To understand the new industry and its players, we need to ask questions. The Economx interview reveals who has what to learn from the other.

Important! Construction has not yet started, as the company has repeatedly confirmed, and the project is still in the design phase, when the collection and assessment of the data needed for the design is crucial. Soil mechanics studies play a key role in this.

While we do not and will not take a position on the battery industry, it is essential to know the players in this new industry to form a sound opinion. Our interview was (also) conducted in this spirit.

We spoke to Bence Énekes, founder-owner of a Hungarian company that is handling communications for a cathode plant being built in Ács, Hungary, on behalf of China.

• What did the Chinese expect?
• Why does crisis communication remain?
• Why can’t the public be informed in time?
• What can people in the carpets expect?
• What should we do with our fears?
• What went wrong with CATL in Debrecen?
• How can they at least draw the game?
• What can you do with a Chinese giant?
• What can the opposition parties do?
• How can we seize the opportunities?

Why did you choose Huayou Cobalt?

I founded NEST Communications Ltd in 2018, having previously worked in PR and marketing communications in various senior positions for many years. Thanks to our work and successful projects over the past 5 years, our reputation, awareness and recognition in the market and professional circles has reached a level that has become a reputation that we can build on. This success is the result of the consistent work of our team of highly skilled and experienced colleagues, most of whom have decades of professional experience. Most new clients now find us through external enquiries or referrals. This is also the case with BAMO Technology. We understand that BAMO Technology Hungary Kft., a Hungarian company belonging to the Chinese group, discussed with several agencies in Hungary, but found the strategy and proposals outlined by NEST to be the most feasible and viable.

What were the expectations of the Chinese clients?

After the launch of CATL in Hungary, looking at social media and press reports, it was clear that any new developments in the sector would create a crisis communication situation almost immediately.

Some investors don’t really care, but some are thinking long-term in terms of communication, wanting to build good relations with the local population, and also taking into account building an employer brand, for example to make it easier to recruit them later. Our basic premise was that only transparent, ongoing two-way corporate communication can be effective, and we can only work together if the client is a partner. Fortunately, we immediately found that we had a very similar vision, so it was easy to start working together.

What should a communications company do after a resident of a small town reads in the press that a huge Chinese cathode factory is being built in his locality?

Ideally, you should not act then, but months before. You should develop a communication strategy to involve the local population from the moment of the announcement. However, this is not feasible because, for example, the EU has rules that oblige the investor to compete with several countries.

What tools help to ensure transparent, honest and two-way communication in, for example, Acs?

You have to be in the same boat as the local population, and the company has to become a good partner. To do this, you first need to know exactly what the people living in the area around the project think, what their needs are and what their problems are. We have set up a mailbox in the municipality to receive questions from residents, but anyone can also post their opinions and questions online. An online opinion poll has also been proposed to BAMO Technology Hungary Kft. and will be implemented in September.

And based on the findings of the research, a comprehensive programme should be developed that both ensures bilateral communication and provides a long-term development and cooperation plan for both sides. This programme should

A public forum should be held when concrete information on the planning of the investment is available.

In the meantime, BAMO offers local residents a number of ways to ask questions, from the aforementioned mailbox in the municipality’s building to e-mails. In addition, the company has so far received three e-mails, all of which have been answered.

The BAMO Technology Hungary press briefing was presented as a press history. Can your work in Graz be taken as an example?

BAMO’s attitude of openness, transparency and good neighbourliness can be an example to all investors – and they are perfectly in line with what NEST’s communication strategy proposes. We can call this background meeting press history because it was the first time that Hungarian journalists had the opportunity to ask questions in person. The company representatives answered all the questions asked. I could mention the ATV Diario broadcast, in which also

CATL probably did not have a pre-developed strategy on the basis of which the company could have started a continuous communication with the public. We are talking about the largest investment in Hungary’s history, which meant that it was clear that there would be a great deal of interest. On the contrary, the company’s communication after the investment was not visible at all. In many cases, the way people think is that if they are very interested in something, but do not have enough information or knowledge about it, they can creatively fill in the gaps in the information, in other words, they create a complete picture of it and then tell others about it.

Also from this point of view, I ask: how can we at least come back to zero from the hostile situation that has arisen? Is it possible to restore public confidence, especially in an industry which, for the time being, does not have much moral reserve?

It’s very difficult to come back from this situation to at least draw the game. The first condition for a beautifying match is to be a partner to the public and all media organs as one of the most important channels towards them. Then we must provide clear and reassuring answers to people’s questions and dispel any misconceptions, speculation or misinformation that may have arisen.

Concerns are generally concentrated on two main issues:

1. where we will have enough resources: will we have enough electricity, water, when the factory starts operating;
2. will pollute my environment.

I think there are answers to all of these. There are also a number of infrastructure developments that are likely to be implemented to meet resource needs, which are not yet communicated in sufficient depth by government and local political leaders,

If these Chinese/Asian giants have already arrived, how and in what ways do they see the communication between society, politics and economy and its importance differently? What is their experience of working together?

Many of the companies coming here are among the world’s largest.

In Hungary, it is hard to imagine how big these companies really are.

Of course, as with any large international company, there are approval rounds and licensing requirements. I can tell you that the companies with which we have had professional contact so far have approached us with great respect and interest, have asked for our full opinion, have given us their word, and of course are constantly discussing proposals with the heads of the parent companies, but so far we have been given the green light for almost everything. We are talking about a completely different culture, with different mechanisms and logic, so in order to get to know the local conditions, the mindset of the population and to establish good neighbourly relations, we need the help of domestic consultants. For those companies that do not have this approach, that do not consider external communication to be important, and that only look to political actors for a solution to the attacks against them, I can only recommend that they put resources into their communication as soon as possible, because this is the only way to ensure that their integration in Hungary is a positive one.

What social and economic changes might be generated by the emergence of Chinese (Asian) firms?

Henry Ford said that doubt, when it comes from foresight, is the compass of civilisation. The problem is not that people doubt, but that they don’t get many answers to their questions from the companies that invest,

and even the political parties exploit their insecurities, inflaming some of them and making it virtually impossible to have a meaningful debate, which discourages all actors from any kind of cooperation. It is likely that the issue of battery investment will be at the forefront of the opposition’s political communication until the municipal and EU elections next June.

How can the potential be exploited?

As the EU has set a target to have only electric cars on the market from 2035, this will significantly change the production structures of car manufacturers, which will require more batteries and therefore more battery suppliers. And the big car brands are also attracting battery suppliers geographically close to them. These investments also present a number of opportunities. There will be even more competition for employment, which will further increase wages. Local revenues will increase, and some small towns will see their budgets increase tenfold as a result of the increase in business tax revenues, which could open up a whole new dimension in the development of their residential environment.