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 "It is a project which will put Hungary on the map of
higher-than-average EU exporters of chocolate," Ghraoui, 62,
told Reuters in his downtown Budapest office with panoramic
views of the ornate houses of parliament.
Ghraoui, scion of one of the oldest Damascus merchant families
with business dating back to 1805, says he always had a "soft
spot" for the Central European nation where he has been doing
some non-sweets business since the early 1990s.
About three years ago, after Syria's civil war erupted, he
acquired Hungarian citizenship and bought a house in Budapest,
moving with his family there in August 2015. "Yes, I am
Hungarian and, give me time, I will speak Hungarian," he said.
Asked about Hungary's 2015 decision to build a border fence to
keep out migrants - including Syrians - flocking to Europe to
escape war and poverty, Ghraoui said politics "is not my domain.
"For me, I am very well treated, and I am not a refugee - I am a
citizen."
Ghraoui's confectionary gained global renown; it won the "Prix
Spécial d'Honneur" at the Salon du Chocolat trade fair in Paris
in 2005. But Syria's war slashed production at his factory in a
Damascus suburb to less than 0.5 percent of its peacetime level.
His new chocolate factory taking shape in the town of Hatvan,
about 60 km (40 miles) east of Budapest, will become operational
towards the end of 2017, giving jobs to 540 people and producing
about 7,500 tonnes of chocolate per year.
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He and three other companies invested around 25 million euros
($26.14 million) in the factory and the Hungarian government
contributed 5 million euros and a tax subsidy.
After considering other locations including Portugal, Greece,
Romania and the United Arab Emirates, Ghraoui said, he settled on
Hungary for its quality of labor, taxation, and not the least its
proximity to West European export markets.
In Hatvan, he even plans to create a school for children to learn
the art of making chocolate "because this is like the Barcelona
football school - you have to really create in the younger
generation this love of chocolate."
He added: "Fine chocolate making is an art...and it is the
technology. You need very good machines, but you really need people
who know - qualified chocolatiers in love with the art of making
chocolate. Believe me, it is a fine art."
Asked if he still had production in Syria, he said: "It is very
minimal...It is a sad situation, a dramatic situation in Syria. I am
European, I am proud of my roots, but for me all my efforts and
concentration...will be on this (new) project."
($1 = 0.9566 euros)
(Reporting by Krisztina Than)
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