Going South

Every 2 or 3 months I try to visit one of Hungary’s regions.  It’s important to get out of Budapest, get to know the whole country and make and keep good contacts in the other big cities.  This week I went South and visited Pécs with the head of the British Business Centre, Oliver Strommer.

It’s a beautiful, almost Mediterranean style city.  And one where, I hope, there’s good potential for British companies to find excellent partners.  BAT (British American Tobacco) have made their home on Pécs, but to date there’s little other British involvement there.  So I went to discuss with the mayor how we might address that, and then spent a good part of the afternoon with the Chamber of Commerce.  I came away with a good set of business cards and what seem to be some good opportunities for Oliver and my colleagues in the Embassy to follow up.  And having done interviews for local TV I hope we’ll get a few more contacts from local companies over the next few days.

We also got a little imaginative in our search for business.  We visited the nuclear waste storage facility in Bátaapáti and a huge Bonafarm dairy farm.  Both really interesting visits but also potential sources of business opportunities: British firms are strong in both the nuclear and advanced farming sectors and I’d like to see whether we can introduce a potential partner or two to both.

The other area it seemed it might be worth pursuing is cooperation in tourism. The UK is the 3rd biggest tourist destination in Europe and Pécs might be able to use some of that experience, particularly round its cultural and historic attractions.

The visit, of course, is just a first step in building contacts.  And I hope we’ve made some relationships which will bear fruit in the future.  But if you know Pécs and have suggestions for ways British and local business might work together, please drop me a line: I’m in the market for local knowledge.