The 127-year old Hungarian Economic Association (HEA) held its Annual General Meeting on Friday, 21 May 2021 as an online event because of the pandemic situation. Established in 1894, the HEA is the largest non-profit forum for Hungarian economists made up of 26 thematic sections, 16 county organisations and approximately 3,500 members.
The delegates of the HEA’s county organisations and sections unanimously approved the 2020 annual report and 2021 financial plan at a participation rate of 98 percent. Secretary General Éva Hegedüs, Chairperson-CEO of GRÁNIT Bank Zrt. highlighted that the HEA managed to adapt to the pandemic-induced challenges quickly and flexibly: all of the events and conferences including the Itinerant Conference of Economists had been moved online, making them accessible to the members of the HEA, the interested public as well as the Hungarian economists living beyond the borders free of charge through HEA’s YouTube and Podcast channels. She added that currently approximately 90 presentations and conference and roundtable discussions taking place in recent months can be reached via the association’s YouTube Channel.
Considering the pandemic related risks and uncertainties the Board of the Hungarian Economic Association decided to organise the 59th Itinerant Conference of Economists on 23-24 September 2021 in a hybrid format with live streaming, similar to last year, to be accessible to the interested audience free of charge, Gyula Pleschinger told the delegates. The President of the HEA recalled that the live events of last year’s online conference were followed by an audience of approximately 11,500, and the videos of the recorded plenary and section presentations were viewed by almost 20,000 people.
Gyula Pleschinger also informed the delegates about the economic policy package recently submitted by the HEA for restarting the Hungarian economy after the COVID-19 pandemic. The addressees of the proposal package include György Matolcsy, Governor of MNB, Mihály Varga, Minister of Finance, Deputy Prime Minister, László Palkovics, Minister for Innovation and Technology, Miklós Kásler, Minister for Human Capacities, Isván Nagy, Minister of Agriculture, and Gergely Gulyás, Minister of the Prime Minister’s Office.