The Farming Community, Our Hosts, Dr. Christian Göke, Michael Müller, Dr. Wolfgang Ingold, Joachim Rukwied and Christian Schmidt Commissioner Phil Hogan Ladies and Gentleman, a warm welcome to you all It is a great privilege for my home country to be the guest of honour at one of Europe’s largest and most prestigious exhibitions of the food industry, agriculture and horticulture. I am delighted that we are able to present specialities from the Hungarian farming industry to some four hundred thousand visitors. I am particularly pleased that here, in the heart of Germany, we have been able to recreate Hungary in miniature. Here at the International Green Week we have brought along a few samples of the wonderful things that make up our home country, which can best be described as ’traditional, diverse and natural’. Together with our German friends we continue to enjoy a close friendship that spans almost one thousand years of historical, cultural and economic ties. Germany is one of Hungary’s most important trading partners and a political ally. Thank you to our hosts for this invitation. Ladies and Gentlemen, Whenever I attend a trade fair or an exhibition I carefully inspect the stands for special quality products from different countries and regions. I am driven by a curiosity to find out how these foods and beverages taste when they come from ‘authentic’ producers. When abroad, I make an effort to visit local markets and corner shops, and I am just as excited this time to see what new things I will find at the International Green Week. We Hungarians believe we are creative and inventive, have strong spices and excellent wines, welcome guests, have strong schnapps, a good sense of humour and want no one to leave our table hungry. Some of the ways we see ourselves will no doubt be true …, but I wonder how other nations see us? A certain Mr. Weber, a German author and traveller in the nineteenth century who, in addition to describing Hungary also wrote subjective and telling pieces about many other nations, had this to say about us: Hungary is a country that is wealthy and blessed. It is full of game, birds and fish." «A place where quite a lot of quite good food is eaten.» Whatever people may say about Hungary, my home country’s cuisine and its tasty dishes: goulash, fish soup, Pörkölt, sausages, langos and baumstriezel, as well as our hearty appetite, always get a mention. The fact that the European final of the Bocuse d’Or, the most coveted international cooking prize, was won by a Hungarian chef, is proof of how good we eat and cook. Ladies and Gentlemen, In the past Hungary was often known as Europe’s most abundant source of farming produce. Hungary’s farming industry can look back on a history spanning 1100 years. Nature ensures that it is able to grow safe, high-quality farming produce. In a changing world, in order to maintain the high standard of the Hungarian farming industry it is necessary to combine the deep-rooted historical traditions, diligence and knowledge of Hungarian farmers with a responsible and forward-looking mindset. Hungary is intent on moving forward with traditional, sustainable, non-GM food production and farming practices. We see our children and grandchildren achieving good living standards in a farming industry that is economically and environmentally sustainable and that is able to produce healthy, high-quality foodstuffs. It has been written into our constitution that Hungary pledges to help people assert their right to physical and mental health with a farming industry that is free of genetically modified organisms. It is no coincidence that Hungary’s slogan for the Green Week is ’traditional, diverse and natural’. And indeed, it is these values that ensure Hungary’s farming industry is strong, competitive and economically successful. We see it as important to protect the close relationship that exists between food production and nature and let consumers at home and abroad find out more about Hungary’s GM-free farming industry, its tasty and healthy dishes, beverages and our traditional cuisine. The success of our farming industry is rooted in ancient traditions. While these have been passed on by successive generations the industry has also evolved and is now based on an innovative agricultural economy that meets today’s needs. Both Hungary and its farming industry are growing. The latter is a driving force of the country’s economy and significantly contributes to GDP (0.6 % of an overall growth rate of 2.1 %). 2016 was a bumper year for crops. The wheat, barley and maize harvest broke records. Last year Hungary was the EU’s biggest producer of sunflowers and accounted for 22 % of its total output. The number of people employed in the farming industry continued to grow, evidence of how important this sector is for creating jobs. Over a period of six years the number of people working in Hungary’s farming industry grew by almost 27 %. The organic farming sector is growing too, with the number of regulated areas and farms expanding. Our agricultural exports have also risen and are now in the order of eight billion euros. Hungarian products can be purchased in many countries around the world and are marketed in over 150 countries (in the first ten months of 2016 Hungary exported farming products to 156 countries). Premium products, including our rightly famed Hungarian wine, and schnapps, as well as quality farming produce, ‘Hungarika’, were also widely available. These are our special national treasures linked to our home country and a reflection of the diligence, expert knowledge and traditions of the Hungarian people. Our wines are known in 95 countries around the world and our schnapps products in 76. What helps our aims and what hinders us? Ladies and Gentlemen, Hungary is a member of the European Union. During the country’s presidency in 2011 we were faced with many challenges for which we were able to jointly find satisfactory solutions. Difficulties are to be expected every year, because frost, diseases, flooding and droughts can strike at any time. At the same time access to food supplies and clean drinking water is a fundamental human right which we, the political decision-makers, and primarily farmers and food industry employees, ensure. It goes hand in hand with our responsibility. It is in our common interest and our joint aim to maintain a well-functioning, flexible and competitive farming industry in the European Union and in all parts of the world. Hungary is intent on cultivating international relations in the farming sector with nations around the world in order to preserve its values, support the production of healthy and nutritious foodstuffs and to enable progress. Ladies and Gentlemen, Anyone presenting the products and treasures of their home country will be proud of those back home. Praise is therefore due to the labourers in Hungary’s provinces and to Hungarian farmers. Without their untiring and conscientious efforts and attention to quality Hungary would not be the Green Week’s guest of honour today. This recognition is also due to everyone in Hungary’s farming and food industries. I would like to take this opportunity to express my thanks to the fair’s organisers for providing each year’s partner with an outstanding platform for presenting themselves; and I would like to thank Minister Christian Schmidt for directing attention to Hungary and its treasures this year. I encourage you to visit the Hungarian pavilion where we will present the wealth and diversity of my country’s farming industry. Find out about our quality products and our outstanding wines. Try out our tasty dishes and beverages, reflections of the expert knowledge and diligence of Hungarian farmers. You will see why Hungary is regarded as the home of healthy and tasty quality foods. I hope that my brief presentation has sparked interest in my home country and that hopefully many people will visit Hungary in order to directly experience the hospitality and unique cuisine of those who live in Hungary’s Pannonian Basin. Budapest is a popular destination with tourists from Europe and countries beyond, where people of all ages can enjoy innumerable cultural attractions and entertainment. That is where you will find that our country has many culinary treasures in store that are ’traditional, diverse and natural’. Thank you for your attention and I wish you all every success at the fair.
