Local services
For Debrecen and EDC Debrecen (Debrecen Urban and Economic Development Center), the main objective is to support and promote the strengthening of market relations and cooperation between businesses operating in the city, and to encourage more and more local SMEs to become suppliers in the fields of electromobility, industry and business services.
On the 16th of November, a supplier forum entitled “Focus on the region’s manufacturing SMEs” will be held at the Kölcsey Centre, jointly organised by the city, EDC Debrecen and the ADMA TranS4MErs programme.
At a preliminary briefing on the event, Deputy Mayor of Debrecen Lajos Barcsa recalled that programmes to support SMEs have been continuously launched in recent years, such as the construction of the SME Park. Now they want to help them with a suppliers’ forum to provide SMEs with training.
“We also have a clear aim to create jobs. We often talk about how the large corporate sector creates jobs in Debrecen, but let’s not forget that Debrecen’s small and medium-sized enterprises represent a significant slice of Debrecen’s economy in terms of employment, and cooperation between large companies and local suppliers can create or retain more jobs for SMEs,” he said adding that the forum not only helps to build long-term business relationships, but also contributes to sustainability, creates community and helps SMEs to develop professionally.
The managing director of EDC Debrecen Zoltán Pécskay said that there will be professional presentations and panel discussions at the event. The main topics will be corporate digitalisation and the basic criteria that SMEs need to meet to become suppliers and service providers of a large company.
Thanks to the ADMA TranS4MErs programme, which supports the digital transformation of SMEs, experts in the field will help interested SMEs to carry out the ADMA Scan to determine the “digital maturity” of their business. In addition, interested companies can learn about EDC Debrecen’s supplier programme, the conditions and opportunities for cooperation.
In the second half of the event, rapid B2B (business to business) introductory talks will support the development and deepening of business relations and supplier cooperation between local and regional companies. Registered SMEs will be invited to make appointments with the purchasing managers and operational managers of ten large local companies, and will have a 10-minute time slot to briefly present their company, products and services to potential customers. Among the large companies are Schaeffler, BMW, Teva, EcoPro and Semcorp.
“The aim is to bring newcomers together with companies that have been here for a long time. The EDC has active links with both existing and new large companies and the city’s current SME sector,” he said.
László Petis, CEO of IL-PE Kft., said that many companies have recently moved to Debrecen and “many of them will need local companies to supply technology, products and various components”, and they would like to be part of this process.
He pointed out that when Audi started “real vehicle production” in Győr in 2013, it increased its workforce from 4,000 to 13,000 and doubled the number of suppliers. Now it’s happening in Debrecen, and while everyone said then that the future was being built in Győr, it’s “now being built here, in Debrecen”.
Zoltán Vasvári, Managing Director of DataExpert Ltd., advised SMEs to decide and believe that they can “work world-class from Central and Eastern Europe, from Hungary, from Debrecen”. This is something they have to do every day, but they will succeed, as they and many other businesses in Debrecen have already done. He stressed that this also requires the right organisational development, and that it is “very fortunate” that “there are also organisational development companies in Debrecen” whose support and help can be sought.
Source and photo credit: debrecen.hu
