It was a wonderful event, especially in meeting some of the Hungarian immigrants who had come over to Cardiff in 1956 and had made such a success of themselves in their adopted country.
Our conversations also took me back to the various research projects I undertook in Budapest, including one of the first analyses of academic entrepreneurship within this former Warsaw Pact country in the 1990s.
Since then, Hungary has developed considerably and the Ambassador, who hails originally from the private sector, described the enterprise and growth that has grown his country’s economy over the last few years.
Hungary is certainly doing better compared to some Western European countries with inflation low, wages rising and unemployment falling from 10.2 per cent in 2013 to 7.1 per cent in 2015.
Some have suggested that a turning point was the introduction of the flat rate of personal income tax in 2011 that currently stands at 16 per cent as compared to the EU average of 37.9 per cent.
Whilst supporters of this system says it is a simple and fair alternative that creates stability in the economy and encourages enterprise, jobs and growth, others say that it unfairly shifts the tax burden onto lower income earners.
In fact, there has been a major policy shift away from income tax towards consumption taxes that has resulted in VAT in Hungary currently standing at 27 per cent, the highest in the EU.
In terms of corporation tax, this is currently 19 per cent as compared to 20 per cent in the UK. Interestingly enough, there is also a small firm rate of 10 per cent for businesses with a profit of less than 500 million HUF (or £1.2 million). George Osborne has yet to cut taxation to smaller firms in the UK although this may be something that may be considered if the budget is balanced at the end of this parliament.
Whatever the reasons, the Hungarian economy has grown and continues to grow, with the OECD recently suggesting that it would expand at a rate of 3.1 per cent in 2017. The UK has been a major contributor to this success, and is now the fourth largest investor in Hungary behind Germany, Austria and the Netherlands with investments of £2 billion pounds in sectors such as shared services centres, telecommunications, pharmaceuticals, chemicals, food and retailing. Indeed, Tesco currently employs 21,000 people in Hungary and is the largest private sector employer in the country.
Other major UK businesses which have a significant presence include Provident (4,000 employees), British Telecom (1,600 employees and Vodafone (1,500 employees). The question is whether there are other investment opportunities in which UK firms could make a difference?
For example, it is estimated that the Hungarian agricultural sector, because of favourable climate and soil conditions, could supply up to 30 million people and the low purchasing prices in Hungary combined with export markets could create real competitive advantage for investors.
With the expertise that Wales has in the agri-food industry, could there be a real opportunity for Welsh businesses to take their expertise and experience to add value to Hungarian firms?
In terms of international trade to and from both countries, Hungary exports £3 billion of goods every year to the UK (with 60 per cent being machinery and transport equipment), although the UK only sells around £1.4 billion in return.
Hungary has also become popular amongst UK travellers who now the second largest source, after German tourists, for the industry and during the period January to August 2015, there was a 23 per cent increase in the number of visitors from the UK to Hungary. This has been largely driven by the growth of budget airlines, including Hungary’s own Wizz Air, and this may be one carrier that Cardiff Airport could look to attract in the future.
Indeed, there may be real opportunities for better co-operation in areas such as tourism given that there is already a strong link between our two nations because of a poem that every school pupil in Hungary knows off by heart.
Written by Janos Arany in the middle of the 19th Century, the poem “Bards of Wales’ (A walesi bárdok) which describes the slaughter of 500 Welsh druids by King Edward I, became a call for Hungarian self-determination. And yet I am sure that many Hungarians who know the every line of that famous poem off have yet to visit the country and the castles which inspired the work that still serves as the literary rallying call for their own national pride.
Certainly, it is something that uniquely links our two countries together and whilst poetry may be an unexpected an unusual way to form a trading relationship, it could be the catalyst by which Wales can build further links with this emerging Central European nation in the future.
THE BARDS OF WALES
Edward the king, the English king,
Bestride his tawny steed,
"For I will see if Wales," said he,
"Accepts my rule indeed.
"Are stream and mountain fair to see?
Are meadow grasses good?
Do corn-lands bear a crop more rare
Since wash'd with rebel's blood?
"And are the wretched people there,
Whose insolence I broke
As happy as the oxen are
Beneath the driver's yoke?
"In truth this Wales, Sire, is a gem,
The fairest in your crown:
The stream and field rich harvest yield,
And fair and dale and down.
"And all the wretched people there
Are calm as man could crave;
Their hovels stand throughout the land
As silent as the grave."
Edward the king, the English King
Bestrides his tawny steed;
A silence deep his subjects keep
And Wales is mute indeed.
The castle named Montgomery
Ends that day's journeying;
The castle's lord, Montgomery,
Must entertain the king.
Then game and fish and ev'ry dish
That lures the taste and sight
A hundred hurrying servants bear
To please the appetite.
With all of worth the isle brings forth
In dainty drink and food,
And all the wines of foreign vines
Beyond the distant flood.
"You lords, you lords, will none consent
His glass with mine to ring?
What? Each one fails, you dogs of Wales,
To toast the English king?
"Though game and fish and ev'ry dish
That lures the taste and sight
Your hand supplies, your mood defies
My person with a slight.
"You rascal lords, you dogs of Wales,
Will none for Edward cheer?
To serve my needs and chant my deeds
Then let a bard appear!"
The nobles gaze in fierce amaze,
Their cheeks grow deadly pale;
Not fear but rage their looks engage,
They blanch but do not quail.
All voices cease in soundless peace,
All breathe in silent pain;
Then at the door a harper hoar
Comes in with grave disdain:
"Lo, here I stand, at your command,
To chant your deeds, O king!"
And weapons clash and hauberks crash
Responsive to his string.
"Harsh weapons clash and hauberks crash,
And sunset sees us bleed,
The crow and wolf our dead engulf -
This, Edward, is your deed!
"A thousand lie beneath the sky,
They rot beneath the sun,
And we who live shall not forgive
This deed your hand hath done!"
"Now let him perish! I must have"
(The monarch's voice is hard)
"Your softest songs, and not your wrongs!"
In steps a boyish bard:
"The breeze is soft at eve, that oft
From Milford Havens moans;
It whispers maidens' stifled cries,
It breathes of widows' groans.
"You maidens, bear no captive babes!
You mothers, rear them not!"
The fierce king nods. The lad is seiz'd
And hurried from the spot.
Unbidden then, among the men,
There comes a dauntless third
With speech of fire he tunes his lyre,
And bitter is his word:
"Our bravest died to slake your pride -
Proud Edward, hear my lays!
No Welsh bards live who e'er will give
Your name a song a praise.
"Our harps with dead men's memories weep.
Welsh bards to you will sing
One changeless verse - our blackest curse
To blast your soul, O king!"
"No more! Enough!" - cries out the king.
In rage his orders break:
"Seek through these vales all bards of Wales
And burn them at the stake!"
His men ride forth to south and north,
They ride to west and east.
Thus ends in grim Montgomery
The celebrated feast.
Edward the king, the English king
Spurs on his tawny steed;
Across the skies red flames arise
As if Wales burned indeed.
In martyrship, with song on lip,
Five hundred Welsh bards died;
Not one was mov'd to say he lov'd
The tyrant in his pride.
"'Ods blood! What songs this night resound
Upon our London streets?
The mayor shall feel my irate heel
If aught that sound repeats!
Each voice is hush'd; through silent lanes
To silent homes they creep.
"Now dies the hound that makes a sound;
The sick king cannot sleep."
"Ha! Bring me fife and drum and horn,
And let the trumpet blare!
In ceaseless hum their curses come -
I see their dead eyes glare..."
But high above all drum and fife
and trumpets' shrill debate,
Five hundred martyr'd voices chant
Their hymn of deathless hate.
(Translated by Watson Kirkconnel)
Arany János (1857. június.)