1. Introduction in to the West - Pannon Region András Vissi West-Pannon Regional Development Agency - Hradec Králové, 15. November 2005 -

2. West - Pannon Region Zala Vas Győr-Moson-Sopron Population: 1 million Area: 11 329 km2

3. THE WEST-PANNON REGION OpenBorders 4 countries and speaks 7 languages Gateway to Europe 60% of transport and goods leaves Hungary here Innovation paradox GDP is not all: No. of researchers half of national average PreparedHas wide experience in EU assisted program implementation

4. Why the region of initiatives? Dynamic economic development (60% of EU 25 GDP) Outstanding foreign capital involvement Open economy, steadily growing and quality export Highly qualified workforce, high employment rate

5. Business landscape overview  in the rank of GDP per capita West Pannonia is the 2nd  Győr-Moson-Sopron 2nd, Vas 4th and Zala 6th in county order  industrial production since 1991 tripled  the highest economic activity is in Vas – 42,8% of actives within the total population, in Zala the lowest with 38,5%  the level of unemployment never exceeded 10%, however there are significant differences within the region

6. Pro’s for the region  g eographic location – Austrian, Slovenian, Croation and Slovakian border  quality of the human resource  high level of economic activity, low level of unemployment – app. 6%  relatively balanced economic structure – employment: 4% in agriculture  43% in industry and 53% in service sector  with respect to GDP after Budapest the most advanced region  high ratio of foreign investment  various touristic attractiveness is guaranteed by thermal water, natural environment, wine and gastronomy, cultural programs, traditional values

7. Con’s  the modern, business-related vocational training suffers weaknesses  lack of integration of education institutions on regional level  despite of low unemployment, threat of companies leaving is valid  though in Hungary GDP is high, it is far behind EU average  low integration of multinationals into local economy  R+D level is low, within Hungary as well  average salary level is only 90% of national average, irrespective of high GDP  differences within the region are significant, both economicly and socially

8. Sectoral profile  role of agriculture further decreased, from 7% in mid90s to 4% in 2002  in industry the cheap labour based companies left, or leaving  within the industry food and light industries were devaluated  machinery industry gained share, in Gy-M-S the car manufacturing, in Vas machinery parts, communication technical manufacturing  in food industry meat processing, dairy and beverage branches are significant  chemical industry started heavily based on CO2 resource in Vas  in wood processing the ASZTALOS branch is strong  textile industry is fragile, as it is based on cheap labour force costs, suffering from decline

10. Tourism profile  tourism is decisive, 2/3 of settlements is related to tourism, 8 out of 26 national touristic regions is here  thermal tourism is the most important, Zala leading, spas in 22 settlements, with internationally competitive service level  healing spas: Balf (Sopron), Bük, Győr, Hévíz, Kapuvár, Lenti, Mosonmagyaróvár, Sárvár, Szeleste, Zalakaros, thermal spa in further 12 settlements  77 settlements belong to wine regions, the most important ones are Pannonhalma, Sopron, Somló, Balatonfelvidék – wine routes, wine festivals and celebrations  Bicycle tourism is also significant, 300 km road-surface, more than 20% of the total national

11. Central East European concentration of OEM’s (car and engine plants) 100 km 200 km 300 km 400 km By 2006 Approx. 4-5 million cars in CEE Approx. 900.000 cars within 120 km of Györ Approx. 3.5 million engines within 300 km of Györ Approx. 2.5 milion enignes within 160 km of Györ ?

12. Pannon Business Initiative Objectives:  The development of industries with competitive advantage in the region into networks,  The creation of new integration contacts,  The definition of regional economic priorities for the distribution of government support,  The compatibility of clusters operating in the region.

13. Clusters in the region  Automobile industry – Panac  Machinery industry – Chamber of Commerce  Thermal and spa tourism – Thermal Cluster  Wood industry – Wood cluster  Local products cluster  Textile cluster

14. Thank you for your attention!