Deutscher Wirtschaftsclub Budapest

The German Business Club in Budapest (Deutscher Wirtschaftsclub – DWC) has been – for 20 years now – active in the Hungarian-German Business community and plays an important role in the field of networking. On the occasion. its chairman, Manfred Bey wrote a piece for Diplomacy and Trade.

Combining the experiences of the members, the DWC is one of the serious business platforms available in Budapest for getting information about business, politics and other social and cultural events, which influence business as well as private life.

The members in the DWC are private individuals, whose professional activities are connected with German-Hungarian business relations, covering the fields of manufacturing/production, trade and service. The Club has over 130 members, mainly Germans and Hungarians, but also from other nationalities, representing more than 110 companies, from small enterprises to the ‘big players’ like Siemens, Bosch, Audi, Mercedes-Benz, T-Com and E.ON.

Once a month, except during the summer holidays, members are invited for a gathering, mostly combined with a lecture on topics covering business, politics, social or cultural aspects and, of course, to practice networking in a positive atmosphere during the dinner that follows the official program.

Most of the events are held at the Corvinus Kempinski Hotel that has been hosting the Deutscher Wirtschaftsclub since their opening in 1992. Since last year, the DWC Office has also been located in the Hotel.

Looking back at the twenty years, the German Business Club has achieved a good reputation as one of the most stable and reliable pillars in German-Hungarian business relations. This was truly demonstrated when the DWC celebrated its 20-year anniversary on February 23, 2012. More than 400 members and guests participated in this big event and were honored by the presence of the Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán and the former Bavarian Prime Minister Dr. Edmund Stoiber.

The activities of the Deutscher Wirtschaftsclub are not of a political nature, but nevertheless, our network includes connections to politicians from the ruling party as well as from the opposition. Therefore, we are able to present governmental speakers at our events. We had one of these highlighted events in February 2011 when the state secretary for government communications Zoltán Kovács (from the ruling Fidesz party) and the deputy leader of the opposition Socialist Party, former foreign minister László Kovács, along with two of our board members, discussed the actual problems of Hungary.

Events like this contribute to the German Business Club being a well acknowledged organization, playing an important role in German-Hungarian relations.