The next CEO Business Breakfast, hosted by the German-Hungarian Chamber of Industry and Commerce (DUIHK) in partnership with the Budapest Business Journal and Budapest Security Dialogue, turns the spotlight on the defence industry in Hungary.

The DUIHK has assembled a business panel uniquely positioned to take us on a deep dive into the sector’s realities. They are: Paul Walf, CEO of Rheinmetall Hungary; Joachim Hutt, CEO of Dynamit Nobel Defence Hungary; and Peter Ulbrich, general manager of KNDS-KMW Hungary.

As usual, the discussion will be moderated by Robin Marshall, BBJ editor-in-chief, with co-moderator Wolf Illner, managing director of BSD and a former Defence Attaché at the German Embassy in Budapest from 2017 to 2020.

Rheinmetall Hungary has three companies here in Hungary. It produces KF41 Lynx infantry fighting vehicles at Zalaegerszeg, where it will also be involved on developing the next generation Panther KF51 battle tank. Another two plants in Várpalota produce explosives and manufacture ammunition. The third company, in Budapest, is an IT firm working on digitalization for the Rheinmetall Group from Hungary.

KNDS-KMW Hungary is responsible for maintaining and repairing Leopard 2 battle tanks and self-propelled howitzers in Tata.

Dynamit Nobel Defence Hungary is in the final planning stages for setting up a production facility for anti-tank weapons.

In July 2021, then Minister for Innovation and Technology László Palkovics spoke about creating six business clusters as the most critical element of Hungary’s defence industry strategy.

A military vehicle cluster in the west of Hungary would grow up around the Rheinmetall plant in Zalaegerszeg, the majority state-owned automotive industry company Rába in Győr (120 km west), and BM Heros, based in Kaposvár, he said.

An air defence cluster would center around Gyula, where Airbus has its helicopter parts factory. An ammunition and grenade cluster will be established around Rheinmetall’s factories in Várpalota, a weapons cluster in Kiskunfélegyháza, a communications and cyber cluster in Budapest, and a sensors cluster in the north of the country.

The CEO Business Breakfast aims to provide a candid and insightful discussion about the defence industry landscape in Hungary, bringing German manufacturers and potential Hungarian suppliers closer together and providing connections for DUIHK members with defence industry players.

Some of the planned questions:

• What does the defence industry sector contribute to Hungary’s GDP?
• How advanced are the six clusters? Are there plans to develop these further? 
• What future developments might we see?
• How can Hungarian SMEs involve themselves in the value chain?
• Beyond the obvious need for security clearances, how easy is it for civilian businesses to work together with the military?

AGENDA
8.00 a.m. - 8.30 a.m.: Arrival & Breakfast Buffet
8.30 a.m. - 9.30 a.m.: Interview and discussion
9.30 a.m. - 10.00 a.m.: Networking

Programme subject to change.