The Hungarian Outsourcing and Service Association (HOA) and the Municipality of Pécs City are launching a joint project to make the city an attractive investment location and to attract more business service centres in the future.

The project aims to support the development of the region and promote Pécs to new investors, prospective service centres and business process outsourcing service providers, in order to create new offices and subsidiaries in the region.

The project in Pécs is the first such cooperation for HOA, which is expected to be followed by others nationwide, building on the experience gained here. The professional organisation, together with the municipality of Pécs, is preparing a comprehensive survey and audit of the city's potential and capabilities, the results of which will be used as a basis for making decisions on infrastructure and education, which will serve as a basis for creating an environment that attracts investors.

 "The cooperation with the Municipality of Pécs will enable the service sector to gain a foothold outside the capital and put Pécs on the map of investors in the service sector through the coordinated development of education and infrastructure. The joint project will enable a unique professional cooperation that will further strengthen the business services industry, which is the flagship of the Hungarian economy, in the region, thus contributing to attracting new investment and creating new jobs." - Monika Slomska, President of the Hungarian Outsourcing and Service Association (HOA), underlined.

"The municipality of Pécs is committed to creating jobs in the city. It is important to attract companies that are able to provide jobs to highly qualified young people from the University of Pécs who speak the languages of the city. In this way we can offer an attractive perspective for them and for those who want to move in or back to Pécs. The HOA's experience, expertise and network will help us to create sustainable, modern and innovative jobs in our city with a long history and rich tradition", said Csaba Ruzsa, Deputy Mayor of Pécs, responsible for the economy.

According to the HOA's own industry research, there are now more than 205 regional and global business service centres in Hungary, employing some 74,000 people, and these numbers are set to grow significantly this year. Some of these service companies provide a wide range of services to clients other than the parent company, from finance, payroll and network design to high-level engineering and business process automation. The sector is constantly evolving, with centres representing an ever higher added value. The organisation, through its HOA Academy, is playing a key role in the practical training and mentoring of senior managers in the sector.

HOA is the leading professional organisation in the service sector in Hungary. Its 106 members include most of the large Hungarian and international companies and SMEs involved in outsourcing or business services. As the industry's inescapable professional association, HOA represents the interests of the sector. The HOA is an association of business service providers, which aims to inform society and the economy about the functioning of the business service sector, the essence of organisational and process innovation and the opportunities it offers, based on methodological principles and practical experience. The aim of the sectoral professional organisation is to promote the exploitation of the potential of methodologies and practices to enhance the efficiency of economic and social development. As such, the organisation intends to play an active role not only in the transfer of mature knowledge but also in its development.