14. January 2008.

After giving a commemorative speech on the 60th anniversary of the deportation of ethnic Germans from the village of Bánd, near Herend, Speaker of the Hungarian Parliament, Ms. Katalin Szili, visited the Herend Porcelain Manufactory.
While visiting Veszprém County, the Speaker of Parliament joined the MPs of the district at the commemoration in Bánd, and thereafter visited the traditional manufactory. During her visit she met the management of the Manufactory, looked at the mini manufactory of the Porcelanium Visitors’ Centre, thereby becoming acquainted with the traditional techniques of porcelain making. Walking through the exclusive display room of the Manufactory, she had the opportunity to get a glimpse of the diversity of the Herend product range, the myriad of Herend colours, forms and decors. As the closing event of her stay in Herend, she talked to the representatives of the press in the Apicius Café of the Porcelanium Visitors’ Centre.
At the press conference, she underscored that passing a parliamentary bill on “Hungaricums” (uniquely Hungarian products) would be worth consideration.

The Speaker of the House also mentioned that in cooperation with the MPs of the region she was will take steps in order to incorporate Herend Porcelain Manufactory again in the list of national companies, i.e. in the list appearing as the Annex to the relevant legislation. What this legislation provides is a guarantee that Herend Porcelain Manufactory will continue to be a Hungarian national enterprise and business organization. According to Ms. Szili, the Manufactory should never have to face a situation in which it is forced to consider foreign ownership and thus compelled to suffer competitive disadvantages.
In Ms. Dr. Katalin Szili’s view, Herend porcelain is the pride of the nation and she expressed that the company has been able to stay afloat because it is owned by the state and the employees, and that this unique Hungarian speciality is still being exported to over 60 countries worldwide.

/MTI-Herend/