The 2014 GGI Autumn EasyMeet was held in Budapest from 7 to 9 November and was characterised by a diversity of professional, cultural and recreational events. Some of the delegates arrived early in Budapest to enjoy the unseasonably warm weather and were therefore able to participate in even more fascinating activities, such as visiting the famous New York Café and the Gerbeaud Confectionary, along with many historical monuments, and at night, the unique ‘ruin pubs’ and popular local bars. The host companies were Audit Service Kft. and Kovács Réti Szegheő Attorneys-at-Law.
The official Conference began on Friday evening with a welcome reception at the hotel bar, when old friends had a chance to catch up and new acquaintances were made. The group then moved on to Spoon, a boat restaurant on the Danube with a truly breathtaking view of the Castle District and the Chain Bridge.
Saturday revolved around the Conference session, which was opened by Claudio G. Cocca, President and Founder of GGI, who drew on Hungarian history to emphasise the importance and possibilities presented by the EasyMeet generation. Dr Attila Kovács of KRS also welcomed the delegates and shared some of his fondest memories of being a GGI member. The first half of the conference dealt with European issues from the impact of the European Parliamentary elections, through the economic recovery after the crisis, to the possibilities that such an in-depth knowledge can provide to all GGI members. The second half focused more on Hungary, its corporate tax system and auditing practices.
The organisers were fortunate enough to be able to secure not one, but two keynote speakers. The first was Professor Attila Ágh, who was the Head of Political Science Department at the Budapest University of Economics between 1990 and 2002 and is now the Director of the Hungarian Centre for Democracy Studies. In 2007, he became the project leader for the preparation of the Belgian, Hungarian and Spanish team presidency in the project of the Hungarian Prime Minister’s Office. His expertise in international political sciences allowed the participants to understand the changes taking place in Europe due to the EP elections this year. His speech about the different opportunities and challenges that the new administration is facing provided the groundwork for the next presentations. Professor Ágh, who is the author of many articles and publications, kindly provided the participants with one of his books. Professor Ágh was followed by another illustrious speaker: Zoltán Kazatsay who also served as Deputy State Secretary at the Hungarian Ministry of Economy and Transport and Alternate Governor of Hungary at the EBRD from 2002-2004, before he joined the European Institutions. Additionally, he was also the Chairman of a Working Group at the OECD. He is currently the Deputy Director-General of the Directorate-General of Employment, Social Affairs and Inclusion. Using his knowledge of the inner workings of EU institutions, he spoke about the difficulties that young people, in particular, are facing in the current economic climate, the obstacles of entering the labour market as well as the grants and funds that his DG provides in order to help them. To conclude the first half of the Conference, Dr Laszlo Tunyogi, H.E. Klára Akóts, ex-ambassador of Hungary in the United Nations, and Bernadett Csúsz talked about how knowledge of current European issues can help GGI members further improve their professional success. Their European Monitor bulletin, published on GGI’s intranet every two weeks, informs of all the new topics that are relevant within the EU institutions, organised around the GGI Practice Groups so that members may find titles relevant to their interests more easily. The Monitor also includes a list of upcoming events, the progress of the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership negotiations as well as a detailed chart of the “Your Voice in Europe” topic that is open for discussion. The bulletin is an electronic publication and therefore includes hyperlinks to further reading material.
The second half of the Conference belonged to the host firms: it was opened by Dr Anita Ihász Kovácsné of KRS, who gave an interesting presentation on the Hungarian corporate tax system and the tax planning possibilities it provides. She was followed by Dr Iván Serényi of AuditService Kft. who, along with several of his colleagues, gave a comprehensive introduction into the world of auditing, which was also clear and fascinating to those operating in an entirely different field of expertise. The Conference was concluded by Timon Witschi, who shared his experiences of the GGI Staff Exchange Programme.
In the evening, the delegates were transported to the Castle District where, after a short walk, they had wine tasting followed by dinner at the elegant St. George’s Residence, after which they had a chance to delve into the Budapest night life and its popular spots such as Divino, Hello Baby Bar and Szimpla.
The last chance to see a bit more of Budapest was during the Sunday morning optional sightseeing tour around the city centre and the Castle District. Delegates left Budapest having made new friends, many memories and the knowledge that this was not “Goodbye, Budapest”, but see you again soon!
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