The Hungarian Economic Association (HEA) and the Eszterházy Károly Catholic University (EKKE) signed a cooperation agreement in Eger on Wednesday to strengthen cooperation between higher education, the corporate and entrepreneurial spheres and professional civil society in the region. The agreement was signed by Ilona Pajtókné Tari, Rector of the university, Gyula Pleschinger, President of the HEA, and Sándor Csontos, President of the Heves County Organisation of the HEA.
The Eszterházy Károly Catholic University is proud of its 250-year heritage and, as an innovative, 21st century institution and a centre of knowledge with a national impact, it has a strategic task to respond to the challenges of the present. It plays a key role in higher education, vocational training, research, development and innovation in the region and, through this, in the economic and social development of the region as a whole. The Rector of Eszterházy Károly Catholic University said: the Faculty of Economic and Social Sciences offers 12 degree courses in Hungarian and English, and currently has nearly 1000 students. Ilona Pajtókné Tari stressed that industry and institutional links outside the academic field and real inputs from the business world play an important role in the development of the university’s educational framework.
A new partner in this work is the Hungarian Economic Association, the oldest and most significant organisation of Hungarian economists, founded in 1894, which undertook the task of disseminating economic knowledge, developing professional public life and representing the general interests of economists. Gyula Pleschinger, President of the HEA, added that their mission is to disseminate knowledge and good practices as widely as possible and to boost the work of youth organisations. The association has had a local organisation in Heves County since 1971, and the university has traditionally maintained good professional relations with it. Sándor Csontos, President of the Heves County Organisation of the HEA, said at the event that this long tradition of joint work is a solid basis for successful future cooperation, as evidenced by the fact that the university will host their forthcoming November event.
Under the newly concluded agreement, in the future it will be possible to hold jointly organised conferences, professional and educational events and lectures. The HEA has undertaken to provide speakers from the academic world of economics, finance and economics for the EKKE’s professional conferences, extra-curricular or extra-curricular lectures and professional programmes, as well as to provide lectures for the university’s lecturers. Within the framework of the cooperation, the EKKE has undertaken to provide space and infrastructure for the professional events and lectures of the HEA Heves Várm County Organisation, if required, and to support the re-establishment and operation of the Youth Organisation of the HEA, which is composed of EKKE students, at the university.
On the occasion of the signing ceremony, Gyula Pleschinger, President of the HEA thanked the faculty and students of the Eszterházy Károly Catholic University for their contribution to the successful 61st Itinerant Congress of Economists held some weeks ago in Eger, and indicated that the HEA would seek to sign cooperation agreements with other universities similar to the one in Eger in the future.