Hungarian Gov't Partnership Agreement with GE HealthCare

The Hungarian government and GE HealthCare have signed a strategic cooperation agreement, making the American medical technology company the 101st strategic partner.

The document was signed on behalf of the government by government commissioner and CEO of the HIPA Hungarian Investment Promotion Agency, István Joó, and on behalf of the company by managing director Jutas Szliven Földvári and Lehel Ferenczi, director for data and analytics and managing director, in Budapest.

In his welcoming speech at the US embassy event, István Joó was of the view that a “golden age” in Hungarian-American relations began with the second term of US President Donald Trump. This is demonstrated by the fact that, with the assistance of HIPA, 13 large-scale US investments have been agreed upon since the beginning of the year, and more can be expected until year end.

The HIPA CEO also mentioned that GE HealthCare has been operating in Hungary for 25 years, and that the strategic cooperation agreement is also a recognition of the results of this quarter-century of work.

GE HealthCare is one of the largest company in the Hungarian medical technology industry. It employs around 750 people across three locations, primarily engineers who work on projects related to medical imaging technology, workflow management and the healthcare application of artificial intelligence. The American giant also operates its European training center in Hungary – at its Budapest location – where it shares knowledge related to CT, mammography and X-ray equipment with professionals from all over the continent.

The main goal of the strategic agreement is to encourage GE HealthCare's developments and investments in Hungary, primarily in the fields of manufacturing medical technology devices, research and development activities conducted in cooperation with the domestic educational and scientific sphere and healthcare institutions, and training serving the dissemination of the most advanced technologies.

The strategic cooperation program was launched in 2012, with the aim of fostering communication and cooperation between the government and major players in the domestic economy. The first partner was Coca Cola, the 100th was Masterplast, a leading Hungarian-owned player in the construction materials industry, with which the agreement was concluded in early December. The 101 strategic partners together employed almost 200,000 people in the last closed business year, and their combined sales exceeded HUF 24,000 billion, the HIPA statement said.