The world has acknowledged that Debrecen is the center of the Central and Eastern European region, the municipality said.
As they write, the city of Debrecen has achieved outstanding results in the global survey of fDI Intelligence, the world-renowned international economic and financial newspaper, the international capital flows and investments division of the Financial Times, and has been included in the TOP 10 list of the world’s best investment promotion destinations. The recognition mentions our city on one page with the role model, New York and Berlin, where Tesla is building the world’s most modern electric car plant. The following global TOP 10 list speaks for itself – from Times Square in New York to Kossuth Square in Debrecen:
In addition, Debrecen was the fourth-best investment promotion destination in its category in the TOP 5 small and medium-sized cities globally, making it appear on the same page as cities such as Zurich or the capital of Bahrain, Manama.
In the last five years, nearly HUF 680 billion worth of foreign investment has arrived in Debrecen, through which 6,500 new jobs will be created. All of these have greatly contributed to the city achieving this prestigious position.
The proximity of the BMW factory under construction, the immediately accessible 1,300 hectares of the industrial park area, the developed infrastructure, the skilled workforce, the business-focused education system, the satisfaction of the companies already present and finally the stable political and economic conditions support Debrecen has been an unbrokenly popular, competitive investment location for many years.
Further strengthening the title of “investment champion” of the Central and Eastern European region, the city has developed the “Debrecen 2030” strategy, which is a € 1.8 billion development program. It includes 21st-century large-scale infrastructure development projects, such as the development of Debrecen International Airport, thereby increasing its capacity and passenger traffic to 2-3 million people, developing transport infrastructure, further expanding the existing infrastructure and utility capacity of the Southern Industrial Park, Development of infrastructure in the Northwest Economic Zone, home to a BMW plant, including a high-capacity rail logistics center and container terminal.
Since its founding in 2015, EDC Debrecen has successfully participated in a number of foreign investments and reinvestments, and is currently negotiating with potential investors. Debrecen provides a full range of services to investment companies throughout the investment period, from site selection, investment project implementation to reinvestments, and finding local suppliers. Outstanding proof of this process is the development of the BMW 400-hectare automotive industry in Debrecen, which was the largest investment in Europe in 2018. As a result, the role of the automotive industry in the city is further strengthened.
In 2020, a total investment of 221 million euros was received in Debrecen, which will create 566 new jobs. The two largest investments will be made by the SemCorp Group in China and Sensirion in Switzerland. The SemCorp Group has begun construction of its first plant outside China in Debrecen’s Southern Industrial Park, worth € 180 million, which will create 440 new jobs in the city. The investment of the lithium-ion battery separator foil company is the largest Chinese greenfield investment in Hungary to date. In addition, Sensirion (50 jobs, worth € 8.8 million) has announced the establishment of a new sensor manufacturing plant in Debrecen. Among other things, the following new investments were announced in 2020:
- Operating in the IT industry, market leader 4iG has set up its new office in the Agora office building, creating 20 jobs in the city.
- Hungarian-owned logistics BHS Trans Kft. Is building its new logistics center in the Southern Industrial Park worth 7.8 million euros, with 56 employees.
- Hajdúhús 2000 Kft. Is implementing a meat industry development worth 1.6 million euros, and Bumet is re-investing 1.5 million euros in Debrecen.
- The office of HBM Kft., which is the market leader in civil engineering, and CÉH Zrt., one of the leading engineers in Hungary, is also establishing a local office.
German-owned automotive electronics manufacturer Vitesco (450 jobs, worth € 100 million) and beverage production lines Krones (650 jobs, worth € 52 million) started operations in the Southern Industrial Park in Debrecen last year. In 2016, NI, an American electronics manufacturer (200+ jobs worth € 18 million) and Schaeffler, a German automotive supplier (500+ jobs worth € 80 million), decided to reinvest in Debrecen.
The city of Debrecen has 125,500 m2 of office space to meet all needs, which is home to many international companies from the IT industry, through financial services to high value-added engineering companies such as T-Systems, Deutsche Telekom IT Solutions, Flowserve, British Telecom, Capgemini , Diehl Aviation. In addition, two high-profile international Big4 companies, EY and Deloitte, have recently started operations. The business services sector currently employs a total of 4,700 people in the city.
A € 108 million government decree to transform the city’s education system to meet the needs of the labor market will help increase the number of students from the current 74,000 to 100,000 by 2030, mainly in engineering and economics, both in vocational and university training. The 32,000-strong student base of the University of Debrecen is ready to meet the high professional and language requirements of companies. It is possible for companies to establish long-term strategic cooperation with the University of Debrecen and the Debrecen Vocational Training Center. The Debrecen International School, which opened its doors in September 2019, offers a full educational program in English. In addition, the foundations have been laid for the Deutsche Schule system, which is expected to become operational in the autumn of 2022.
The city has also won several prestigious international awards in recent years:
In 2017, the World Bank also found that Debrecen offers the most favorable business environment out of 22 Central and Eastern European cities: the city also received the best ranking in 2 out of 5 categories, and also won the CEE Shared Services & Outsourcing Awards “Year emerging city ’.
In the European survey of the fDI Intelligence division, Debrecen ranked first in the category of the best investment promotion strategy for small towns in the European survey of the fDI Intelligence division in 2018/19, and second in 2020/21. In addition to Debrecen, the Northern Great Plain Region was also awarded in 2020/21, which finished third in the competition of medium-sized regions in terms of cost-efficiency.
