Magunkról

HUNGARIAN INDUSTRIAL ASSOCIATION

The ASSOCIATION OF ASSOCIATIONS

The Hungarian Industrial Association is a national social organization of employers voluntarily formed by its member associations in order to represent and protect social and economic interests of its members.

The place of our Association in the Hungarian economy:

The Hungarian Industrial Association consists of 22 territorial and professional member organizations and 2 associated professional business federations.

The Hungarian Industrial Association was established in 1920 so its past goes back up to 90 years.

The Association renewed its organization in the early 90-ies. It took up its present name at that time, which announced that the Hungarian Industrial Association (OKISZ) enlarged its scope of representation of interest and undertook also the new stratum of owners developed on the ground of the new joint private ownership.

The economic organizations belonging to the scope of interest of the Hungarian Industrial Association, which are more than 1000, are important participants of the national economy, they are mostly in the category of the small and medium size enterprises, but there are so-called micro-enterprises, cooperatives of new type and larger organizations producing significant production value and having significant role in the international market, as well.

The importance and role of the Hungarian Industrial Association in the national economy is supported by the fact that its member organizations comprehend almost the total of the Hungarian industry and trade, it is a significant participant of the reconciliation of interests and partner of the economic and financial governments. Its opinion has importance in the preparation and establishment of important decisions of economic policy.

The Hungarian Industrial Association (OKISZ) is an important participant in the trilateral reconciliation of interests.

Our aims and the complex of means to reach them

Our Association has the aim to become an organization representing employer's interests of owners of small and medium size enterprises, which is independent of political parties, undertakes significant role in the future economic and social activity of Hungary and has high respect, European level, rich traditions and values.

For this purpose:

• we represent companies based on private ownership associating for industrial production and selling their products or services and other small or medium size enterprises,
• we shall perform real lobbying to protect the interests of our organizations for help in our difficulties without disregarding general interests of the national economy,
• we shall remain open to the representation of all economic interests, which are in accordance with the aims of our interested organizations.
• One of the most important aims of the Association is to establish a widespread membership from among the participants of the competitive sphere of Hungarian economy, and to establish a professional activity of representation of interests based on a large base of trustworthy information.

Which interests should we follow?

Everything serves interests of our member organizations, which aims

• to guarantee the safety of the property and working capital,
• to establish beneficent outside and inside circumstances for the production and servicing activities,
• to develop a structure of marketable products, its continuous development, obtaining and keeping markets,
• to occupy efficiently and regularly the members (owners and their employees),
• to ensure appropriate position in competition and economic and social environment.

In order to carry out our aims we operate such a complex of means, which

• employs the whole apparatus of enforcement of interests (expressing opinions, personal representation, making protest or proposition, cooperation, appeal etc.)
• does not give way to the demagogy, but shows force enumerating economic arguments,
• aims to the sympathy of the public opinion and the affection of the society,
• supports all the conceptions of the government, which promote stability and development of the economy, but it does not undertake any political commitment, as organization representing interest.
• provides services to improve the economic condition.

Our work in representation and exploration of interests bases on the established structure of institutions of territorial and professional unions and on the immediate information given by the territorial organizations. There are professional divisions and expert's working groups working in the Hungarian Industrial Association (OKISZ), which group representatives of member organizations in accordance with the main fields of representation of professional, economic or employer's interests.

What do we ensure to our member organizations?

First of all and above all, we provide pronounced protection and representation of interests based on facts and real analysis of circumstances at all national and territorial forums of reconciliation of interests.

We are founder members of the Council of Reconciliation of Interests, where we strive to enforce wishes of our clients by seeking compromises with our social partners, as it is essential in the policy.

Our Association or rather its member organizations provide a number of services to the participants of the economy to carry their immediate economic aims out.

Such services are among others:

• for successful activity in foreign trade and technical affairs of foreign trade,
• information about competitions, supports and resources promoting technological development, investments and export of enterprises and assistance to prepare applications for competitions,
• consultative assistance in the affairs of industrial property protection (invention, trademark, design, know-how etc.), assistance for solving problems of quality protections, guarantee and liability for products,
• search for business partners in inland or abroad, search and mediation for cooperation in capital investments, export or import, or possibilities for commission work, we are member of the BCD network (headquater in Brussels) aiming at to find business partner for our member companies,
• organization of business meetings, appearances on fairs or exhibitions, as well as professional forums or exchanges,
• assistance at the business, in all the affairs connected with office management, employment, statutes of labour, capital investment, loan, finances and social insurance,
• professional training, mainly as part of retraining of workforce, primarily in the field of services, respectively occasionally high level improvement of qualification in this field.
• We participate as foundation in the maintenance of institutions assisting holidays, culture and sports of the Association, which have respectable traditions.
• We are founders and part-owners of the Educational Center of the Hungarian Industrial Association.
• We assist our member organizations to lighten troubles in the fields of active employment policy from among other means by information about possibilities of competitions in these fields.

We participate as active participant of different forums of Social Dialogue in the work of the National Council of Reconciliation of Interests and eight different commissions of it.

We participate furthermore in the work of eight different national corporations, as well as councils.

We are also founder members of seven foundations, as well as associations of national competency.

The Association has widespread international relations, primarily with national associations of analogous activities, among others:

The Hungarian Industrial Association maintains traditional relations with organizations of the Hungarian and international cooperative movement. It is member of the National Cooperative Council, and other international organizations. Considering its changing membership, it established close connections also with foreign federations for representation of interests, which assemble societies of entrepreneurs of non-cooperative type or medium size enterprises, mainly in Middle and Western Europe. Since August 2006 we are a full member of the UEAPME - Union of European Artisans, Small and Medium size Enterprises.

We consider the following elements of the national economy, a those, which are the most important and most required to accomplish:

- the dynamic development of enterprises, the consideration of small and medium size enterprises in accordance with their importance,

- the appreciation of the work producing values, the extension of employment,

- the restoration of the vocational training,

- the establishment of rules of more efficient employment of foreign employees.

The following tasks should be executed with high priority in order to accomplish the above mentioned tasks:

• the improvement of competitive situation of small and medium size enterprises,
• updating of the system of taxes,
• improvement of application of simple and stimulating systems of taxes relating to the SME's (like EVA - Simplified Tax of Entrepreneurs, presumptive tax, EKHO2),
• improvement of the structure of employment and promotion of enlargement of employment,
• reduction of loads of administration,
• participation and good accomplishment in the execution of the 2nd National Plan of Development,
• cooperation in the development and execution of the reforms of the State,
• making attractive the cooperation, as form of association (the Hungarian Industrial Association proposes the next President of the OSZT - National Cooperative Council - for a period of two years).
• Transferring resources of the State and EU to the member organizations,
• assistance of the education, training and education for improvement of qualification by means of competitions of the State,
• preparation of applications for competitions, preparation and coordination of common projects,
• provision of services promoting the closing up by establishment of consortia,
• distribution of services of the UNIÓ Garancia Szövetkezet (ZRT) (UNION Cooperative of Guarantee)
• examination of possibilities of development, preparation and coordination of common investments,
• preparation of economic analyses, observation of legal rules and information.
• maintaining a living, efficient and everyday relation among the center and the territorial associations for the enforcement of interests and the assurance of services.

The Hungarian Industrial Association shall not wait until its work is forced by reform measures, but it should become apt without waiting to accept the changed circumstances, to renew itself, to perform the tasks of primary importance and to provide services, which become indispensable in the future, to the associations and members.

Office - holders of the Hungarian Industrial Association:

 

József Szabó
felügyelő bizottság elnöke

Foreign relations manager:

Enikő Evert
1146 Budapest, Thököly út 58-60.
Phone: + 36/1/343-5181
Fax: + 36/1/343-5521
E-mail: evert.eniko@okisz.hu, okisz@okiszinfo.hu