The Government of Hungary concluded a strategic partnership agreement with National Instruments Hungary Kft (NI Hungary), the market leader in measurement and control technology. This has been the 15th such partnership finalized with a multinational company based abroad. The contract was signed at the Debrecen headquarters of NI Hungary by Minister of State at the Ministry for National Economy Zoltán Cséfalvay and Chief Executive Officer of NI Hungary László Ábrahám.

Zoltán Cséfalvay emphasized that the aim of a strategic agreement is to provide a stable working environment via state support for companies such as NI Hungary which focus on innovation, research and development and which significantly contribute to the economic growth of the country along with creating jobs.

He also added that one of the objectives of the strategic partnership agreement concluded between the Hungarian Government and NI Hungary is to promote dialogue aimed to ensure a long-term and steady presence of the company, to assist NI Hungary to increase its production and development capacities in Hungary facilitating greater integration into Hungary’s economy and to strengthen NI Hungary’s active economic role.

Zoltán Cséfalvay underlined that 20 percent of Hungarian export goods are products of high added value. As the I&R&D policy of Debrecen has improved significantly over the past couple of years, it was Debrecen where the innovation strategy of the Government was presented in November last year.

The Minister of State said that a series of consultations lasting for three months will be launched in February with the aim of assessing the options for R&D priorities until 2020 in certain regions. The first of these consultations will take place on 21 February in Debrecen.

Mayor of Debrecen Lajos Kósa reminded the audience that the city decided back in 1998 to “turn traditional industry into a technological one in cooperation with the University of Debrecen”, as Hungary’s greatest reserves lie in the intellectual activities by Hungarian people, he added.

He said that the city of Debrecen provides tax allowances deductable from not only the tax base but the payable tax as well for enterprises producing goods with high added value, and that this tax policy will be maintained also in the future.

As NI Hungary CEO László Ábrahám said, their company, which employs 1200 people in Hungary, is the 57th among Hungarian enterprises with the largest turnover, it is the third largest employer in Debrecen and the fifth in the region.

The Debrecen production facility of NI Hungary which specializes in the development, production and sale of measurement, control and automation devices produces 800 thousand units a year; it was in Q3 2012 that the 7 millionth product was completed in Debrecen. The average worth of one ton of its products – equalling the weight of an average car – amounts to 100 million forints, the CEO said to demonstrate the implications of added value.

Their products range from lego-robots used in schools to NASA measurement programmes or computer control devices.
He also stressed that the company spends the 16 percent of its income on research and development.

At the event László Ábrahám and Zoltán Cséfalvay announced together that the Science Park project of the US-based NI Hungary won the tender titled Innovation and technology parks and development centers by the National Development Agency, and thus the Government assists the project of altogether 4bn HUF with a grant totalling 2bn HUF.

The project aims to establish a science park and promote closer R&D cooperation. At the heart of the project is a building of 6 thousand square meters for 300 R&D professionals, the CEO of NI Hungary informed the audience.

Her Excellency the Ambassador of the United States of America in Hungary Eleni Tsakopoulos Kounalakis was also present at the ceremony.

(Ministry for National Economy)