Embassy News

Ambassador Foley Promotes U.S. Commercial Ties with Hungary

Ambassador Foley at the opening ceremony. To her right: Head of the Békéscsaba Operations Center Péter Tamás; to her left: State Secretary for the Ministry of National Development & Economy Sándor Burány, and Békéscsaba Mayor Gyula Vantara. (Embassy photo by Attila Németh)

Ambassador April H. Foley participated in the opening of the Budapest Bank Békéscsaba Operations Center's new 3,000 square meter wing on July 23, 2008. The Operations Center recently hired its 400th employee and expects that number to grow to 700 by the end of 2009, bringing their total space to 7,300 square meters and representing an investment to over HUF 2.3 billion.

Before the ribbon cutting ceremony, Ambassador Foley met with Mayor Vantara at the Békéscsaba City Hall, where they talked about commercial possibilities for U.S. companies in Békéscsaba. She also expressed her concern about Magyar Gárda activities in the area.

Later, the Ambassador and Senior Commercial Officer Patricia Gonzalez visited glass producer - Guardian Orosháza, a subsidiary of U.S. firm, Guardian Industries, where they received a company overview from the plant's senior management team under Group Vice President, Lajos Sápi, and toured Guardian's state of the art floater glass production line and coater facility.