Taking cooperation further

Japan and Hungary share common values such as democracy, rule of law, market economy, basic human rights, freedom of the press and the freedom of expression,” the Japanese Ambassador to Hungary, Junichi Kosuge tells the Japan focus of Diplomacy & Trade.

“Japan’s diplomatic relations
with Hungary date back as many as 146 years. Over this long period of time,
both countries have experienced hardship as well as glory. It is important to note that after the change of regimes in 1989, Hungary became
a democratic country as did Japan when it rebuilt itself after
World War II. Therefore, now, we share common values such as democracy, rule of law, market economy, basic human rights, freedom of
the press and the freedom of expression,” the Japanese Ambassador to Hungary, Junichi Kosuge tells Diplomacy
& Trade.

It was more than 30 years ago that the new Japanese
Ambassador to Hungary, Junichi Kosuge first visited Hungary. “Back then, I was a very young diplomat
serving in Vienna. It was at the beginning of the 1980s when Hungary was still
behind the Iron Curtain. At that time,
I had the impression that the atmosphere in Hungary was already
free and lively,” he recalls to Diplomacy & Trade.

Another of his observations is that in Hungary, when pedestrians attempt to
cross the road drivers kindly stop and wait – “that is not something one would very often see in Tokyo,” he adds.
He recalls that at certain conferences Hungarian people, for example photographers, crouch in
front of the audience
so as not to block the view, which he thinks is another indication of the politeness
of the Hungarian people.

Ambassador Kosuge presented his credentials to
Hungarian President János Áder in November 2014. He says that over these the past four months, he has
had opportunities to visit places
like Gödöllõ, Eger, the porcelain factory in Herend and the Magyar Suzuki factory in Esztergom. He plans to explore many more places in Hungary as well as areas where ethnic
Hungarians live outside the mother
country such as in Transylvania, Romania.

As for gastronomical delights, the Ambassador says he likes the salami, Mangalica pig and he is fond of Hungarian wines. This prompts him to recall that in March
this year, “a delegation was here from Japan to promote the sale of Sake, Japanese rice wine – a very promising
deal.”

Political relations

When the Hungarian Prime
Minister visited Japan in November 2013, he and his Japanese counterpart issued
a communiqué, declaring
the two countries as global partners united by universal values. “I
categorically believe in this statement. One of my most important missions here is to strengthen this basis of partnership
between our
two countries, to promote our friendship and advance our cooperation further,” the Ambassador points out.

He also sees similarities in the international
circumstances surrounding both Japan
and Hungary. He explains
that Hungary has the issue of Ukraine
and that in Asia the security
situation surrounding Japan is
complicated. “Japan, as
well as Hungary, is determined to resolve any international issues by peaceful
means and not by force. Hungary and Japan can cooperate further to advance the
principles of peace, democracy and rule of law in the world,”
he stresses.

He also says that “Japan,
under its recent policy of proactive contribution to peace and stability of the
world, wants to further strengthen the cooperation between the two countries in
order to tackle global issues such as the reform of the United Nations, humanitarian
assistance, refugee assistance and climate change, and other problems including the fight against terrorism, piracy, infectious diseases, etc.”

Partners

As for the Embassy’s partners in Hungary, Ambassador
Kosuge highlights that “we work together with various government ministries,
especially the Ministry of Foreign
Affairs and Trade. I have also started paying
courtesy calls to the various political parties. We feel that for deepening the
bilateral relationship, it is vital that we create and maintain good
relationships with private companies – especially those of Japanese
interest –, as well as the
media and the educational
institutes. One example of an educational
institute is the renowned Liszt Ferenc Academy of Music, which is very important for us as there are more than 40
Japanese students studying there every
year. My motto is that the Embassy and I myself will work hard to convey to the Hungarian people more about Japan, the Japanese society today, the Japanese
culture, life-style –and
I’m ready to work to promote them.”

The Embassy’s Japanese partners
in Hungary are the trade promotion agency JETRO Budapest and the Japan Foundation Budapest that act as the hubs strengthening bilateral and Japan-EU relationships.
JETRO Budapest is responsible for the field of economy, while the Japan
Foundation Budapest caters to cultural and people exchange. The
Japanese School of Budapest, the Hungary-Japan friendship societies and sister
cities cooperate with the Japanese Ambassador and the Embassy in Budapest, as well.

Economic
ties

There are some
150 Japanese companies operating in Hungary, creating about 26,000 local
employment. According to 2013 figures quoted by the Ambassador, the total amount of foreign direct investment (FDI) from Japan
to Hungary is EUR 834
million. The trade figures for the same
year show EUR 448 million of Hungarian exports to Japan and EUR 933 million of Hungarian imports from Japan. As for tourism, about 80,000 Japanese people visit Hungary every
year.

Regarding new Japanese investments, the recent entrants include Takata and JSR
while Alpine, Denso, Diamond, Epcos, Exedy, Musashi, Nisshin and Zoltek are expanding their
capacities in Hungary.

As for the economic sentiment felt by Japanese
investors in Hungary, Ambassador Kosuge believes it is determined by the fact
that most of the Japanese firms in this country are in the manufacturing
industry. The investment conditions are basically favorable for
them, as they enjoy the strong support of the Hungarian Government in
infrastructure, for example, the construction of connecting
roads.

When answering the question why so many Japanese
investors have chosen Hungary, the Ambassador notes that being in the heart of Europe, this country has excellent
geographical location,
it is a member of the European Union (and thus, establishing a foothold here positions Japanese firms inside the EU
common market), the infrastructure is well-developed, the labor force is highly skilled and the wage level is
reasonable. “Japanese businessmen find Budapest a very safe and comfortable place
to live in. Recently, however, some companies have come across the problem of finding properly skilled labor force, especially in NW Hungary
where a lot of
firms have settled and now compete for the workforce.

Culture

Although, he has only been here for a few months, Ambassador Kosuge has found that “there
are a lot of Hungarians interested in traditional Japanese culture like Kabuki
theatre, tea ceremony,
Ikebana or flower
arrangement, etc.” Last year, Japanese artists performing in Hungary
included composer and conductor Ken-Ichiro Kobayashi (see box) and a Kabuki
theater. The Ambassador notes that Japanese pop-culture, recently, is
popular in Hungary – “it is especially the younger generation that is interested in Manga and Animation
and exchange in this area has become active in the past few years. For
instance, a number of Hungarian
animation artists were
invited to – and actually participated in – the 2014 International
Anime Festival in
Hiroshima. This April, Budapest will host
the 7^th Kiskakas
Animation Festival
and we hope some Japanese animation artists will also be able to take
part in it.”

The Ambassador was
very happy to learn that the number of
people studying Japanese in Hungary is around 1,600. So
far, over 400 Hungarian students have received the Japanese government’s scholarship to study in Japan. “As I mentioned earlier,
40-50 Japanese students are currently
enrolled at the Liszt Ferenc
Academy of Music in Budapest. Also, the recent years have seen a growing
number of Japanese students – currently, about 250 – coming to study medicine
at various universities in Hungary. During his
2013 visit to Japan, the Hungarian Prime Minister offered scholarships (‘Stipendium Hungaricum’) to a hundred Japanese students per year – a gesture we very much appreciate.”

In the year 2020, Tokyo will be hosting the Summer Olympic and Paralympic Games. Last
year, the Japanese capital celebrated the 50^th anniversary of the
1964 Tokyo Olympics and invited guests included the previous Hungarian
President Pál Schmitt. “In February
this year, I invited to my residence Dr. Tamás Aján the Hungarian
President of the International Weightlifting Federation – and also a member of the International Olympic
Committee – on the occasion of the visit
by Ms. Yuriko Koike, a Member of the Parliament of Japan and President of the Japan
Weightlifting Association. I hope to see the growth of bilateral exchange in
the area of sports in the coming years toward the 2020 Games,”
Ambassador Junichi Kosuge concludes.