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For Immediate Release
Contact: Alan Fogg, Director of Communications
afogg@fceda.org, 703-790-0600 (o) or 571-213-5065 (m)
Fairfax County EDA welcomes Hungarian
prime minister to e-country
Foreign leader announces 10 tech companies with future U.S. plans
Fairfax County, Virginia, June 23, 2004 —His Excellency Peter Medgyessy, Prime Minister of Hungary, visited the offices of the Fairfax County Economic Development Authority (FCEDA) and the Hungarian Technology Center (HTEC) on Wednesday, June 23. The Prime Minister will be honored at a reception and introduced by Gerald L. Gordon, Ph.D., president and CEO of the FCEDA.
Prime Minister Medgyessy will announce the names of 10 Hungarian technology companies that are participating in a government seed-fund initiative to expand into the American market. The Prime Minister will also meet with Fairfax County business executives to discuss opportunities in Hungary.
In addition to Prime Minister Medgyessy, Hungarian Ambassador to the U.S., His Excellency András Simonyi traveled to Fairfax County. The Prime Minister is in the United States to meet with President Bush, Secretary of State Colin Powell and United Nations head Kofi Annan
HTEC opened its U.S. headquarters in the FCEDA’s office suite last year and has been working with companies in the United States and Hungary interested in expanding overseas.
“We are honored to host Prime Minister Medgyessy on his first visit to Fairfax County,” said Gerald L. Gordon, Ph.D., president and CEO of the FCEDA. “Budapest represents one of Central Europe’s strongest markets, and this visit is an important step toward stronger connections between the business communities of the two countries.
Hungary has had one of the fastest growing economies in central Europe for a decade, and technology enterprises account for a quarter of the country’s industrial output. HTEC is Hungary’s first effort to expand its technology industry into the U.S. market. Selected companies will use the center as an incubator to develop contacts in the U.S. The government also will use the center to raise Hungary’s profile for U.S. companies interested in investing in central Europe. More information on HTEC is available at www.htec.hu.
The FCEDA (www.FairfaxCountyEDA.org) promotes Fairfax County as a business and technology center. The FCEDA has a program to assist small, minority and woman-owned firms. The FCEDA also maintains marketing offices in London, Frankfurt and Tokyo, and in 2004 will open offices in Bangalore, India, and Tel Aviv, Israel.
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