Celebration and concerns at Europe’s Day in Commerce

Europe’s Day in Commerce was celebrated for the sixth time in Budapest on 3 November. The National Association of Entrepreneurs and Employers (VOSZ) and the Hungarian member organisation of EuroCommerce organised the event. Dr Rainhardt von Leoprechting, the president of EuroCommerce expressed his concerns over the fiscal policy of the Hungarian government. He told that the special tax was discrimination against foreign retail companies and that protectionism had never helped any country to get out of economic recession. Péter Feiner, then-president of the Hungarian Trade Association called attention to the fact that retail invested more than HUF 1,500 billion in the last five years. He added that trade was profitable last year, but from the HUF 140 billion result retail’s share was a loss of HUF 33 billion. Dr Endre Horváth, deputy state secretary of the Ministry for National Economy told that the government’s main objective was strengthening small and medium-sized enterprises, which constitute the backbone of retail.

What is more, there is great potential in them for creating new jobs. As for the special tax, he stressed its temporary nature. Gábor Gablini, the vice-president of VOSZ agreed that protectionism was not good, but opined that some kind of healthy protectionism was necessary in the SME sector. He said that a level playing field had to be created by the government for SMEs, in order to make them competitive against multinationals. After the speeches the award ceremonies of the Klauzál Gábor Prize and the For Hungarian Retail Grand Prize were held, followed by a roundtable discussion moderated by Ákos Kozák, the managing director of GfK Hungária.