Debrecen4U
May 14, 2026
László Papp: Local Businesses Can Also Find Opportunities in Debrecen
“As a result of the conscious work carried out over recent years, more than 21,000 new jobs have been created in our city. Our aim is for multinational corporations, small and medium-sized enterprises, and local businesses alike to find opportunities here, thereby contributing to the construction of a strong, liveable and sustainably developing Debrecen,” said Mayor László Papp at a meeting organised by EY (Ernst & Young) for executives of fDi Intelligence. The Mayor was given the opportunity to present Debrecen’s success story at the event.
As previously reported, the world’s most prestigious financial newspaper has recognised Debrecen’s economic development achievements across six consecutive assessment periods since 2018, placing the city in a prominent position among Central and Eastern European cities.
Editors of the Financial Times’ fDi magazine, which focuses on international capital flows and investment, first took notice of Debrecen in 2018, when the city was selected among the European Cities of the Future. While in 2018 the Financial Times named Debrecen the small European city with the best investment promotion strategy, one year later the city achieved second place in the same category. In 2021, Debrecen was included in the publication’s global top 10 list of investment promotion destinations alongside major international cities. The city ranked tenth behind New York, Montreal, Berlin, Hong Kong, Manama, Abu Dhabi, Düsseldorf, Dubai and Zurich. In 2022, the Financial Times selected Debrecen among the European Cities of the Future for the third time. In 2025, the city achieved eighth place in the Financial Times fDi top 10 ranking in the small European cities category, shortly after Debrecen won the Emerging City of the Year award at the CEE Business Services Awards, one of the region’s largest business services conferences.
Debrecen in Top 3 Again This Year
As reported by EDC Debrecen Kft., this year’s prestigious recognition by fDi Intelligence, a division of the Financial Times specialising in international capital investment, honoured foreign direct investment projects in Europe with the greatest potential to achieve significant local impact, while also highlighting companies and regions playing a decisive role in shaping Europe’s future.
Debrecen performed exceptionally well in several categories of this competition with its investments:
– Sensirion Hungary Kft. investment – OPERATIONAL SMALL PROJECTS category: 1st place
– Contemporary Amperex Technology Hungary Kft. (CATL) investment – OPERATIONAL MEGA PROJECTS category: 1st place
– Harro Höfliger Hungary Kft. expansion – ANNOUNCED SMALL PROJECTS category: 2nd place
Applications could be submitted by European investment promotion agencies and companies regardless of project size, whether measured by capital value or job creation. Accordingly, the investments of Sensirion Hungary and CATL Hungary were entered with the assistance of EDC Debrecen, while Harro Höfliger submitted its own application independently.
By attracting multinational corporations to Debrecen, not only are employment opportunities for residents expanding, but the position of local SMEs is also improving, as they are able to establish local partnerships that can make them more competitive internationally.
Source: dehir.hu | Photo credit: Papp László (Facebook)
