“The fact that Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) is expanding its capacities in Budapest and opening a new service centre with 500 new employees and five thousand square metres of new office space is the latest success for Hungary’s Eastern Opening policy”, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Péter Szijjártó declared in Budapest at a press conference to mark the opening of Tata Consultancy Services’ new offices.
“TCS is India’s largest IT company, with 1800 highly trained economists, computer engineers and R&D staff working in its Budapest offices, over 10 percent of whom are students at Hungary’s various institutions of higher education”, he added.
According to the Minister, there is huge competition in Europe for investments and both Western and Central Europe are battling to attract large Asian companies that represent state-of-the-art technology. “The dynamic increase in the investment appetite of Indian enterprises in Hungary is also making itself felt in trade flow figures, which increased by 20 percent in January to approach 50 million dollars, with most recent Indian investments in Hungary having been made within the automotive, food and water management industries”, he explained.
The second highest level of investments in Hungary after the automotive industry are made within the services sector, and there are currently 110 service centres of this kind operating in Hungary, providing jobs for 42 thousand, highly-trained, multilingual young Hungarians born after 1980”, the Minister told the press.
Managing Director Prabal Datta said the company would like to make the new offices an inspiring environment that will enable employees to achieve success in the increasingly digital world and make the best of their abilities. Mr. Datta also explained that TCS was continuously developing cooperation with universities to provide apprenticeships that will later become permanent positions. The Managing Director recalled that TCS arrived in Hungary 15 years ago, where it established its first service centre outside India in Budapest. “The company has grown significantly in recent years, aided in part by the fact that in 2013 it concluded a Strategic Partnership Agreement with the Hungarian Government”, Mr. Datta said.
India’s Ambassador to Budapest Rahul Chabbra stressed that cooperation between India and Hungary is excellent.
“The fact that visas can now be applied for online is making it easier for Hungarian businesspeople to travel to India”, he added. “Indian companies plan for the long term, develop good partnerships with the local community and do their best to rely on the locally available workforce”, he said.
Mayor of Budapest’s 11th District, Tamás Hoffman told reporters: “TCS is an integral part of the life of the District, it works in close cooperation with the universities and the latest expansion contributes to the further development of the district”.
According to publically available company data, TCS Hungary achieved net turnover of 10.86 billion forints (EUR 34.7M) in the financial year ending on 31 March 2015, following 8.79 billion in the previous year. In the same period, the company’s after tax profits increased to 308 million forints following 124 million in 2014.