HIPA CEO István Joó featured a show of TREND FM, a local business radio channel where he shared key insights on how the Agency helps businesses achieve their investment goals and strives to make Hungary the local exception amid the global recession by turning the economy crisis-proof.
The global FDI landscape is being transformed given that by now the bulk of investments stems from the East, and Hungary intends to harness the power of this change, HIPA CEO István Joó said on business radio channel TREND FM. Although over 70% of Hungary’s total FDI stock of EUR 83 billion still originates from Western investors, by the end of the last decade Asian countries clearly gained a dominant position. For the first time ever, in 2019 an Eastern country, namely South Korea was responsible for the largest investment volume. HIPA has also said it intends to strengthen its support of Business Services Centres growth in regional cities beyond Budapest, such as Miskolc, Szeged, and Debrecen. Mr. Joó noted referring to a series of ambitious investments such as Bosch’s new R&D hub at ZalaZone proving ground or Nokia’s large-scale 5G research activities. Listen to the full show and find out how HIPA helps local suppliers become part of the global value chain, what potential the recently announced Factory Rescue Program has in stimulating growth, and what competitive edge the Agency and Hungary in general have in the race for attracting FDI. Click here to enjoy the full-length interview. Language and exam center Twinkle Star announced the opening of a new location in Iasi, following an investment of over EUR 850,000. The center offers English and German courses, and those studying here can also take Cambridge exams.
The new center has a capacity of over 5,000 students and is one of eight authorized examination centers in Romania. More than 600 people are expected to start the courses by the end of the year, with the classes scheduled to begin in October. The initial investment of over EUR 850,000 covers the acquisition and fitting of the space: six classrooms and the administrative areas. Twinkle Star, a project of local entrepreneur Ruxandra Rață-Bucevschi, celebrates 14 years of activity this October. The first location opened in 2008 with only 14 students. By the end of 2024, Twinkle Star aims to reach 6,500 students. Tata/TCS opens new offices in Bulgaria
28/11/2022
Tata Consultancy Services is continuing its rapid expansion across CEE, with its newest offices in Bulgaria. The offices complement the 4,000+ employees Budapest office and rapidly-growing Warsaw offices.
The Adecco Group opens new SSC in Bulgaria
28/11/2022
Bjorn Dumortier is Head of Finance Operations EMEA for the new SSC of The Adecco Group, based in Sofia.
The new center in Bulgaria is focusing on services to the group in the area of Finance & Accounting and HR. According to a recent study by ANIS, the Employers' Association of the Software and Services Industry, the Romanian IT market is dynamic and constantly growing. It reached a volume of EUR 9 billion from EUR 4.6 billion in 2015 and could exceed EUR 12 billion in the next two years.
The local IT market kept developing even in the pandemic year of 2020 when it registered an increase in volume by EUR 1.1 billion. Compared to the general trend of economic growth in Romania, the IT segment's annual growth rate is three times higher, at 15-17% per year. "We see a continuous growth of the software and services market in Romania, the impact of the IT sector in the national gross domestic product reaching 7%. There are very high hopes for the further development of this segment, through the large digitization projects to be implemented at the level of the local economy. Thus, in the next two years, the value of the IT market in Romania would exceed EUR 12 billion," said Gabriela Mechea, Executive Director of ANIS. The value of IT & services exports has also grown considerably - 2.5 times in the last 5 years. Thus, from EUR 2.5 billion in 2015, exports reached a volume of EUR 6 billion. In addition, the volume of exports of R&D (research and development) services tripled in the same time frame, from EUR 200 million to EUR 600 million. The same source said that nearly half of the software and services market belongs to large companies. Thus, the companies with more than 250 employees represent 47% of the total volume of business generated by the industry (EUR 4 billion), followed by small companies (2-49 employees) - 27% of the total market volume, or EUR 2.5 billion, and medium-sized companies (50-250 employees) - EUR 1.8 billion. Micro enterprises (0-1 employees) currently represent 8% of the market volume (EUR 0.7 billion), registering a stable growth of approximately EUR 100 million annually. In terms of regions, Bucharest brings in almost two-thirds of the total market volume (60%, down from 64% in 2015), followed by the North-West region, especially the area of Cluj county (18%). The West (7%), North-East (6%), Center (5%) and South (4%) regions follow. The capital structure remained stable at the national level. Thus, 64% of IT companies have foreign capital, and 36% have Romanian capital. Currently, the IT market counts no less than 21,847 companies, representing an increase of 60%. Micro-enterprises saw the biggest rate of development, registering a 78% increase in the number of companies in the last 5 years. The IT and services sector has 147,000 employees, and large companies employ the majority (47%), ANIS also said. Medium-sized companies employ 27% of workers, while another 21% work in small-sized companies. Overall, the sector has been reporting a constant increase in the number of employees, of approximately 8-9,000 per year. Most IT specialists in Romania (76%) have university degrees, according to the same study. Meanwhile, the gender gap remains significant in the Romanian IT&C market, with only 26% of all employees in this industry being women (53,000). GlobalLogic Inc., a Hitachi Group company and Digital Engineering leader, announced that it has signed a definitive agreement to acquire Fortech, a leading software engineering services company based in Romania. Headquartered in Cluj-Napoca, Fortech has applied its deep technical capabilities to hundreds of clients and more than 1,000 digital projects throughout nearly two decades of operation—a track record that has ultimately positioned the company as one of Romania’s largest leading independent digital engineering firms.
With 1,100+ people, Fortech operates out of four cities in Romania to support top-tier clients across a wide range of industries. These achievements and capabilities will help GlobalLogic further expand its customer and talent base, as it aims to address the robust global demand for digital transformation (DX). Additionally, Fortech’s seasoned leaders will bring valuable technical and domain experience along with strong relationships across European markets and marquee clients. “Fortech is a leading firm with proven track record and specialization in technology that is needed for digital evolution,” stated Nitesh Banga, President and CEO, GlobalLogic. “This acquisition will further enhance GlobalLogic’s presence in Europe, and accelerate our access to the rich technical talent in Romania; it will arm Fortech with the resources and strong backing of GlobalLogic and Hitachi. We are excited to welcome Fortech and their talented people to the GlobalLogic family.” Founded in 2003, Fortech delivers full-spectrum digital engineering services including Architecture Design, Software Development, DevOps, Quality Assurance, and Data Analytics. The company has successfully architected, built, and maintained products for clients across numerous industries with a focused specialization in Cloud, IOT, and SaaS. Fortech holds deep domain experience in six key high growth verticals: Automotive, Banking/Finance, Healthcare, Manufacturing, Professional Services, and Technology/Media/Telecom. Fortech’s coverage of key industries and technologies is an incredible match for GlobalLogic. Fortech’s successes have led to it being recognized as one of the 2022 Best Managed Companies in Romania in the first edition of Deloitte’s Romania program. “We’re proud of our legacy, which is based on helping companies realize the power of transformative digital solutions,” said Calin Vaduva, CEO, Fortech. “Joining forces with GlobalLogic, backed by Hitachi, takes our reach to a whole new level. Additionally, finding a partner that shares our cultural values with a strong emphasis on people, customers, and societal benefit is extremely gratifying.” GlobalLogic’s investment in Fortech is part of a multi-year strategy designed to establish a wider European footprint while enabling it to better serve its customers worldwide from a delivery perspective. This acquisition will further enable GlobalLogic to augment Hitachi's strengths in Information Technology (IT), Operating Technology (OT), and Products, and accelerate its growth helping expand the Lumada business. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed. Under the agreement, Fortech will continue to operate with its existing leadership and staff as a wholly owned subsidiary of GlobalLogic. The transaction is subject to customary regulatory approval and is expected to close by the end of Calendar Q4, 2022. Wolf Theiss acted as legal advisor to the Romanian shareholders of Fortech SRL. Together with Partner Ileana Glodeanu, the lawyers who contributed to the deal completion were Flavius Florea (Counsel, TMT, IP & Data Protection), Mircea Ciocîrlea (Counsel, Corporate M&A), Cornelia Postelnicu (Senior Associate, Corporate M&A), Andreea Stan (Senior Associate, Employment) and Iulia Cumpăratu (Associate, Corporate M&A). Porsche Engineering has opened a new technology centre in Timisoara as part of a wider plan to consolidate its Romanian operations.
Porsche Engineering Romania, a technology service provider and wholly owned subsidiary of Germany-based Porsche, has opened a new 2,110m2 location in Timisoara, western Romania. The new technology centre will complement the company’s existing location in Cluj-Napoca, which opened in 2016. Dirk Lappe, chief technology officer of Porsche Engineering, commented: “Just like in our first location in Romania, the one in Cluj-Napoca, we want to accelerate innovation in the field of software development for the automotive industry and, at the same time, cultivate relationships with our partners and the entire community.” Porsche Engineering employs 1,600 staff in Germany, the Czech Republic, Romania, China and Italy , and plans to employ more than 100 developers and software engineers at its Cluj-Napoca and Timisoara locations by 2023. The airports in Suceava and Iasi, in northeastern Romania, will be developed under projects worth EUR 13 mln and EUR 4 mln, respectively, financed from the European Union’s budget. In addition, the Government will finance a broader EUR 40 mln expansion project at the Maramures airport in Baia Mare. All three airports are international.
Meanwhile, a new international airport is being completed in Brasov, central Romania. At the airport in Iasi, the third-largest airport in the country by the number of passengers served (after the airports in Bucharest and Cluj-Napoca), two projects aimed at acquiring equipment for improving security will be carried out, Ziarul Financiar reported. The number of passengers served by the airport in H1 increased by 10% compared to the same period in 2019 (before the Covid-19 crisis) to 690,000. The shifting of airport activity from Moldova helped Iasi airport surpass the airport in Timisoara in terms of passengers. The project carried out at the airport of Suceava (RON 65 mln or EUR 13 mln) is also aimed at increasing security, according to Ziarul Financiar. The projects at the two airports, financed from the EU budget, should be completed in 2023. As regards the larger project funded by Romania’s Government at Maramures International Airport, a new terminal with a capacity of 450 passengers per hour will be built - besides supplementary investments aimed at improving security. Continental is expanding its range of functions in Lithuania and is opening a service centre. Continental Tires Business Services will perform data analytics, process management and administration functions. The new centre is expected to recruit around 100 people over the next few years. Data analysts, logistics operations specialists, process and project managers will be in demand. The centre will serve Continental’s business customers in Italy, Germany, France and other European countries.
Daniel Reichenauer will head the new service centre in Lithuania during the launch phase. According to him, the success story of the already existing Continental Automotive branch was the main reason for choosing Kaunas for the new centre. The new service centre is the company’s additional investment outside the framework of the existing Continental factory’s project in Kaunas. The new centre will be based at the Continental factory in Kaunas, on the office premises. Shayan Ali, CEO of Continental Automotive Lithuania, welcomes the fact that the company can serve as a success story for colleagues in other locations of Continental: “Our successful presence in Kaunas will make it much easier for our colleagues to launch a new service centre because we can share our extensive expertise and infrastructure with them.” Elijus Čivilis, general manager at Invest Lithuania, also welcomed further growth of Continental in Kaunas: “It is always a pleasure to celebrate the growth of Continental. This time the occasion is of exceptional significance – the company, which has already implemented two development projects in the manufacturing sector in Lithuania, is embarking on yet another one – the business services industry. The new business service centre of Continental will boost the network of more than 90 business service centres in Lithuania and reveal the capabilities of highly qualified talents of Kaunas,” said the general manager at Invest Lithuania. About Continental Continental develops innovative technologies and services for the sustainable mobility of people and goods. Founded in 1871, the technology company offers safe, efficient, intelligent and affordable solutions for vehicles, machines, traffic and transport. In 2020, estimated sales of Continental amounted to EUR 37.7 billion. The company currently employs more than 193,000 people in 58 countries and markets. In 2021, the company marked its 150th anniversary. TestDevLab, a Latvian provider of software quality assurance solutions, has recently established its subsidiary company in Lithuania. After opening an office in Vilnius earlier this year, the company has plans to hire more than 25 quality assurance engineers and developers.
Riga-headquartered TestDevLab was founded in 2011 by two ex-Skype engineers, Andrejs Frišelds and Ervins Grīnfelds. Over the next decade, the company grew into a team of over 500 skilled software QA engineers working from more than 20 countries and in 10 offices across Latvia, Estonia, North Macedonia, Spain, and now Lithuania. According to Vytautas Mereckis, the country manager at TestDevLab, the company’s decision to open an office in Lithuania was an obvious choice. TestDevLab also sees Vilnius becoming one of the company’s key strategic locations, and is likely to expand the team here further. ”We plan to boost our presence here and attract even more qualified engineers as well as clients. We are confident that with a dedicated team in our Lithuanian office, TestDevLab will continue to excel as a leading software quality assurance company,” Mr. Mereckis says. TestDevLab offers a wide range of tailored software testing solutions — from simple software testing methods to complex testing solutions across all major software platforms. The company boasts unique testing tools and world-class laboratories for testing audio and video quality as well as battery and data usage. TestDevLab’s clients include such well-known names as Orange, Discord, Microsoft, Twilio and others. In Lithuania, TestDevLab are looking to hire more than 25 experienced software quality assurance engineers and developers. The company is also offering internship opportunities to those looking to get into IT. “Having attended numerous events in Lithuania, including TECH fair and KTU WANTed Career Days, we have had the opportunity to meet many IT professionals who share our passion for software quality,” says Mr. Mereckis. “This bolstered our belief that Lithuania is home to IT talent that has a lot to offer to the industry. We believe that TestDevLab is the right place to be for those looking to start or grow their IT career.” In addition to offering internships to IT students, the company runs its proprietary IT education organization, the TDL School, where specialists from both inside and outside the company can hone their tech skills. TestDevLab are also regular participants in hackathons, meetups, and conferences. |
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