PRESIDENT ’ S VIEW
PRESIDENT ’ S VIEW
CIANJ Heads Overseas For a Hungarian Experience
By Anthony Russo President , CIANJ
In April , CIANJ led a delegation of members , which included a State Senator , to Hungary to explore business opportunities and to learn more about the people of Hungary and its rich history and culture . The trip was a first of its kind for CIANJ . Eighteen members , representing the financial , retail , logistics , legal , technology , contracting , and healthcare industries joined the delegation . Why Hungary ? Because in 2019 , CIANJ signed a partnership with the American Hungarian Chamber of Commerce to explore ways in which our businesses can work together . The partnership grew out of an earlier trip to Budapest in 2018 , when CIANJ joined a delegation from New Jersey City University ( NJCU )’ s Connecting Bridges and Borders program led by Professor David Weiss . On this trip , we were fortunate to have been joined by two CIANJ Board members of Hungarian descent . Paige Dworak , CEO of Carewell Health , and Al Komjathy , President of Komjathy and Kean got to explore and see a part of their heritage .
Similar to the trip in 2018 , it was important to focus not only on the business
opportunities , but also on the culture and history of Hungary because after all , business is best conducted with people you know and understand . The week began with a briefing from officials from the US embassy and included a
This magnificent sculpture at the Dohány Street Synagogue – the largest in Europe – was among the sites the delegation toured .
Members of the CIANJ delegation include , left to right , Martin Zsarnoczky , president of the American Hungarian Chamber of Commerce , Kathy Agudo , CIANJ vice president , CIANJ President Anthony Russo , New Jersey State Sen . Gordon Johnson , Levente Magyar , deputy minister , and Al Komjathy , a CIANJ board member . cultural tour of Budapest , a visit to Parliament , a networking cruise on the Danube , meetings with representatives from the Hungarian investment and economic agencies , government officials and local business owners . The delegation also headed to Hungary ’ s second largest city , Debrecen , located in the eastern part of the country not far from the Ukranian border where we viewed the construction of a BMW plant where electric vehicles will be manufactured along with other industrial enterprises . And did you know there is a connection with Debrecen and New Jersey ? New Brunswick and Debrecen have been twin cities since 1990 .
In looking back at the takeaways from the trip , not only did we meet with so many potential businesses partners looking to establish operations in New Jersey but also the members of the delegation became fast friends after spending five days together in a country with so much to offer . In fact , many of them have already expressed an interest in joining the next CIANJ overseas delegation . We want to thank our hosts and partners for assisting in such a great trip including the Consulate General of Hungary New York , the American Hungarian Chamber of Commerce , the Budapest Chamber of Commerce , Xanga and all our members who attended .
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