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Hungary Aims to School its Entrepreneurs in American Ways

Natalie Liu

   WASHINGTON - Hungarian entrepreneurs need only three things to succeed
   in America, according to László Szabó, the central European
   country's ambassador to the United States: accommodation, wi-fi and
   coffee.

   Szabó made the playful comment at the opening ceremony of a "business
   promotion and development campus" on the grounds of the Hungarian
   embassy last week.

   Another Hungarian official, from the newly established Ministry of
   Innovation, explained the rationale behind setting up such a "campus"
   in Washington. If Hungarian businesses can survive and succeed in the
   United States -- the most competitive market economy in the world --
   they can survive and succeed anywhere, László György told VOA.

   Szabó and György both lamented that Hungarian entrepreneurs are
   superb when it comes to innovation but lag behind in the marketing and
   commercialization of ideas and new products --areas, they say, in which
   Americans are highly proficient.

   Language

   Asked to explain the source of his countrymen's creativity, György
   linked it with the unique structure of the Hungarian language.

   Although Hungary is neighbors with German-speaking Austria, the
   Hungarian language has little to do with German or the other
   Indo-European languages. Instead, it is a member of the Finno-Ugric
   linguistic group, found only in Hungary, parts of Scandinavia and on
   either side of Russia's Ural mountains.

   The institute that trains American diplomats ranks Hungarian among the
   more difficult languages for Americans to learn, comparable to Hindi,
   Russian and Turkish.

   That is a source of pride for György, who argues that the classic
   British sitcom "Yes Minister" is funnier in Hungarian than in the
   original English. But he says he finds the American way with words --
   and thought processes -- refreshing.

   "When I come to the United States, I love being in Washington, D.C.,
   New York or wherever I go, because your way of thinking and your way of
   expressing yourselves is so much simpler, in a good way '¦ and your
   positive energy!"

   Hungarians are not as optimistic as Americans, he observes, "maybe
   because of the 40 years of communism" his country went through.

   Government

   Those decades of communist rule held back Hungarian enterprises while
   their American counterparts were growing and flourishing, he says. He
   believes it will take time for Hungary to catch up in terms of industry
   and commercialization, including building corporate structures.

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