Large corporate investments arriving in Debrecen and the surrounding Hajdú‑Bihar area, together with university‑industry cooperation, are opening supplier opportunities for local SMEs. Speakers at a KAVOSZ–Portfolio event, however, warned that joining these value chains requires stronger operational capabilities: faster access to reliable internal numbers, deeper customer knowledge, willingness to invest and modern corporate governance are equally critical to financing.
Local experience and mentoring support
Gulyás Sándor, vice‑president of the VOSZ Hajdú‑Bihar County Organization, noted that regional SMEs face liquidity, labor market and digitalization challenges while new multinational investments create supplier demand. VOSZ has launched a mentorship program with local partners to provide advisory and practical support to companies preparing to become suppliers.
Miklóssy Ferenc, president of the Hajdú‑Bihar County Chamber of Commerce and Industry, highlighted the role of the Széchenyi Kártya Program: this spring nearly 3,000 enterprises in the county joined the program and the disbursed volume reached 66 billion forints, about half of which related to the agricultural sector.
Financing is no longer only about volumes
Balog Ádám, vice‑president of the Hungarian Chamber of Commerce and Industry and chairman of the board of KAVOSZ Zrt., argued that a predictable, decision‑supporting institutional framework is needed so companies can plan long term. He said quality matters more than raw amounts: it is important which companies and projects receive funds.
KAVOSZ CEO Végh Richárd described how the old, extensive growth model has run out of steam: high interest rates, cost pressures and weaker demand make productivity improvements the key issue. The Széchenyi Kártya Program has operated for 24 years, more than half a million loan transactions were processed through it, and roughly 80,000 Hungarian companies currently have live loan contracts. Végh suggested the program should increasingly finance the productivity turnaround.
More flexible, SME‑oriented loan products
SME financing increasingly relies on instruments that support smaller or more specialized investments. Korsósné Maku Márta, commercial director at KAVOSZ Vállalkozásfejlesztési Zrt., presented the Széchenyi Mikrohitel MAX+ product: available to startups and micro firms, new companies can apply for up to 50 million forints (or up to 100 million with guarantees); firms with closed financial years can access up to 150 million forints, and connected companies up to 300 million forints. The product is offered at a fixed 3 percent interest rate, typically requires at least 10 percent equity and can finance investment purposes (property development, warehouse and hall construction, electric or commercial vehicles, equipment purchases) while allowing a 20 percent working capital component.
Korsósné Maku Márta also introduced a recently launched condominium development loan aimed at 2–50 unit projects with typical sizes between about 300 million and 5 billion forints; principal repayment starts after buyer payments are received, which can improve liquidity planning for smaller developers.
AI amplifies expertise, does not replace it
Szepes Zsolt, co‑founder of work2flow.ai, said generative AI’s main value lies in taking over repetitive, low‑value tasks, freeing time for strategic and creative work. He stressed that AI does not replace professional experience — instead, it works best in the hands of experienced staff. He compared a large language model to a newly hired junior: it has baseline skills but needs to be trained on company goals, processes and client context, and improved with feedback.
In practice, AI is most useful when connected to company briefs, historical documents and internal knowledge, enabling tailored outputs for reports, proposals, market research, competitor analysis and customer feedback processing.
University links: training and R&D as regional bridges
Bács Zoltán, rector of the University of Debrecen, outlined the institution’s regional weight: the university community comprises more than 52,000 people, with nearly 34,000 students (about 27,000 full‑time) and roughly 7,800 international students. The university’s presence affects the local labor market, rental market and services.
The University of Debrecen is strengthening ties with companies through cooperative and dual education, internships and professional programs so firms meet prospective employees earlier. The institution also runs a Doctor of Business Administration (DBA) program jointly with Pannon University and engages in commissioned R&D, joint applications and Science Park development to support regional innovation.
Real‑time data, governance and day‑to‑day decisions
Participants in the Debrecen business roundtable emphasized that crisis management is no longer an exceptional task but part of routine leadership. Fenyves Veronika, dean of the Faculty of Economics at the University of Debrecen, stressed that managerial decisions directly shape daily operations, competitiveness and financial stability.
Company examples illustrated the point: Hajdu Cégcsoport uses complex reporting and controlling systems that break objectives into regional KPIs; Máté & Nagy Bt. implemented an ERP and AI‑assisted analyses to review past sales; IL‑PE Kft. integrates 10–15 API feeds to bring external market data (exchange rates, energy prices, weather, power exchange prices) into its ERP in near real‑time.
Executives agreed that whoever sees their numbers faster and knows their customers better can detect margin erosion or new market opportunities sooner, and thus remain competitive. Continuous, real‑time data use and transparent corporate governance are essential for sustainable growth.
Conclusions for SMEs
The event underlined that access to capital remains important, but competitiveness today increasingly depends on operational quality, data, management and technology adoption. Support programs and loan instruments should reflect this reality, while chambers, VOSZ, KAVOSZ and universities play crucial intermediary roles to prepare local SMEs to join multinational supply chains.
Future success will be financed, organized and technologized: SMEs will need not only funds, but better systems, higher‑quality data, training and adaptive leadership to stay competitive over the long term.
