3rd German-Hungarian Business Day by DialogUngarn
German-Hungarian economic relations were the focus of the keynote speeches by Economics Minister Márton Nagy and HIPA CEO István Joó last week.
At the center of Dr. Arne Gobert and Dr. The discussion rounds moderated by Marie-Theres Thiell as managing partner of DialogUngarn focused on Hungary as a location with its advantages and challenges as well as the future framework conditions for the Hungarian economy. Among the guests were a delegation from the International Economic Council. V. from Berlin around the chairman of the board Tino Barth as well as numerous representatives of the local economy.
Challenges and advantages of Hungary as a business location
The discussants unanimously cited the volatility of exchange rates as one of the biggest challenges for their planning and the earnings expectations of their parent companies. Another difficulty mentioned was the need to recruit additional workers to expand the plants. The high level of training and the government’s support for new settlements and expansion of existing investments are once more an advantage.
Industries of the future
Minister Márton Nagy referred to the government’s recently published strategy in this area and identified the key sectors of the future: automotive industry, healthcare, food industry, basic materials, information and communication technologies and creative industries.
But he also expressed concern regarding the state of the German economy, on which Hungary is heavily dependent, and reported on his planned visit to Germany.
Focus on medium-sized businesses
Both Minister Nagy and HIPA boss István Joó emphasized the importance of small and medium-sized businesses for Hungary in their keynote speeches. In addition to all the great successes in attracting major investments, the focus in the future should be on medium-sized businesses, more precisely on the development of Hungarian medium-sized businesses, but also on making Hungary even more attractive for German medium-sized businesses. This achieves diversification but also consolidation of the existing large-scale investments.
East and West meet here
Investments from Asia and the Middle East do not contradict investments from Germany and Western Europe, emphasized Nagy. Rather, both investment flows complement each other and would find a place for cooperation in Hungary. This particularly applies to the automotive sector and battery production. Joint research at Hungarian educational institutions for mutual benefit supports this approach.
The path to e-mobility is irreversible
Of course, the Hungarian economy’s strong dependence on the automobile industry and the medium-term end of the internal combustion engine were also discussed. Here, Michael Breme, CEO of Audi Hungária, made it clear that the path to e-mobility was irreversible, even though there was a lot of talk regarding openness to technology.
Importance of HIPA
The importance of the Hungarian Investment Promotion Agency (HIPA) became clear not only in István Joó’s keynote speech, but in all discussions. According to its CEO, it offers a contact point for all investors interested in Hungary and is available to provide active support with its services.
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