BBR reports on the first day of MIPIM

The 8th of March was the varnishing-day of MIPIM 2011 in Cannes, France. This year Budapest Business Region attends the expo as the guest of the Budapest stand, which was opened by the speech of Mr. István Tarlós, the new Mayor of the Hungarian Capital.

Thanks to the sunny but quite chilly weather, the number of visitors was continuously increasing during the day much to the delight of the exhibitors. Despite the low interest of the morning,in the afternoon the opening ceremony of the Budapest stand was welcomed by numerous businessmen.

Tuesday afternoon Mr. István Tarlós, Mayor of Budapest opened the Budapest Stand in the presence of the international press. In his ceremonial speech he reported on the positive mental and political change of the Capital. Inviting the representatives of the real estate market of MIPIM to Budapest, he emphasized that the City Government will do its best to be an appropriate partner for the foreign investors and developers interested in the region. At the Budapest stand Mr. Tarlós welcomed Mr. Alexander Zhukov Russian deputy prime minister and had a short discussion.

The opening ceremony was followed by a little chat in the presence of some Hungarian wine, where the participants got personal invitation for BBR’s Hungarian wine tasting – called ‘B my guEST’, at 5 pm. on the 9th of March.

Budapest Business Region attends MIPIM as the guest of the Budapest Stand. This year the continuity of attendance plays the leading role in its presence. Although the current size of the exhibiting area is 55% of the one of the last year’s, its pole position remained, located opposite the entrance. ’Budapest.Get engaged’, image film of BBR is also on view, this time in 3D version. The renewed short film was mentioned in the speech of the Mayor of Budapest as well.

The main tendency on MIPIM 2011 is that in the transition period of the crisis the local governments play key roles in the support of the regions’ international communication. In the first place the exhibitors are regions communicating their complex strategies, visions and main projects.

Mr. Peter Számely (representing Hypo Investment Bank AG) predicted that the investors of the Austrian and German market will be as strict to developers as they were during the crisis because of their self-restricting behaviour. He added that the basic problem is not the current situation of the Hungarian real estate market but the investors’ lack of trust towards the Hungarian politics. The current aim of the market players of the Budapest region is to convince these key role players about the opportunities of their market.

As in last year, in 2011 the varnishing-day was closed with a cocktail party in the Carlton Hotel, Cannes. The event was sponsored by the Zorlu Centre of Istanbul. The Turkish motives were reflected in the music and the menu as well.

Mr. Gergely Orbán, cluster manager of the Budapest Business Region valued positively the first day of the MIPIM. BBR built new relationships with several foreign regions and started talks with the representatives of the international press about future BBR media partnerships.