians, including the renowned Béla Szakcsi Lakatos and established beat musician and one of the composers of widely popular rock opera ‘István, a király’, Levente Szörényi, at an evening dedicated to the brave Hungarian musicians who, in 1956, clandestinely recorded jazz just prior to the Soviet invasion. Later that same month, I was honored to open the ‘Milliók Hangja’ Willis Conover 1956 Revolution Commemoration Swing and Big Band Concert at MÜPA where the great Budapest Jazz Orchestra, Levente Szörényi and rising star Bálint Gájer performed Hungarian and American jazz classics. In 2018, I will be excited to welcome the United States Army Europe Band and Chorus to Hungary in April. Our Armed Forces have an amazing musical tradition, and I know Hungarian audiences will appreciate their work. The legendary performer Ferenc Snétberger, classical guitarist and winner of both the Liszt Ferenc and Kossuth Prizes, amazes me with his dexterity and fresh approaches to classical and contemporary music. Bea Palya’s voice is a treasure, one that I love listening to at home.

Learning through music Paraphrasing Senator William Fulbright, an exchange of musical ideas, or even of musicians themselves, is not a solution but an avenue of hope. It’s not the end, but the start of learning about others. When you take the time to learn about someone else, their country, their culture, traditions and history, you learn about the individual – the complex, nuanced person – and you see past stereotypes. What better way to do that than through music. Musicians can talk about the pieces they have played or the conductors they have worked with, about the meaning of their favorite compositions, about their choice of a particular instrument. It doesn’t matter whether we’re in Chicago, Budapest or Kisújszállás – we are a community united because of our mutual interest and understanding of the process of personal expression through sounds. Thankfully, I’m only halfway through my diplomatic assignment here, and can look forward to many more musical experiences while I’m here in Hungary. My wife and I already have tickets for the 2018-2019 season of the Hungarian Opera, and can’t wait for performances in the newly renovated Opera House. Hajrá magyar zenészek!

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culture

HERMAN’S NOCTURNAL IMAGES ARE NOT SIMPLY ELIMINATING THE ‘HORROR’ OF THE NIGHT BY CREATING A DAYLIGHT-LIKE ATMOSPHERE BUT ARE CONSTRUCTING AN ALTERNATIVE REALITY THAT HAS NEVER BEEN SEEN BY THE HUMAN EYE.

FIRST SOLO EXHIBITION OF THE ARTIST IN HUNGARY

The exhibition, hosted by Budapest’s Ludwig Museum of Contemporary Art (LUMU) until April 1, presents Rafael Yossef Herman’s recent works: a large-scale photographic installation about spotlighting nature at night. All photographs were taken after midnight, under God’s great sky, with analogue cameras - no additional lights, no digital manipulation or tricks used to develop the film. Curiously enough, Herman’s representation of the nocturnal world gives the impression of daylight: colors on the photos range from misty grey and dreamy blue to vivid reds, depicting pathways and clearings in forests, open fields with flowers, and the sea. According to the Israeli-born artist, colors may vary depending on the season the photo is taken in, due to changes of temperature. “I started this project some five years ago, and I wouldn’t declare it finished. All thru these years, I ventured out into nature, spending long hours

staring into the darkness. Most of the time, I went alone because whenever I took somebody with me, his or her fears were the extra I couldn’t handle, as my own fears were enough to battle with. Being alone in a forest, in the middle of nowhere, can be scary. Darkness was about fears until I found out that fear only lived in my head. Suddenly, I sensed that I became a part of nature,” Herman explains his sensatory revelation, adding that he would love to continue his project somewhere in the Nordic countries. “Up North, lights are so different from those in Israel or Europe. In the far north of Norway, it is dark for months at a time – I’d love to work there for a while.” However, as the artist suggests, the location of the shooting shouldn’t really matter when one looks at the works. He does not want to represent the night but to create a new place and time, not a day and not a night. He also says his art is not for the

RAFAEL Y. HERMAN was born in 1974 in Be’er Sheva, Israel. The winner of the Prague Photosphere Award in 2015, Herman began studying classical music at the age of six, becoming a percussionist in philharmonic orchestras, ensembles and rock bands. Following a long stay in New York City, he studied at the School of Economics and Management at the University of Tel Aviv. Graduating in 2000, he moved to Latin America, taking a long research trip through seven countries: photographing Cuban musicians, the Carnival of Bahia and the Zapatistas in Mexico, working with Amnesty International in Paraguay, then studying painting in Mexico City and Chile and becoming part of an artists’ commune. This visual apprenticeship combines vision, metropolitan experience and encounters with uncontaminated nature. In 2003, Herman moved to Milan, showing the project “Bereshit-Genesis” at Palazzo Reale, a project created with a method of his own devising: nocturnal photography without electronic aids or digital manipulation, revealing what cannot normally be seen by the naked eye. This exhibition launched Herman into the international art scene. His works are in prominent public and private collections, including the Tel Aviv Museum of Art, the Salsali Private Museum of Dubai and MAXXI national museum, Italy. Herman’s recent solo exhibition in the magnificent Testaccio pavilion of MACRO museum in Rome claimed great international attention and marked the largest exhibition of the artist prior to the Ludwig Museum solo exhibition in Budapest. Rafael Y. Herman is an invited artist of Ville de Paris at La Cité Internationale des Arts and currently works and lives in Paris.

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eye, rather for the heart, and so it should be felt, not seen. “Normally, these strange lights of the night can only be perceived by technology,” explains by the curator at the walltext. “Compared to the experience of the real daylight, we perceive odd shadows, moonlight features, color spectrum and shimmering details that differ from sunlight. What I’m willing to do is to create a new reality out of the mystery of the night. These sites never existed for the human eye, they are just snapshots, insights into another reality.” When strolling through the exhibition spaces, visitors will notice that every room is lit differently. “There is a confrontation between the forest images placed in an intensely dark environment with those capturing flower fields and large spring-like open spaces of nature placed in an over-lit room. Forests are usually perceived as dark and shady, even on a sunny day, while open fields are considered light and sunny at all times. By creating this supporting environment, the observer is confronted with his own limitations of perception.” Encapsulating unperceivable or imaginary realities, Herman examines the limits of surrealism and timeless reality. “In a sense, he is researching the virtual world,” notes the curator of the exhibition, Attila Nemes. “Virtual realities, games, simulations, that are so influential to the present, let us seek into areas unknown to the human eye. But Herman does not deal with motion prediction, 3D stereo, lens distortion, time warp and other optimizations for a ‘realistic’ VR experience. He is simply finding the existing ‘virtual’ model of the night and fixing it on paper. This is Herman’s Upside Down, a new Realism in the age of information technologies. And how does the artist suggest visitors view the exhibit? “When awake, people’s eyes never rest, constantly scanning their surroundings, checking their phones, etc. I encourage everyone to sit down in front of the artwork, and meditate a little – do nothing, just be present. When dedicating a little time of their lives to the installation, calm and still for a few minutes, they may notice details or certain ‘layers’ they didn’t see at first. They should let the artworks grab their mind. And in the end, they’ll be sure of one thing: Nature is perfect. (People aren’t.)”

ROSTA, RAFAEL YOSSEF HERMAN, BALÁZS GLÓDI

A UNIQUE BOOK WAS PUBLISHED to complete the Hungarian exhibition, featuring a unique concept invented by the artist: at first, it looks as if the book was empty only to unfold its secrets. There will be a book signing event and discussion on March 8, followed by two exclusive walking tours thru the exhibition, one led by the artist on March 10, and one with the curator on March 23.

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cinema

ETERNAL LOVE AND DREAMS HUNGARIAN ACTRESS ON HER ROLE IN THE OSCAR NOMINATED MOVIE

The Hungarian movie 'On body and soul', directed by Ildikó Enyedi, is among the top f ive productions nominated for the Academy Award in the best Foreign Language Film category. The movie is about Endre, the f inancial director of a slaughterhouse in Budapest, and Mária, the new quality control inspector. Endre is interested in getting to know Mária but her icy demeanor makes her diff icult to approach, even though, she shares his feelings. When they learn that they dream the same dreams every night, the couple tentatively embarks on a real-life relationship. Diplomacy&Trade talked to Alexandra Borbély, who plays Mária’s role in the movie, before she set out to the ‘Oscars’ award ceremony in Los Angeles. BY SÁNDOR LACZKÓ

Wonderful metamorphosis

When asked what she thinks it is in the movie that deserved the attention of the members of the Academy, she says “I believe it is the wonderful thing that is characteristic of films that have – or will – become cult movies: I am talking about love, which is an eternal thing. I think this movie is also eternal because, if you watch it ten or twenty years later, it is likely to evoke the same emotions, while a film dealing with social or political issues may have a different meaning and a different impact when watched in different times, when people have a different mindset and a different environment. Someone told me recently that usually a love story movie is filmed with beautiful people, in a beautiful environment, with good living standards, and it was striking, for this person, that the movie ‘On body and soul’ is very different and people feel good about being able to watch such a film.” She thinks that this might be in the minds of the members of the American Film Academy. She recognizes there may be politics involved in the award and says she could perhaps better sense the chances for the Oscar if she was in Los Angeles to grasp the atmosphere and have an impression of the circumstances there. She recalls the view of an anonymous member of the Academy who said that ‘On body and soul’ is a wonderful film but he thought its marketing campaign in the United States was very modest.

Ildikó Enyedi said in an interview that it was a special experience to witness the wonderful metamorphosis coming from within, through which Alexandra Borbély transformed herself into the main character, Mária. Perhaps, this authentic transformation was a factor that was recognized when she was given the best actress award by the European Film Academy. “It was very flattering that someone told me he did not believe this role was played by an actress but rather by a woman who is originally like that. However, after I had a very emotional speech at the Berlinale award ceremony, he said that now he understood how I was able to play this character: the soul coming through in my speech could be found in Mária’s character, as well,” the actress explains. After playing this role, Alexandra says “I am still me but I believe one is always changing after every bit of experience. Playing this particular movie role made me more confident that an actor/actress is capable of anything because it is his/her task to be able to transform into anything. This is what pleases me: to be so different. When Ildikó Enyedi said how she saw this transformation of mine, this reminded me of one of my college professors telling me after an exam that it was interesting how I was able to transform myself. A friend of mine who is a director told me that he would like to see my ‘blueprint’ behind all the characters I play, so that my strong personality would show. However, this is not what I want! I would like to use my strong character to play roles that people wouldn’t believe I could. So, playing Mária’s role strengthened me in believing in my work, which is a wonderful thing.”

photo by DÁVID

HARANGOZÓ

Mária’s role As to how director Ildikó Enyedi found her for the main character, Mária, Alexandra says “I took a movie course at the College of Theater and Film Arts. I believe she just came in and watched scene we did during a class. Two years later, she sent me a message that she was making a new movie and she would like me to audition for the role of a psychologist. I did the audition for a scene in which the psychologist talks to the main female character. The director said she was a 90% certain that I would play the psychologist but later, she said she would also like to see how I would look as the main character, Mária. My first reaction was that it was a stupid idea since I am totally different from what Mária is like in the script. However, it also came to my mind that may be a great idea and I could definitely get this role. From that point on, I felt the strength to prove that, if someone could see this potential in me, I would to be able to play this character.” She recalls that her real preparation for the role occurred prior to the second audition. w w w . d t e u r o p e . c o m

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“The initial objection, on the part of the director, was that I was too feminine to the camera that ‘sees everything’. I thought it was impossible that I could be rejected for a movie role because of the femininity the camera saw in my eyes. However, this prompted me to stand in front of the mirror and try my best lose those unwanted feminine characteristics that could be seen in my eyes. Eventually, a proper dose of anger and adrenalin helped me achieve that.”

D I P L O M A C Y

On dreams Speaking of dreams apropos to this movie, Alexandra says she finds support in her dreams from time to time. “Dreams sometimes give you very good hints in life. During my college years, there were times when I just simply could not figure out how to best formulate a role but many times, I had dreams and the next morning I woke up with the sensation of how to do it, I had the solution to the problem. The other day, I was going to participate in a cooking show on TV but then, I had a dream in which I sliced my fingers, so, I phoned them immediately that I would not go. There was silence on the other end of the line. They must have thought it was a stupid excuse by a crazy woman but perhaps, they should have seen ‘On body and soul’ to understand what dreams mean…”

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what's on ST. PATRICK’S DAY PARADE

MARCH 18 DOWNTOWN Come along and "Be Irish for the day!" organizers invite everyone to the greenest parade in Budapest. “Green and full of smiles. We have more attractions, giveaways and a special party!” This event will see Ireland’s native countrymen and friends of Ireland in Budapest take to the streets for what has turned into a festival that often sees hundreds of people dressed in leprechaun attire. See IHBC’s FB page to find more details on the festival. www.facebook.com/ StPatricksDayBudapest/

SANDRO MILLER: MALKOVICH MALKOVICH MALKOVICH: HOMAGE TO PHOTOGRAPHIC MASTERS

LIVE NATION, NAGY ATTILA, PHILIPP HORAK/WWW.PHILIPPHORAK.COM, JOSH GOLEMAN, KIRK EDWARDS, OLDTIMER SHOW, BODY THE EXHIBITION, LENNART LABERENZ photos by

MAY 4 BUDAPEST ARENA BRIT & Echo Award winner, Rory Graham (aka Rag’n’Bone Man) will embark on the highly anticipated Grande Reserve Tour set to hit the continent in 2018. Performing tracks off his multi-platinum selling album ‘Human’, The Grande Reserve Tour will see Rag’n’Bone Man perform across 20 European countries throughout February, March, April and May. www.livenation.hu

SANDRO MILLER, DEAN CHALKLEY, PIXABAY.COM, MÜPA

RAG’N’BONE MAN: GRANDE RESERVE TOUR

photos by

UNTIL MAY 13 MŰCSARNOK (KUNSTHALLE CHAMBER HALL) At the age of sixteen, upon seeing the work of Irving Penn, Sandro Miller knew he wanted to become a photographer. Mostly self-taught, Sandro relied on books published by many of the great artists canonized in photographic history. More than 30 years later, with clients ranging from Forbes, GQ and Esquire, to American Express, Coca-Cola and BMW, Sandro has secured his place as one of the top advertising photographers worldwide. His success in the commercial world allows him to continue his personal projects, which have included working in Cuba, photographing American blues musicians and dance troupes, and lengthy endeavors with John Malkovich, his longtime friend and collaborator. In 2013, Sandro decided to do a project honoring the men and women whose photographs helped shape his career. After selecting thirty-five images to emulate, Sandro contacted Malkovich, who instantly agreed to participate. John Malkovich is considered to be one the greatest American actors of the 21st century. In ‘Malkovich, Malkovich, Malkovich: Homage to Photographic Masters,’ he demonstrates his chameleon-like proclivity, morphing into Albert Einstein, Che Guevara, John Lennon and Andy Warhol. www.mucsarnok.hu

DIANNE REEVES

MARCH 19 MÜPA Seven years on, five-time Grammy winner, the exhilarating singer and breath-taking virtuoso Diana Reeves makes her return to Budapest, for another live performance, at the Béla Bartók National Concert Hall. The concert will see Dianne play a selection from her album Light Up the Night - Live in Marciac, released in autumn 2017, with members of her band, most of whom she has been working with for many years. Style, authenticity, a captivating personality, enchanting musicality and unrivalled ability – this is Dianne Reeves. It seems that whatever Reeves touches turns to gold. Incredibly, three consecutive albums from the singer were Grammy Award winners: In The Moment (2000): the Sarah Vaughan tribute, The Calling (2001); and A Little Moonlight (2003). And she didn't have to wait long to receive recognition for a fourth time, after she sang on the soundtrack for the George Clooney-directed film Good Night, Good Luck, which received the Grammy Award for Best Jazz Vocal Album. Regardless of the group she sings with, Reeves is a consummate performer: she appeared alongside a trio on the A Little Moonlight album, while she has also worked with Wynton Marsalis and the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra, the Chicago Symphonic Orchestra led by Daniel Barenboim, and the Berlin Philharmonic, conducted by Simon Rattle. In recent years, she has also sung at the White House on several occasions. www.mupa.hu

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what's on METALLICA: WORLDWIRED TOUR

APRIL 5 BUDAPEST ARENA Following an 8-year break, American heavy-metal band Metallica is coming back to Hungary in support of their tenth studio album ’Hardwired... To Self-Destruct,’ which was released in November 2016 and sold 800,000 copies in the first week, debuting at No. 1 all over the world. The WorldWired tour hit European arenas in September last year and the band won’t stop until May of 2018, covering all corners of the continent from Lisbon to Helsinki, Oslo to Budapest and beyond. www.livenation.hu

FINNISH NATIONAL THEATRE PRESENTS: ‘JUST FILMING’

SANDRO MILLER, DEAN CHALKLEY, PIXABAY.COM, MÜPA

LIVE NATION, NAGY ATTILA, PHILIPP HORAK/WWW.PHILIPPHORAK.COM, JOSH GOLEMAN, KIRK EDWARDS, OLDTIMER SHOW, BODY THE EXHIBITION, LENNART LABERENZ

photos by

38TH BUDAPEST SPRING FESTIVAL

MARCH 30-APRIL 22 MULTIPLE LOCATIONS IN BUDAPEST This festival has developed into one of Europe’s major cultural events offering opera, classical music, jazz, world music concerts, contemporary circus, 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 2018: in addition to Müpa Budapest, Liszt Academy and the Vigadó, the Budapest Jazz Club, Várkert Bazár (Castle Garden Bazaar), Akvárium Club, Uránia National Film Theater and other Budapest theatres, 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 Center, and the Hungarian Tourism Agency, the event series continues to broaden its offerings by involving the leading cultural institutions of the city. www.btf.hu

MARCH 22-23 TRAFÓ One of the leading theatre personalities in Finland, Kristian Smeds has written and directed several stage plays. His latest stage work brings together two formidable acting talents: Annamária Láng from Hungary and Juhán Ulfsak, one of Estonia’s most influential contemporary artists. Their partnership produces a theatrical dance rich in passion, absurdity and humor. A highly visual and musical performance, ’just filming’is also a heart-felt tribute to cinematic art. www.trafo.hu

BODY – THE WORLD EXHIBITION

UNTIL JUNE 30 KOMPLEX (KIRÁLY STREET 26.) Bodies and organs will be on show in Budapest's District 6, leaving unprepared visitors shocked but educated on human anatomy. Human bodies have always occupied people's minds, and now, we have a chance for an inside peek, to find out what lies beneath our skin. The exhibition consists of some 300 complete bodies, body parts and organs, showcased in thematic order on a total 2,200 square meter. Part of the exhibition presents bodily disorders like cancer, liver diseases, unhealthy nutrition, lack of exercise and smoking. According to the organizers, the show will completely change people's attitude towards their own body. “By understanding how the body works, one can better care for it and keep it healthy,” they believe. “Our goal is not to scandalize people, but to draw their attention to the importance of a healthy way of life.” There are medical students available at the venue to help visitors if needed. www.bodykiallitas.hu

OLDTIMER SHOW 2018

APRIL 13-15 HUNGARIAN RAILWAY MUSEUM Oldtimers represent the true value of craftsmanship and preserve memories of the car industry. It's best to admire them at this festival that is, according to organizers, one of the largest veteran vehicle exhibitions in Central Eastern Europe, with 500 vehicles on show. 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 and kids are also invited to play in the bouncy castle and enjoy face-painting. A gastro-street will be set, offering Hungarian specialties. If you have an eye for beautifully restored veteran, antique, nostalgic and classic vehicles, don’t miss this event to be organized in the Railway Museum in Budapest's District 14. www.oldtimershow.hu

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wine & gastronomy VINTAGE TRADITIONAL METHOD SPARKLING WINES BY CSABA KOCH Csaba Koch’s 2012 Csanád cuvée recently won the Circle of Hungarian Wine Writers’ Hungarian Wine Grand Prize. The winemaker is not standing still though; he has established a promising sparkling wine cellar. The Hajós-Baja wine region’s Csaba Koch embarked on sparkling wine production two years ago and has just presented his first finished wines to wine critics. A total of four traditional method sparkling wines have been produced from the 2016 Chardonnay, Cserszegi Fűszeres and Kékfrankos, with both a rosé and a red version from the latter. The several thousand bottles of vintage traditional method sparkling wine produced in total annually owe their uniqueness partly to the fact that vines around the Borota estate grow in limestone on very fertile Bácska soil, which creates particularly lovely acidity in the grapes making them suitable for sparkling wine production. Csaba Koch also aids the appearance of elegant notes by picking the grapes slightly later than the usual harvest for sparkling wine, ensuring softer acidity and a more mature flavor profile in the wine. The Chardonnay brut sparkling wine won acclaim from the wine writers at the tasting; they also praised one of Hungary’s first bottle-fermented Cserszegi Fűszeres sparkling wine as a unique, quality drink. The Kékfrankos rosé is also sure to find its place alongside food soon, although only a hundred bottles were produced. The Frisch range is a new product for the winery; it includes slightly fuller-bodied, premium Chardonnay, Irsai Olivér, Cserszegi Fűszeres, Kadarka and Merlot. The innovative winemaker is also experimenting with new wines in his Nagyharsány winery in the Villány wine region: a “little brother” for the award-winning Bordeaux blend Csanád cuvee – a fresh, quaffable, excellent value-for-money Villány red wine.

Rickshaw 1073 Budapest, Erzsébet körút 43-49. +36 1 479 4880 booking@rickshaw.hu www.corinthia.com/budapest

GOOD FRANCE

'Goût de France / Good France' is an annual international event that honors French gastronomy, its capacity for innovation and its values: sharing, enjoying, and respecting the principles of high quality, environmentally responsible cuisine. The first event was organized in 2015, when French cuisine made the UNESCO list in the “Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity” category. Ever since, over 1000 chefs on all five continents join the movement every year, when, on the eve of spring, French dinners are served simultaneously in various locations worldwide. Naturally, Paris Budapest Restaurant in the Hungarian capital joins the movement, when Head Chef Stéphan Remon introduces his special dinner available on March 21-23.

Paris Budapest Restaurant & Bar 1051 Budapest, Széchenyi István tér 2. reservation@parisbudapest.hu +36 1 235 1230

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• Wasabi scented green pea cream soup • Dragon whiskers prawns • Dry shredded beef with vegetables and sweet chili garlic sauce • Scallops with vegetables and fresh fruits prepared in a clay pot • Green tea mille feuille with almond cream served with sesame seed coated milk ice cream

BACKGROUND In 1912, Auguste Escoffier started Les Dîners d’Épicure (Epicurean Diners): one day, one menu, served in cities around the world, to as many guests as possible. In 2015, Goût de/Good France, an initiative of Alain Ducasse and the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Development, took the idea further, bringing all categories of restaurants together globally. M A R C H

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PARIS BUDAPEST CELEBRATES GOÛT DE FRANCE

COURTESY PICTURES

RICKSHAW RESTAURANT’S CHEF Yang Zhijun showcases the best of Far Eastern cuisine. Throughout his 14 years at Rickshaw his menus have always been inspired by both the traditional and the modern world. Each dish of his restaurant is carefully designed with an innovative culinary approach and a western touch, while keeping its roots deeply grounded in the Asian continent.

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hospitality

MELLOW MOOD HOTEL'S OWNERS AMONG THE BEST

COMPLETION OF PÁRISI UDVAR HOTEL’S SHOWROOM

Owners and CEOs of Mellow Mood Hotels, Sameer Hamdan and Zuhair Awad were selected among the 50 most influential individuals in the Hungarian tourism industry, for the f ifth year in a row.

On February 1, Tourism Ltd. presented its wellknown awards and annual publication at the 26th Season Opening Tourism Gala and Award Ceremony. A jury made up of members of the editorial office of Tourism Ltd. and experts from 21 tourism organizations voted for the most influential individuals in the domestic tourism sector, based on their professional contributions to Hungarian tourism. During the selection process, not only the size and revenues of their companies were taken into consideration, but also their influence on the tourism sector and their foreign and domestic reputation. More than 20 years ago, owners and CEOs of Hungary’s most dynamically developing hotel group of the last decade, Sameer Hamdan and Zuhair Awad arrived here as students.

Today, they are known as prominent members and are among the most influential people in the Hungarian tourism industry because of their achievements, including the opening of 12 award-winning hotels in Budapest, and their participation in multiple real estate development projects. The past years for Mellow Mood Hotels were not only about growth and stabilization, but also about planning and preparation for new development: their current project is the restoration of an emblematic building, Parisi Udvar, to its original beauty. The building is to open this fall as a 5-star luxury hotel member of the Unbound Collection by Hyatt. The CEOs are always looking for new challenges for the future, as their motto states: "The best is yet to come ..."

The newest and currently only Hyatt hotel in Hungary is being constructed in one of Budapest’s most iconic buildings. The hotel, to be managed by Mellow Mood Hotels, will feature 110 guest rooms (including 18 suites), conference rooms, which are able to seat a total of 230 people, a spa and wellness center, a restaurant, a café and a bar for the enjoyment of guests. The food and beverage outlets as well as numerous shops will be situated within the unique Párisi Udvar arcade, under the building’s cupolas. The American hotel chain is providing guidance to ensure that the hotel will meet the international Hyatt standards in every asspect, said Tamás Fazekas, Director of Párisi Udvar Hotel: “The rules of Hyatt are extremely stringent and, in many cases, regulate the tiniest details. The strict quality requirements serve the purpose of ensuring that the customer experience guests enjoy day to day are consistent all over the world. Naturally, we pay maximum attention to every component, from the

The decorator showroom of the Párisi Udvar Hotel, expected to be opened by autumn 2018, has been completed. The 110-room hotel, which is soon to become the second European hotel to join The Unbound Collection by Hyatt, will be furnished in a ref ined and classical style. The showroom, where f ive-star elegance is mixed with Moorish elements, gives a foretaste of this. materials used in the rooms, to furniture and the selection of service providers, for we intend to provide the highest standard of service also through this.” The Hyatt standards place great emphasis on design, as is evident in the showroom, which has just been completed, with its fine elegance and Moorish style elements. One of the key requirements is the “Bedding Concept”, which is supposed to guarantee the most comfortable and relaxing sleeping experience possible: the use of synthetic materials, among others, is prohibited and only the best quality down pillows and quilts are allowed. In addition, even the material of the upholstery and the cladding is specified, so only wool carpets and marble bathroom units may be used in the rooms. A further requirement for services is the application of the most modern Property Management System (PMS) which connects to the central reservation system of Hyatt and includes convenience features like online check-in or express check-out. Through this franchise membership, Párisi Udvar

will have the opportunity to utilize other systems of the hotel chain, for example, the Hyatt Loyalty Program ant the quality assurance software. Kroki Studio was responsible for the interior design of Párisi Udvar, the F&B design concept was developed by Blues Sky Hospitality Ltd., a British company, while the construction contract was awarded to Market Építő Zrt. The construction work is being carried out simultaneously with the design of the interior and the equipment. Project Manager János Hermesz provided further information: “During the past six months, we have come across serious static problems, which were not indicated in the former documentation of the building or building diagnostics. As a result, the time frame planned for the construction has been extended. This means that the structural engineering part of the project will be completed at the end of February and, in the following six months, the facade will be finished, the cupolas of the arcade will be restored, the scaffolding will be removed and we will open the building in the autumn.”

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Be one with innovation Hankook Tire and Real Madrid Together as one

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