8 March 2016 – think.BDPST, the comprehensive forum for innovation in the Central European region started today. The conference provides an opportunity for the representatives of the business sector, the government and scientific life to discuss the key take-off points for the development policy of the Visegrad region, as well as opportunities for cooperation in the field of economic development, research financing and innovation policy.

Péter Szijjártó, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade, József Pálinkás, President of the National Research, Development and Innovation Office, and Gábor Bagdy, Deputy Mayor of Budapest formally opened the event, which takes place between 9 and 10 March, in Castle Garden Bazar, Budapest, featuring more than 40 speakers in 11 sessions.

József Pálinkás

“We must face the fact that individually the Visegrad Four countries are lagging behind in the global competition in innovation. Only the Czech Republic is close to the EU average; Hungary spends around 1.4 percent and the remaining countries less than 1 percent of their GDP on innovation,” said József Pálinkás, president of the National Research, Development and Innovation Office. “The most important question is: what strategy could be adopted to make the Visegrad Four as a geopolitical formation of countries having similar characteristics and interests, but representing only limited economic power in the global market, a competitive partnership in innovation? Research, development and innovation can add a promising new dimension to the cooperation of the Visegrad countries. think.BDPST is a significant contribution to identifying take-off points in science and innovation, dynamic cooperation and effective incentives in the region”, the president added.

Organised for the first time, think.BDPST seeks to become an annual strategic innovation forum in Europe and promote closer regional cooperation between business, government and civil society in the field of research, development and innovation. The conference was organised by the Antall József Knowledge Centre, its main sponsor is MVM Magyar Villamos Művek Zrt., further sponsors are the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade, the International Visegrad Fund, and the National Research, Development and Innovation Office. The main patron of think.BDPST is István Tarlós, Mayor of Budapest, further supporting partners are the Design Terminal, and the Hungarian Investment Promotion Agency (HIPA).

Speakers at the sessions of the conference think.BDPST on 9 and 10 March include, among others, George Pataki former Governor of the State of New York, Edmund Stoiber former Minister-President of Bavaria, Zoltán Cséfalvay, Permanent Representative of Hungary to the OECD, Robert-Jan Smits, Director-General for Research and Innovation at the European Commission, Dr. József Pálinkás, President of the NRDI Office, István Mikola, Minister of State for Security Policy and International Cooperation at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade, Tom Szaky, Chief Executive Officer of TerraCycle, Anna Horváth, Country Director at Nesst Hungary, Zsolt Bertalan, Chief Executive Officer of HUPX Zrt., János Pásztor, Assistant Secretary-General for Climate Change at United Nations, Fadi Swidan, Founder of Nazareth Accelerator, Ferenc Pongrácz, IBM Business Development Executive for South-East Europe and President of AmCham, Jennifer C. Lai, Executive Architect, Watson Group, IBM New York, Richard A. Plunz, Professor at Columbia University, and Martin Kern, Interim Director at the European Institute of Innovation and Technology (EIT).