Budapest Business Region in Cannes again
17, March 2010
Budapest Business Region opened the MIPIM Hungarian stand in Cannes for the second time this year on Tuesday March 16th. BBR, formed in the autumn of 2008, is a market-initiated organization, which has made several appearances at international forums over the past two years. The purpose of participating in international real estate events is to draw attention to Budapest and Hungary as a fast-developing central-eastern European investment area.
Dr. Gergely Kovács Gulyás, the chairman of BBR, said in his opening speech on Tuesday, that the group will emphasize international partnerships at the 2010 French event and also assured the representatives of the capital and the country of constant cooperation. ‘BBR plays an important role, acting as a catalyst to develop our city into a metropolis. One of the main tasks of the BBR is to create a functional frame for the Budapest metropolitan area, where the business sector is also properly represented.’
At the Hungarian stand of the real estate development exhibition, which took place March 16th-19th, the following were represented: Talentis Group, Duna City, Duna Spirit, B&V Group, Budapest Capital and ITD Hungary. Chief Architect Sándor Fegyverneky, Mayor of Budapest Gábor Demszky, and the president of the City Development Committee of the Budapest City Council were also present. Over the three-day event, the Hungarian exhibitors gave presentations on significant developments, and discussed the future of the region and the changes in the domestic real estate development market at round-table conferences.
Dr. Gergely Kovács Gulyás, Chairman of BBR, emphasized that his organization’s stand enjoyed the best position out of all the central-eastern European region stands. He hopes that in the following years both the government and the capital will collaborate with the BBR more enthusiastically.
‘The Budapest Business Region is a real success story so far. In the past, the favorable portrayal of Budapest was either incomplete or completely missing from the international market. The BBR is the first to come up with a concept which has made the Budapest region a worthy rival to other European cities. Moreover, we are seeing formal results arising from the cooperation with the capital and the government, largely thanks to our sharing a stand for the fourth time this year. However with elections this year, we are looking forward to the arrival of the new government to see what kind of practical steps will be taken. The trade appreciates that the capital has taken the first steps in order to support the work of real estate developers, but we have to go much further to create a real partnership out of this initial cooperation.’ claimed Bálint Németh, member of the BBR presidency and Managing Director of AERA Property & Destination, the company responsible for the management of the consortium.
According to Dr. Ernő Takács, the vice president of the BBR, the presence of the BBR at MIPIM has never been so pertinent. The competition on the international market of real estate development has ’regionalized’. This latent tendency has now obviously become a significant trend. ’Never have so many mayors, ministers and under-secretaries been in attendance, demonstrating economic power and security with their presence.’ added the Vice President. This all concurs with the ideas of Boris Johnson, Mayor of London, according to whom London has been and is being built by private developers and speculators, and it is the task of the city to support this process by creating the proper platforms.
