US-Hungary Economic Summit 2023

This week the US-Hungary Business Council (USHBC) hosted the first-ever US-Hungary Economic Summit during our council's 8th annual business mission to Budapest!

We kicked off the Summit with an informative briefing with the U.S. Embassy Team featuring many senior members of the U.S. Foreign Service and a much-welcomed surprise visit by Ambassador David Pressman.

The following day the plenary portion of the Summit began with a fantastic breakfast roundtable with H.E. Péter Szijjártó, Minister of Foreign Affairs & Trade of Hungary, and István Joó, CEO of the Hungarian Investment Promotion Agency (HIPA). Throughout the day our delegates attended productive business-focused roundtables on Energy, Education and Innovation, Defence, and Healthcare. These meetings featured State Secretary for Energy and Climate Attila Steiner, State Secretary for Higher Education, Innovation, Vocational Training, and Adult Education Balázs Hankó, State Secretary for Defence Strategy and Human Resources Policy Gábor Gion, and State Secretary for Healthcare Péter Takács.

During the Summit our delegation also had the pleasure of attending an engaging lunch roundtable with Deputy Minister of Defence Tamás Vargha and a comprehensive macroeconomic roundtable with Minister of Finance H.E. Mihály Varga in the afternoon.

The plenary portion of the Summit came to a close with a B2B cocktail reception featuring keynote speaker State Secretary for Economic Development and National Financial Services Mate Loga attended by the USHBC delegation and Hungarian companies.

On the final day of the Summit, each company in the delegation had the opportunity to meet individually with select government representatives one-on-one to continue topics raised during plenary discussions in more detail.

USHBC President Eric Stewart Featured in Washington Times

On Tuesday, November 26, USHBC President Eric Stewart was featured in the world section of the Washington Times. The Times asked Stewart for his thoughts on how the strategy of the Trump Administration in Central Europe differs from that of the previous administration.

“Mr. Trump is diverting from his predecessor, however, by seeking closer political and economic ties with central and eastern Europe. The Obama administration pivoted away from business with central Europe and toward Asia, according to Mr. Stewart.”

The link to the full article can be found here.