Local services
Debrecen once again ranked highly in the European survey by fDi Intelligence, the international capital flows and investments unit of the Financial Times, a globally influential daily newspaper covering international economics and finance. Debrecen won the CEE Business Services Award “Emerging City of the Year” title for the third time.
Deputy Mayor Lajos Barcsa and Managing Director of EDC Debrecen Ltd. Zoltán Pécskay announced the city’s new international economic awards at a press conference on March 20, 2025.
As the only Hungarian city, Debrecen was included in the TOP 10 list of the “fDi Strategy for Small Cities” category based on the judges’ decision. Debrecen is the first Central and Eastern European city to be among the best for six consecutive periods since 2018. In addition, in 2021, it was included in the TOP 10 list of the world’s best investment promotion destinations.
In addition, Debrecen also won the “Emerging City of the Year” title at the CEE Business Services Awards again after 2017 and 2021. The city received this latter recognition on the 6th of March 2025 in Warsaw as part of a conference attended by business service industry representatives from Central and Eastern European cities.
Lajos Barcsa said, “These awards not only strengthen Debrecen’s international recognition, but every Debrecen resident can be proud of them, and their impact will be increasingly felt in everyday life.” According to the Deputy Mayor, the awards confirm that the city is on the right track and following a good strategy. In everyday life, this will create even more jobs in Debrecen with even better salaries. Thus, an even better quality of life can be ensured for the people of Debrecen. Looking back at the past decade of Debrecen’s economy, we can say that since 2015, more than EUR 12.5 billion of working capital has flowed into the city, and more than 21 thousand new jobs have been created, of which 9 thousand have already been filled. Another 1,500 jobs were created in 2024. Players from the automotive industry (Schedl), the mechanical engineering industry (Harro Höfliger) and the logistics sector (DHL, DP World) arrived, but companies that had previously settled here have also expanded their workforce. For the people of Debrecen, this means that if they want to find a job with a competitive salary at such or similar companies, they no longer have to go to Budapest or Western Europe but have the opportunity to do so here. Debrecen’s regional economic role in Central and Eastern Europe is unquestionable, and international organisations also recognise this.
Zoltán Pécskay said that in the case of applications for economic awards, detailed application materials are needed, presenting in detail the achievements of the city and the aspects that are important in the scoring process. These application materials are compiled annually by the EDC, which deals with the city’s economic development. Last year, there were no such large-scale investments announced in Debrecen as before, so in the case of the award recognising the ability to attract capital, the investment volume was no longer the determining factor, but rather what kind of economic environment the city can create for the companies operating here and what kind of economic development strategy it has. Zoltán Pécskay highlighted that “In addition to the fact that the city provides an attractive environment for the companies operating here, it is also important that the municipality and EDC try to connect the actors of Debrecen’s business life and allow the small and medium-sized enterprise sector to join the international value chains that the investments of large companies bring to Debrecen.” Zoltán Pécskay also confirmed that sustainability is playing an increasingly important role in companies’ operations and the granting of business awards. It is vital that the companies and industrial parks located here can operate sustainably. In the case of Debrecen, we can emphasise, for example, the construction of a greywater network that enables the launch of a circular economy, the solar park development, or the study related to creating a carbon-neutral industrial park.
The Managing Director said that in Debrecen’s investment promotion activities, the development of the business services sector will be a priority in the future, for which there are the appropriate conditions, sufficient office space, and a quality educational background. On the one hand, winning the economic awards confirms the correctness of the direction of Debrecen’s economic development work. On the other hand, it confirms to the companies that have already settled here that Debrecen was a good choice, and for interested investors, they appear as another argument in favour of the city that Debrecen can be an ideal location for implementing their planned developments. The fact that these awards are presented in the framework of large professional conferences also gives the city great publicity. During the investment promotion activities, these awards can be used worthily, supporting the idea that not only the people of Debrecen think this city is an ideal location for economic activity, but independent professional organisations also confirm this.
Source and photo credit: debrecen.hu
