Italian industrialists Confindustria see great potential in Hungary

On 7 March, the leaders of Confindustria’s Eastern Europe region met at UniCredit’s headquarters in Budapest. At the press conference, they discussed their cooperation with VOSZ, goals, opportunities in Hungary, and the future.

Confindustria

Confindustria is the most important association representing manufacturing and service companies in Italy. It is able to provide strong representation for 150,000 companies. Together, these companies employ more than 5 million workers and account for around a third of Italy’s GDP.

The organisation is active at home and abroad. In 2021, Confindustria Ungheria was established in Budapest. It currently has 35 members nationwide.

Cooperation between VOSZ and Confindustria Ungheria

This Eastern Europe meeting was chaired by Dr Maria Luisa Meroni, President of Confindustria Eastern Europe, who is responsible for cooperation, operations and liaison with the mainland for the 11 countries of the region (Albania, Belarus, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Northern Macedonia, Montenegro, Poland, Romania, Serbia, Slovenia and Hungary). The Board event was also used to sign a Memorandum of Understanding with the Hungarian National Association of Entrepreneurs and Employers (VOSZ).

On the Italian side, the delegation was represented by Maria Luisa Meroni, President of Confindustria Eastern Europe (CEE); Francesca Moizi, Deputy Director of CEE; Roberto Massucco, President of Confindustria Hungary (CU); Alessandro Farina, Vice President, and Janina Mathiasz, Director. Dr. Patrik Kovács and Tamás Barabás, co-presidents of VOSZ, represented the Hungarian side.

According to Economia news website, Meroni highlighted at the meeting:

“Confindustria can be an excellent partner for VOSZ, as the Italian organisation considers the development of small and medium-sized enterprises as its main task, and can provide assistance in partner search and market research.”

Dott. Roberto Massucco, President, said that they believe in the positive effects of cooperation on both sides, as

Italy is Hungary’s second largest trading partner in the EU and VOSZ can help Italian companies to better understand the potential of the Hungarian economy and help build alliances through its networking.

Confidustria Ungheria/Hungary

At the beginning of the press conference, the President of Confidustria Ungheria, Roberto Massucco, welcomed the participants and said that, in addition to the representation they have made to the Hungarian Government, they provide a lot of assistance to Italian companies interested in setting up in the country and organise events to strengthen Italian-Hungarian business cooperation. He added that they also organise training and information seminars for their own members, and try to help the mainly Italian SME sector through joint communication.

Massucco stressed that Hungary could be an important investment destination for Italy, given the country’s good location, the low tax regime offered by the Government to companies and the predictable and stable economy.

He is confident that more large Italian investments could be announced soon, which would also help to develop the representation here.

President Meroni also stressed the importance of Hungary in the region, which is why Budapest was chosen as this year’s venue. She said

she also expects that the cooperation with VOSZ will give them a stronger voice in the negotiations with the Government and that they will be able to negotiate more favourable conditions. She stressed that Hungarian energy prices are currently hitting industry very hard and they hope that the Government will take positive decisions in this regard.

The press conference was followed by an informal discussion with other Italian business representatives, diplomats and several members of Confindustria Ungheria.

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