“A successful economic transformation requires strategic allies in view of the fact that in the competition between countries the successful ones will be those who are capable of reaching out to leading corporations”, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Péter Szijjártó said on Thursday in Budapest following the conclusion of a strategic partnership agreement with SAP Hungary Ltd.
The Minister said he is counting on the cooperation further reinforcing German-Hungarian relations, and the results of economic cooperation between the two countries could break all previous records this year.
Balázs Ablonczy, Managing Director of SAP Hungary Ltd., a subsidiary of German-rooted SAP, told the press that the number of people employed by the company could increase with three-four hundreds in the coming two-three years, in addition to which SAP Hungary will continue its partnership cooperation with Hungarian enterprises. The company’s programmes for start-up enterprises will be expanded, in addition to which SAP will also help small and medium-sized enterprises to expand their digital knowledge.
Mr. Szijjártó stressed that the conditions for competitiveness are transforming worldwide, and those countries will be successful that are capable of introducing new technologies the most rapidly and harmonising their production with digitalisation with the greatest success.
The Minister said he was counting on the strategic partnership between the Government and SAP Hungary to not only help Hungary’s digital transformation, but also to reinforce German-Hungarian relations, in addition to which the results of economic cooperation between the two countries could break all previous records this year.
Mr. Szijjártó said that the applications produced by SAP Hungary are already being used by the majority of Hungarian large enterprises, and the company is growing at almost double the global rate of its parent company. He also highlighted the fact that the newly concluded partnership agreement also covers education, and accordingly the company is cooperating with 16 Hungarian universities, as well as providing for the IT training of 5 thousand disadvantaged Hungarians.
The Minister pointed out that in addition to cooperation, the success of the digital switchover is also being facilitated by, amongst others, the establishment of a high-speed national internet network and funding for fifth generation (5G) solutions, in addition to which research & development investment projects are being supported with tax allowances.
Mr. Ablonczy stressed that the company is also playing a role in knowledge-sharing, in view of the fact that not only does the Hungarian economy need new knowledge, and accordingly the company has joined the “Program your Future!” programme and is holding free training courses at institutes of higher education. According to the managing director, the strategic partnership agreement not only represents the acknowledgement of the company’s activities to date, but is also an indication of the fact that the government is open to further development projects and to enabling the Hungarian economy to gain new knowledge.
SAP is the world’s largest business software and enterprise cloud company, and one of the most valuable companies on the German stock exchange. In 2016 the company’s global turnover exceeded 22 billion dollars. Its Hungarian subsidiary, SAP Hungary Ltd. employs over a thousand people and the total value of its investment sine 2010 now exceeds 14 billion forints (EUR 45 million). In 2016, the company realised an annual revenue of 28 billion forints, a 20 percent increase compared to the previous year. The company’s managing director recently announced that turnover is also expected to increase this year, and that the performance of the Hungarian economy is also contributing to the company’s profits.
(Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade/MTI)
