Subscribe to our social channels to get the latest news about Hungary!
Hungary among leading Hubs of business innovation in Europe
Change language:
Hungary’s economy has come a long way in a relatively short time. Since joining the EU in 2004, the country has become intimately more connected with leading manufacturers across the globe from a range of sectors, from the likes of Mercedes-Benz and Audi in the automotive market, to Samsung in consumer electricals.
Equally, the news is good for home-grown Hungarian businesses, with Budapest climbing the rankings as a start-up hotspot on the continent. In particular, Hungarian start-ups appear to be driving innovation around the marketing, software development, automotive and fintech sectors, making the nation one of the most appealing investment opportunities in central Europe.
One of Two Tracks
While this strategy and adopting a broad investment portfolio appears to be working well for Hungary, other peripheral markets on the continent are taking a different tact. The small Mediterranean island of Malta, for example, has in recent years increasingly sought to pivot away from utilising tourism as the leading driver of its economy by seeking to become a global leader in online gaming.
As of 2022, there are now around 300 iGaming companies in Malta with more applications pending. While it can be a risky strategy to specialise in a certain sector, Malta’s success is a key example of this strategy paying dividends.
Elsewhere, Poland has increasingly distinguished itself as a key market for video game development, both in the form of hyper-casual mobile titles, and leading console games like the recently released Cyberpunk 2077.
That Hungary has adopted a broader approach is perhaps reflective of its historic position in Europe as a gateway between East and West and the terminus of the Silk Road – ultimately Hungary may simply find itself better predisposed to eclecticism rather than specialisation.
This is not to suggest that the nation of some 10 million people and a GDP of $194 billion is lacking in focus or drive when it comes to producing unicorn ventures.
