Budapest Business School and Budapest Enterprise Agency have signed an agreement of partnership and cooperation aiming at using their resources in order to promote young people’s entrepreneurship and improve the culture of entrepreneurship in Hungary.
Entrepreneurship among young Hungarian graduates is low compared to international standards. According to the most recent figures, almost 90 per cent of Hungarian undergraduates envisage their future as employees after graduation, entrepreneurship is constantly decreasing, and it is now levelling below 6 per cent. In order to improve entrepreneurship, it is necessary for Hungarian institutions of higher education to assume in a more active role, to fundamentally change the mindset of the parties concerned in the sector and, in addition, there is a need for inspiration and professional collaboration between the business sector and educational institutions.
Piroska Szalai, Budapest Enterprise Agency’s Chairwoman of Board of Trustees and Prof. Dr. Balázs Heidrich, Rector of Budapest Business School
Kép:BVK
International research investigating undergraduates’ notions and suppositions about entrepreneurship proves that the general business climate of universities provides an incentive for undergraduates’ entrepreneurship. However, as for the educational methods, higher education institutions face challenges as international trends clearly show that, besides practical knowledge transfer, they need to shape or change students’ mindset, they must inspire them and establish a well-run collaboration between their institutions and the business sector. The partnership and cooperation between Budapest Business School and Budapest Enterprise Agency constitutes an important step towards this goal: from now on they work together in order to promote entrepreneurship in the areas of knowledge-sharing, inspiration and awareness-raising.
The presence of business-friendly atmosphere traditionally characterises Budapest Business School. Its strong and inspirational relationships with companies and close cooperation with the business sector make it a unique and acknowledged player in higher education. Budapest LAB – Entrepreneurship Centre, established in the scope of the implementation of Budapest Business School’s entrepreneurship development strategy in 2017, takes a leading role as a flagship in promoting entrepreneurship, research and knowledge-sharing to empower Hungarian SMEs to successfully compete.
“Having the sixth largest number of students in Hungary, our university puts particular emphasis on inspiration and awareness-raising besides practice-oriented education, which significantly promotes young people’s entrepreneurship. It is my strong conviction that professional programmes within the framework of our agreement of partnership and cooperation contribute to achieving a state in which young graduates enter the labour market through creating the highest possible number of jobs themselves”, Prof. Dr. Balázs Heidrich, Rector of Budapest Business School highlighted.
“At the regional level the strength of Budapest lies in innovation. Budapest Enterprise Agency, the only EU-classified special innovation centre of Hungary, has promoted and contributed to business development on behalf of Budapest for 25 years. We consider it important to cooperate, as partners, with the most prestigious institutions of higher education in order to promote business innovation as well as to help provide new generations with adequate education and inspiration to set up businesses and to operate them successfully”, Piroska Szalai, Budapest Enterprise Agency’s Chairwoman of Board of Trustees added.
The cooperation based on the recently signed agreement of partnership may contribute to increasing competitiveness and efficiency in Hungary’s national economic eco-system. According to the agreement, Budapest Enterprise Agency and Budapest Business School are going to cooperate in promoting the flow of information, and will encourage entrepreneurship among the young through organising joint professional events and programmes.