Catalyst for the Francophone Business Community

The French-Hungarian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (CCI France Hongrie – CCIFH) will celebrate its 35th anniversary next year. On its website, it encourages its current and future members to boost their business with the participation and assistance of the Chamber. The organization's president, László Károlyi, and its director, Ágnes Ducrot, tell Diplomacy&Trade what kind of partnership they can offer to achieve this.

“We believe that the French-Hungarian Chamber of Commerce and Industry here in Hungary is a catalyst for the Francophone business community, where all the knowledge necessary for starting a business in Hungary is available in one place, or which can be of great help to a Hungarian company expanding its activities in France. In this perspective, we offer all the information from one place, in one location and regularly updated. This activity is supported and made with strong cooperation and agreement of French embassy and its economic counsellor with information on French corporate life, as it is also in France's interest that Hungarian-French relations expand within the European Union,” the CCIFH President points out.

“We are confident that, although bilateral relations are currently solid, French investors will regain the fourth place in Hungary in terms of the volume of investment, a position that they had had for a long time but have been overtaken by Asian investors in the past two or three years. We are confident that France aspires to regain a higher position in this ranking”, he adds.

High-quality events
The Chamber supports relationship-building between French and Hungarian businesses, provides corporate development services and professional events. Regarding the tools and infrastructure available for these initiatives at the CCIFH, Director Ágnes Ducrot highlights two events that reflect the two directions mentioned by László Károlyi. “On September 30, a Hungarian-French Business Forum will be held in Budapest – the third such event – where we will be seeking new Hungarian suppliers, either direct or indirect, for four French companies: Sanofi, Michelin, Valerio and Alstom. This represents one direction: identifying Hungarian suppliers for French firms. The other direction was exemplified by the Central and Eastern European Business Forum held in the French Senate earlier this July, featuring a roundtable discussion where French companies already established in the region shared their experiences and presented their activities in Hungary and neighboring countries. In the afternoon, B2B meetings took place between French companies interested in the region and professional stakeholders like ourselves – a high-level event that clearly demonstrated the attractiveness of Hungary and the broader region.”

Building a business community
The French-Hungarian Chamber of Commerce and Industry primarily has long been involved in building a business community. “We organize nearly 40 events annually, with a total of over 2,000 participants. Our events cover a wide range, from small business clubs with 10-15 members to gala evenings with 450 guests, covering all aspects of the event spectrum: business relationship building, business networking, business lunches, conferences, roundtable discussions with invited ministers or other ministry representatives. This is one aspect of our work, where four colleagues collaborate to keep things as dynamic as possible. The other aspect is business networking, meaning the Chamber’s business development services. In this area, another four colleagues operate along sectoral lines, mapping the Hungarian economy by industry and supporting Hungarian companies entering the French market, as well as French firms expanding into Hungary”, she highlights.

Ágnes Ducrot finds it important to emphasize that they work in close cooperation with all their partners in both Hungary and France. “This includes the business community, the French Institute when cultural matters are at stake, the French school in the field of education, and the Embassy on diplomatic issues. In Hungary, we maintain excellent working relationships with all stakeholders of the French-Hungarian community – and the same applies in France where we represent numerous Hungarian organizations. In addition, we have strategic partnerships with Hungarian institutions. A good example in the field of trade relations is our collaboration with the export promotion agency, HEPA.”

Businesses need certainty
Regarding how the chamber, its members and the French companies here view the investment environment (regulations, taxes, etc.) in Hungary, the CCIFH President stresses that every business wants a stable regulatory environment and predictable future. “First of all, Hungary is a small country, so if something happens on the international stage, it is certain to have some impact on Hungary. This makes the environment a little unstable, but if we still consider the international scene, we know that we are currently in a very uncertain business environment, with sudden decisions being made in business and global politics. In this environment, Hungary is currently facing significant uncertainty, which is further compounded by the fact that the Hungarian economy has been in a technical recession for almost a year now, a situation that hinders business activities here. Of course, this sometimes means a lot of new legislation, and what specifically affects businesses are tax regulations, special taxes and price margin regulations, which create a rather difficult situation. It depends on the nature of the business which area is primarily affected. When it comes to commercial companies, we collaborate with various mixed chambers to communicate the companies’ perspective to the government. If such regulation is necessary, then it is important to know when it will end once it has started. The most important to have the opportunity to raise questions, to highlight pain points and to keep a live link between business and government.”

For a more predictable business environment
The Chamber can convey these messages with varying degrees of success. The point is that there should be no sudden changes because those cause unpredictability and hurt profitability. “We here at the Chamber planned and implemented the formation of professional committees, although we are not yet completely satisfied with how they work. In the areas where the Chamber is most involved, the largest firms are involved, i.e. where there are several companies in a professional field, such as the pharmaceutical industry or the energy sector, it affects everyone. We are working on professional proposals with the involvement of companies operating in the given field. At the start of the year, we usually organize an event together with several chambers, to discuss the economic outlook. This opening meeting of the year not only provides an opportunity for the minister of economy, Márton Nagy, to present the forecasts for the given year and the expected government measures, but it also gives the chance to large companies to meet with the minister in a smaller circle, and we pass on requests of this nature or any other nature, or exchange information. This year, the minister said that he was expecting proposals or suggestions that offered a solution, because he stated that businesses know their own field better. In support of this request, we are trying to compile specific details through professional committees and submit them as proposals, which we believe will contribute to a more stable, predictable, and manageable business environment for our member companies. Politically, these efforts have met with varying degrees of success – sometimes greater, sometimes lesser,” the CCIFH President concludes.