Debrecen4U
April 9, 2026
FM Szijjártó: Debrecen Is Now the Economic Powerhouse of Rural Hungary
Emerson | NI will establish a research and development centre in Debrecen with a HUF 745 million investment supported by a non-repayable government grant of HUF 112 million. As a result, 14 new research and development jobs will be created. It was stated at the announcement that specialists at the new facility will work on the technological renewal of control systems linked to the automotive industry and other sectors of the economy.
Emerson | NI operates several sites in Hungary that are not limited to production activities, emphasised Róbert Hosszu, Managing Director of NI Hungary Ltd., at the press conference announcing the new R&D centre. He added that among these, Debrecen stands out both in terms of the value produced and the number of employees. Every function introduced here has been successful, largely due to how the company approaches local thinking as part of a global organisation.
“This site began 25 years ago on this field as a manufacturing company with only a few hundred employees. However, we quickly realised that many other functions could also be brought here,” he said.
“Debrecen today provides an important answer to the question of the direction in which the city—and the Hungarian economy—is developing. The answer is clear: we are not moving backwards, but forwards,” said Deputy Mayor Lajos Barcsa. As he put it, this is an investment building the technologies of the future and bringing high added value to the county seat. “Emerson | NI employs more than 1,300 people in Debrecen, the vast majority of whom are Hungarian. This means that behind these developments there is Hungarian knowledge, Debrecen-based expertise, and local families. This is not just employment, but a career and a future for our young people,” he said.
The past year brought a record in Hungary in terms of research and development investments, stated Péter Szijjártó, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade. He noted that companies invested HUF 230 billion in such projects, and that the number of global corporate centres in Hungary has doubled, where 80 per cent of employees hold higher education qualifications and services are provided in 40 languages.
Within a single month, Emerson | NI is the seventh American company in Hungary to announce an R&D investment. “The research and development centre now being established here in Debrecen—focused on the technological renewal of control systems for the automotive industry and other sectors—will be realised through an investment of HUF 745 million, to which the government is providing HUF 112 million in non-repayable support. This will create a further 14 R&D jobs,” Péter Szijjártó said.
The Minister added that Debrecen has by now become a stronghold of the Hungarian economy outside Budapest, and the economic centre of Eastern Hungary.
Over the past ten years, 101 investments supported by the government have been realised in the city with a total value of HUF 4,600 billion, creating approximately 33,000 new jobs.
Outside Budapest, there is no other city in Hungary where so many developments and jobs have been created over the past decade.
Source and photo credit: dehir.hu
