DEVELOPING THE KNOWLEDGE ECONOMY:
HOW CITIES HELP NATIONAL PROGRAMS IN THREE EU ACCESSION AND AN ECA
COUNTRY
Review of Tatabánya Knowledge Economy Foundation
The Economic Development
Organization of the County Town Tatabánya
June 2002
CONTENTS
1.3 THE PLACE OF TATABÁNYA IN HUNGARY
2.4.3 Selective waste collection
2.5.2 The Museum
of Tatabánya is expecting the visitors with open doors
2.5.3 Cultural
events, meetings, fairs
3 EDUCATED AND SKILLED POPULATION
3.1 SCHOLARSHIP FOR THE COLLEGE AND
UNIVERSITY STUDENTS OF TATABÁNYA
4 ENVIRONMENT CONDUCTIVE TO
INNOVATION
4.1 INTERNATIONAL RESEARCH ABOUT THE
RELATIONSHIPS OF TATABÁNYA AND ITS REGION
The report below is the first
written station of the program “Developing the Knowledge Economy: How Cities
Help National Programs in Three EU Accession and an ECA Country”, the main aim
of which is to sum up the foundation of knowledge economy in the cities and
their regions participating in this project. This report constitutes the
starting point of the next station that should summarize the directions,
methods and means of development based on the identified foundation elements.
In the frame of the program
realized with the help of The World Bank, we may learn a lot about the
development possibilities of the city and can introduce a clearer vision
producing and using knowledge to the management of the city and the
inhabitants.
During the overview of the actual conditions studies, statistical
databases, labor information, diploma project were used.
Tatabánya – county law town – the county town of Komárom-Esztergom
County, with its 91 square kilometers administrative territory – thousandth
part of Hungary – gives home for 75,000 people, with the suburbs it is more
than 90,000.
It’s a young town; it became a town n 1947, by the union of four almost
entirely built together villages on the bases of the decree of the Minister of
the Interior of that time. From its former villages Bánhida, Alsógalla and
Felsőgalla are villages of settlers. The battles during the Turkish occupation
destroyed those settlements, which were flourishing since the age of the Áprád.
The owner of the territory of that time, the Eszterházy-estate of Tata settled
German and Slovak villains during the 18th century in to the
destroyed villages.
In the area the building of the Budapest-Vienna railway created the
conditions for the huge economical and social changes at the turn of the
century, as the cheap and quick traffic-transport possibility made it
profitable to exploit the huge amount of brown coal. In 1896 a young
enterprise, which was founded in Budapest, the Hungarian General Coal Mining
Joint-Stock Company (MÁK Rt.) bought the right to the coal-search then to the
exploitation from the estate, and greatly changed the region’s aspect as a
result of mining and connecting industrialization.
Beside the exploitation of the rich coal-supply the mining company
exploited and worked up the other available minerals, in this way they set up a
vertically connected mining field and an industrial area.
In the mines they also found karstwater of good quality, which provided
water supply for the local area. They established limekilns, portland stone-,
then bauxite-cement factories for exploiting and processing limestone and marl.
Locally built brick factories produced the necessary building material
for public buildings and the workers’ houses. Coal and coal-cake factory,
coal-distilling factory, acetylene factory, factory producing paper bag and
barrels containing cement and other factories increased the production
efficiency by serving mines, industrial works.
By uniting the nearby villages and as a new city being promoted to the
capital of Komárom County, Tatabánya had new managing and administrative tasks.
The dynamic industrialization policy of 1950s and 1960s also required for
increasing coal production in Tatabánya. In the heyday of “Coalmines” the
company employed 15-17 thousand people, there were no families in the city
without any links to the company.
By 1980s the coal stock of Tata Basin had got exhausted, so the Coalmine
Company of Tatabánya – which was determining in the life of the city – was
closed down after the political changes. The economy of the city, living of the
people reached a crisis.
But due to economic and intellectual potentials accumulated during
decades, the excellent economic geographic position of the city, the improved
infrastructure and the dynamic organizing work of the city management, escaping
from critical stage was successful. The former “City of Coal” that based its
existence only on coal opened its gates to new and various enterprises and
companies with national and foreign capital. Commercial shopping centers,
prosperous industrial areas provide the facility of well-balanced and safe life
for people living here for long term.
From the point of view of traffic
and transportation the city has favorable situation, because the M1 motorway
(E60, E75), with its two exits leads next to Tatabánya. This assures fast road
access to Vienna (150 km), to Győr (55 km) and to Budapest (55 km) and the main
road no. 1 cuts across the city. The modern, electric railway line of
Budapest-Tatabánya-Győr-Vienna provides a high level service for the
transportation of goods and passengers to Western Europe. The fastest railway
line of the county has two stations at Tatabánya. The nearest inland port and
boarder crossing-place, which is for both road and railway crossing available,
can be found along the River Danube at Komárom, 33 km far from the city. Some
10 km from Tatabánya, at the village of Kecskéd, there is a sporting airfield,
which is capable of handling passenger and freight transportation.
International airports (Vienna 1.5 hours, Budapest 1 hour) are easy to reach on
the motorway.
The place of Tatabánya in the geographical, economical, political and
cultural life of the country has great influence on the city’s situation, as in
case of all cities. From geographical point of view Tatabánya has a favorable
situation, however it cannot compete with the high place of a capital city.
Thanks to this and the failures and lacks of the central municipal financing
system the city can mainly rely on its own economical, financial and human
resources. But how is the city’s place in Hungary?
Tatabánya can be found in Komárom-Esztergom County, the smallest from
the 19 counties of Hungary, occupying 2.4 % (2,265 km2) of the
county’s territory. Out of 75 settlements in the county there are 8, which have
city rank. Tatabánya is the only one with county rights. The county’s
performance, which gives 2.5 % of Hungary’s GDP, falls with 16.7 %
significantly behind the country average. From the point of view of the county
GDP per capita (4,253 USD) it is on place 7 among the counties. The breakdown
of the county GDP according the main groups of the national economy sectors
haven’t changed greatly: thanks to the dynamic industrial growth in the year
2000 the share of the industry increased with 3 percentage point to 42 % and
the share of the services decreased from 51 % to 49 %.
There are 33,024 economic organizations registered in the county this
year, out of which 60 % are individual enterprises and 32 % are companies. Most
of the enterprises operate in the real estate, economic services, trade, maintenance
and industry sectors.
Due to the closing of the big
industrial companies, a number of enterprises appeared on the scene in our
city. The number of these enterprises is actually over 1,800. Out of these
enterprises, the net sales revenues of the first 100 are over HUF 50,000,000.
There are 21 independent economic units with municipal equity participation, in
the fields of town management services mainly.
In terms of economic development, the endeavor of Tatabánya city’s
administration is aimed at replacing the former heavy industrial structure by
engineering industries using up-to-date technologies, reckoning with the
locally available professional skills and trade culture. At the same time we
intend to promote all job creating investments and ventures in the city. In
order to raise the interests of investors and to speed up the process of
necessary administration, the Municipality of Tatabánya established the
Economic Development Organization in 1996. Its aims and tasks are the
following:
-
to improve the situation of labor
market
-
to create employment
-
to promote, coordinate and manage
the settlement of new ventures and factories
-
to do city-marketing activity
-
trade and service development
-
establishing Research + Development
-
improvement of life quality.
Sectors of the economy enjoying priority:
-
automotive industry, automotive
supplier industry
-
machine industry
-
electronic industry
-
packaging industry, plastic
industry, chemical industry
-
environmental industry
-
logistics
-
development of tourist, sport,
cultural, leisure and entertaining facilities
-
trade development.
Results of the economic development:
-
influx of about HUF 90 billion (€
365 million) working assets
-
more than 20 new companies
-
more than 5,000 new workplaces and
additional 2,200 workplaces are being created
-
establishment of 2 hypermarkets with
about 7,000 m2 space for customers
-
realization of the building project
of 4 housing parks.
From the international economic processes the most outstanding is the
appearance of overproduction on the electronic and transmission market. The
multinational companies take to fusions in the interest of strengthening their
positions. The price competition is increased by the presence on the cheaper
East-European and Asian market; the opening of the Chinese market is a good
example for that.
The city’s economic development entered into its second phase. The
simple lease work and part production is being generated by products and
technologies with higher added value. The workforce in Tatabánya has become
expensive for the lease work. However impacts going on in the world economy
also influence the production of the companies operating in the county seat.
Solution may mean the involvement of production units requiring higher training
and realization of R + D.
There are 3 sectors playing an important role in the city’s economy:
electronics, automotive-part production and plastic processing. Significant
suppliers group around these sectors. Enterprises giving a higher added value
and employing higher trained professionals are present in greater shares in
Tatabánya. At the company Artesyn for example production of supply-units
represents a greater proportion in the company’s production, so less workers
will be employed probably in the future. For this reason we need to proceed
with searching and settling down of new investors.
The construction of the first R + D center will start in the near
future: the company Zenon Ltd. has prepared the investment plans already, and
established 30 new workplaces for R + D engineers.
In the second half of the 1970’s the continuous decrease of home
construction may be noticed in Hungary. The changes in the 90’s had an
influence on all sectors of the economy; the construction industry was also
among them. The declining market could not keep the big-size companies. The
great national investments ended, the demand for the construction industry
decreased, part of the national construction companies transformed, others
failed.
The new supporting system of home construction was released in November
1999, concerning the new constructions from 1st February 2000. In
the frame of this program young couples and those having 3 or more children
could get credit with better terms for the construction or purchase of a new
home.
From 1st July 2000 started a complementary loan support, for
which married couples with or without children and persons raising their
child(ren) alone could apply independent from their age. The maximum supported
credit increased to HUF 10 million. The National Supported Tenement Flat
Program has also started, in the frame of which the municipalities could get
subsidies through tenders for increasing the number of their tenement flats.
Thanks to the changes favorable processes started in year 2000 on the
field of home construction. The number of new-built homes multiplied 1.6 times
in Komárom-Esztergom County. However the group of the constructors changed. The
municipal constructions fell into the background. Population constructions are
dominating, but the role of economic organizations also increased. It is
reflected in the fact that increasing part of the new-built homes is offered
for purchase or rental.
In the frame of the tenement flat program the government gave HUF 138.44
million subsidy, which makes possible the modernization and energy-saving
renovation of almost 2000 homes. In the course of the blockhouse program the
modernization and renovation of all together 147 homes can be realized with a
subsidy of HUF 245 million.
As Mr. János Bencsik, the Mayor of Tatabánya explained several times the
construction of non-social, cost-orientated homes satisfying higher requirement
became necessary also in Tatabánya. The demand comes from such employees and
employers, who appear on the labour market of the city as representatives of
lack-professions.
There are several places with infrastructure and utilities in the county
seat, which are suitable for this purpose and the construction of some
home-parks is also in progress.
In the past years the flower plantation in the whole city became a
tradition. The municipality continuously develops the parks and public areas in
the city and improves the level of park maintenance. The green areas taking
form, the well-kept plants and renovated playgrounds all contribute to the
aesthetic city picture and the cleanness of the air. In the interest of this
the municipality beds out many thousands of plants (70 thousand this year)
every year at different points of the city. The program is important also
because Tatabánya wishes to take part in the National Public Place Beautifying
Activity and in the Flowering Hungary Competition. The inhabitants also joined
to the decoration with the help of the “For a Nicer and More Human Environment”
tender.
A program started last year to
establish a public park on a 10-hectare area in the center of the city. The
transforming green area ensures entertainment, sport and leisure facilities of
high standard for the inhabitants in the city and gives a home for the city
programs moving great number of people. For the realization of the plans and
ideas all together a HUF 300 million investment and at least 10 years are
needed.
The council tenement flats have been privatized for 10 years, so there
wasn’t any flat may be offered in possession of the municipality for tenants
with high standards.
But the dynamic development of the county seat’s economic and commercial
life comes together with shaking up of the real estate market, housing parks
arising.
The biggest investment from side
of the municipality is the tenement flat program, in the frame of which the
municipality is going to allot HUF 800 million partly form own sources and
partly from tenders of the Széchenyi Plan. In the housing park that is being
built by the city with the HUF 368 million subsidy of the Széchenyi Program,
there will be 54 tenement flats financed by the home foundation of the
municipality. With the building of these cost based tenement flats the
municipality wishes to help the qualified, skilled workforce to get a flat and
keep them staying in Tatabánya.
The county seat pays attention beside the industrial development to the
renovation and modernization of the city’s road network and pavements. The
municipality spends almost HUF 200 million on roads, bus stations and public
areas in housing estates.
The municipality started its own investment project couple of months ago
in the Industrial Park. Pavement, cycle path and public lighting will be
realized for ensuring safe traffic of 3,000 employees working in the Industrial
Park and improving traffic conditions of the companies operating in the park.
In the interest of this investment exceeding HUF 130 million, the city rounded
off its HUF 62 million own resource with HUF 14.5 million from a Széchenyi Plan
tender, HUF 11.2 million from the regional development council and the
contribution of the companies operating in the Industrial Park.
The treatment, disposal of garbage and waste means a problem in all
cities’ life. However waste can also have a value. If it is selectively
collected that makes it good for the processing industry to use it as secondary
raw material. Based on this conception we may meet waste collector places on
many point of the county seat, which make it possible to get rid of the waste
in a refined way.
What is the purpose of the introduction of selective waste collection?
Why is it important? An increasingly high amount of waste arises in
Hungary, and also in our city. The continuous increase of the settlements’
solid waste may be explained with the lifestyle changes, the consumer habits,
the packaging techniques, changes in the product composition of the food
industry.
Among the wastes arising in the households there are such wastes, which
include valuable raw materials and they are suitable for recycle (e.g. paper,
plastic, glass). If we place these materials in the traditional waste tanks,
they will be lost for good and new raw materials need to be used that leads to
wasting and the increase of activities causing damage to the environment. It is
much cheaper for example to produce paper from recycled paper or aluminum from
non-ferrous metal, than the direct production. With the glass produced from
scrap glass 15% energy saving can be reached. Saving of natural resources is
not only important from financial point of view, but also from environmental
aspects.
The RWE Umwelt Tatabánya Co. has established a new building and a court
for waste management. Through this HUF 212.5 million investment the selective
waste collection and the environmentally sound reuse of communal waste became
available for 21 settlements in 3 counties. The waste law adjusted to the
directives of the European Union precisely prescribes what may the waste
include. The collector places described above also help to keep this law.
In early times the municipality
had to choose between garbage treatment and waste management. The city decided
to choose the second possibility and prepared a long-term program. So the RWE
Umwelt Tatabánya Co. established its waste depot on the property bought from
the mining company that was financed partly by the municipality.
The new investment makes possible
to introduce the selective waste collection in Tatabánya and its region. 30
collector places were established for this purpose. With the help of this
system the inhabitants can take the cleanness of the city in their own hands.
With the new collector places Tatabánya is the leader in waste management.
The separately collected paper and
plastic is sorted and trusted in the new building. Metal and other materials
may be sold straight after sorting.
The RWE Umwelt Tatabánya Co. has the right to collect and transport more
than 500 type of hazardous waste. By the time new types of waste get into the
reutilization system, like the broken asphalt. For the utilization of this
asphalt the most modern technology will be used.
The Co. is committed to manage its activity in harmonization with
economy and environmental protection.
The family in the city’s industrial park has a new “child”. In the past
8 years many Western companies built their production centers on the former
cornfield. The newest investor among them is the Coloplast Hungary
Manufacturing Ltd. having its seat in Denmark that produces medical appliances.
The company’s 13,000 m2 production hall was opened in May. In
this plant of Coloplast 300 person will be employed in the next months.
Coloplast has chosen Tatabánya, as its Hungarian headquarter because of the
skilled workforce can be found in the former mining town. The company is also
present in Denmark, China and Costa Rica.
Hungary can keep its competitiveness in the 21. century only if it gives
place for technologies belonging to the forefront of the world. This conception
guided the Zenon Ltd. in the realization of its new membrane production plant,
where parts for water clarifying and sewage filtering equipments will be
produced.
Water is becoming more and more a carefully watched treasure. The
government pays also a stressed attention to the cleanness of the surface and
underground water and in the interest of this several investments with sewage
filtering purposes need to be realized in the next 5-10 years.
The HUF 3 billion investment that will be the second membrane-module
production plant of the world and will be realized by the worldwide known
company, the market leading water-clarifying membrane manufacturer, Zenon
Environmental Inc.
The Canadian company started the building up of its European company
network for 10 years. The company started its first Hungarian business
investment in Tatabánya, where its R + D center will start its activity within
one year.
Although, our city is not well-known
for its tourist attractions, there are sights, which are worth visiting. The
symbol of Tatabánya, the Turul-monument can be seen above the city on
Stone-hill. The monument was erected in 1907 in memorial of the conquest of
Hungarians. The statue of the Turul bird, which is the largest bird statue in
the world and the biggest bronze statue in Central-Europe, is the work of Gyula
Donáth. The Szelim-cave, on of the nicest beauty spots of the area, can be
found a couple hundred meters from the Turul-monument. Remains of the fireplaces
of the cavemen and bones of animals were excavated in the cave. The relics of
the coal-basin of Tatabánya (shaft-tower, forge, miner house etc.) can be
visited n the Outdoor Mining Museum, which is located in the above ground
facilities of the old mine no. XV.
There are permanent exhibitions of
local-history, history of industry, history of schools and periodical
exhibitions of archaeology, art, photography and ethnography are open for
visitors.
The Népház was built between
1913-1917, and since 1994 it has been operating as Jászai Mari Theatre, it has
its own theatrical company. 150 in house productions and 52 guest plays amuse
the audience of Tatabánya and the county annually. The 100 years old Symphonic
Orchestra of Tatabánya and the Miner Folk-dance Group with more than 100 adult
and children member are also operating here.
The so-called Patrónus Kör (Patron Circle) was established a couple of
years ago, the members of which give also financial support to the
Népház-Jászai Mari Theatre. About 50 persons make a contribution to the
enrichment of the shows and the presentation of a play with high standards,
higher costs and more spectacles. Most of them are entrepreneurs and there are
ones, who assure to their employees the participation on the shows and the
meetings with the actors after the plays. The purpose of this is the high level
entertainment and to get in close touch with the audience.
Thanks to the development of the theatre several,
significant own plays and guest performances made the selection colourful this
year.
The theatre of Tatabánya gave till now mainly for
young, talented actors a chance to play, but the audience of today needs the
play of “stars” also. It would be worth to keep this demand also in mind that
not only high level, but audience-attracting plays should be played in the
theatre of Tatabánya.
There are also a lot of things of
interest in the Museum of Tatabánya that is located in Közművelődés Háza
working also as cultural centre.
The 18th May is the world-day of the
museums. This day on every part of the world people are celebrating and the
museums are expecting the visitors with open doors. This celebration is
especially important for the Hungarian museums, because the matter of the
Hungarian museums is 200 years old this year. 200 years ago the first Hungarian
public collection, the Hungarian National Museum was established on the
initiation of Ferenc Széchenyi. Every year this day the “Museum of the Year”
honourable title is presented in the National Museum according to the advice of
the professionals. The Museum of Tatabánya also gained this title for its
activity in 1997.
The greatest cultural and sport meeting of Tatabánya is the three-day
truck festival. The event could be arranged this year at the eighth time.
During these three days the members of about 35-40 nationals are staying as
guests in our city and visitors are coming from almost all parts of the
country.
The festival is also important in the life of Tatabánya, because it
isn’t only for the truck drivers, not only their event, but also the whole
city’s and the county’s event also. Truck festival is held in Hungary formally
only in Szeged and Tatabánya.
The fair called Living Space was organized this year in spring the third
time with the purpose to make it a tradition. The main saying of the fair is
creating a home, so first of all furnishings and construction products are
introduced on the exhibition.
The Vértes Expo is organized at the end of summer in August, which is
the third biggest event in this part of the country according its character.
This fair is first of all the review of investment and consumer goods, on which
several cultural and professional lessons and meetings get also place.
The St. John’s night carnival was organized this year the sixth time.
The program is very colourful and the number of the programs is increasing from
year to year. On the 2-day event folks and handicrafts fair, sport games,
competitions, carnival parade, jumping of St. John’s blaze, firework and
carnival bonfire get place.
The municipality founded a scholarship system in 1998 for the purpose to
further the employment of local career-starter by the companies operating in
the city. Thanks to this initiation the municipality of Tatabánya earned the
titled “The Youth Friendly Municipality of the Year” in 2001.
191 college and university
students applied for the tender advertised at the eighth time this year. From
these students 86 have met the main requirement: they had better study average
than 4,5 in the last semester.
Several chambers are working in the region. One of the most important
ones is the Regional Chamber of Engineers. The chamber was founded in 1996 with
251 members. This number increased to 508 till today. Keeping a designer and
professional register, judgment of engineer or architectural activity is also
among its tasks.
Beside that the chamber makes a point of establishing the engineer
education in Hungary harmonizing with the European practice. Because the
excellent Hungarian professionals have to fill much more requirements than
their colleagues in Western Europe, so they may start with a major disadvantage
at the EU accession. That’s why the reorganization of the present education
system has high priority.
In the last couple of years
tendering became natural, as inseparable part of civil life. The communities,
even the institutions of the city became almost professionals in the methods of
finding sources. A basic condition of their program planning is the
municipality as reliable partner, because the frames ensured through the
municipality have major importance in the life of many organizations and
communities. With ensuring tender funds the municipality’s aims are forming the
city image, supporting high-quality public events, programs, publications,
brochures, which have tradition in the city or to create new tradition. A
stable tendering group was established during the past years and the
organizations, institutes count on this possibility. With this financial help
they realized events that are organic part of Tatabánya’s intellectual life.
The municipality ensures this year tendering opportunity in several
categories for the communities. Tenders may be submitted in education, social,
health, cultural, drug prevention, youth and foreign contact themes.
Sources were collected in a common fund by the municipality, so the
tender could be advertised with an amount of HUF 6 million. The municipality
ensures additional HUF 6 million for rounding off the applicant’s own
resources. In this way the municipality can support the communities’ own
resources, if they intend to apply for national or international tenders with
different Tatabánya programs, but they don’t have the required amount of money.
This new form of support has justified the hopes: the communities
brought to Tatabánya 3 times more money than the own resource ensured by the
municipality.
Favorable processes have started in the city on the field of
co-operations. The Economic Development Organization of the County Town
Tatabánya in the frame of the “Cities of Change” program has prepared a
research theme list connecting to the economic development strategy of the city
that was sent to the College of Modern Business Studies (MÜTF) and offered to
conclude a research agreement. The co-operation fitted in well with the
education development strategy of the college, so an agreement was concluded
between the college and the Economic Development Organization.
Objective of this co-operational
agreement is the scientific and professional establishment and organized
realization of R + D themes using the knowledge base, international and
national relationships of MÜTF.
Besides fixing the main themes of the research work in connection with
economic development 3 project plans were prepared. One of them has been realized
and the other two is in progress.
The projects are followings:
As the result of this project, the CD-ROM will look over the moments of
the city’s and its region’s development, the local distribution of the
populations’ demographical and social characteristics, the home and living
conditions and the city life. Collection and preprocessing of the information
will be realized in co-operation with the county organizations and involving
the students. Main tasks of this research: documentation of districts in
Tatabánya, registration of institutes and services, trade monitoring, presence
of new commercial units and their influences and preparing a tourist map of
Komárom-Esztergom County.
Objectives of this project are:
The research will be realized with the involvement of the students, who
will help primarily in arrangement of inquiries and setting information.
Objective of the course is to give information and experiences in order
to be prepared for the EU accession. Taking part on this course is recommended
for professionals of small- and middle-size companies, regional associations,
enterprise development funds, municipalities, civil organizations and those
dealing with interest protection. They intend to plan or take part in the
future in projects financed by the EU.
According the plans participants may learn information about regional
planning, preparing tenders and financing, which meet the EU practice and they
can get answers to their problems and ideas. In the frame of the manual
training they may get an overall picture of preparing tenders, regional project
examples will be introduced and case studies will be analyzed.
The course took place in April. However experiences came to other
results as planned. Despite of the exemption of charges the interest was law
and the professors, who drew up the presentation themes, approached the single
parts of the presentation extremely from theoretical side. So the program was
more likely a college lecture, than a course for practicing professionals to
widen their knowledge.
Many local big-size companies could be won over to support the local
educational institutes in a contractual form. So major part of the training
fund remains in the city. According the law 75 % of the contribution may be
paid to local educational institutes. This amount exceeded HUF 100 million last
year. Thanks to this possibility the future workforce can be trained according
the companies’ requirements.
A co-operational contract was undersigned by the Közép-Pannon Regionális
Fejlesztési Rt. (Middle-Pannonian Regional Development Co.) and the Economic
Development Organization. On the basis of the contract the organization helps
in the entire county to small- and middle-size companies for example with
investment and financing consultation.
Thanks to this co-operation the range of possibilities and means widened
on the field of economic development, so more sources could probably be gained
for the county and the city.
More than 8,000 pupils are educated
in 21 elementary schools of the city. For secondary education there are 2
gymnasiums and 7 high schools operating in Tatabánya. The College for Modern
Business Studies, established in 1992, offers both full-time, part-time and
post graduate education. The aim of the school is to educate managers with the
knowledge of a minimum two foreign languages, who can cope with the challenge
of business life. A section of the Gábor Dénes Technical Informatics College
also operates in the city.
The International Institute for
Creative Music Education was established in 1993 in Tatabánya and it became the
workshop of various Central-European musical trends.
50 different professions are taught
in the educational institute of the city. The school system of Tatabánya has
adapted to the changes of the economic circumstances.
With regard of the high-level
education the city needs some further development, as the higher educational
places have a very important role in forming and developing the intellectual
aspect of each geographical area.
The student programs make the
cultural life colourful, the new graduates staying in Tatabánya strengthen the
city’s and the region’s intellectual performance.
But according to a survey the county
can hardly keep the future graduates. So it is important for the city to be
open for new independent higher educational institutes and off-seat educational
places, which increase the possibility that the future intellectuals won’t
leave Tatabánya.
The number of students in the
College for Modern Business Studies operating for 10 years in Tatabánya reached
this year the 3,500 persons planned originally for the year 2005. The number of
teachers increased from 110 to 130. The college plans to start a new field of
study. In the frame of this training, which meets the practical economic
requirement of the region, a technical type of higher education would be
realized in the college of Tatabánya. The professional and financial
possibilities are being sized up.
The local office of the County
Labour Centre organizes every year a job fair. The job fair in spring of last
year was organized for the differently-abled workforce and in September for the
career-starter. The job fair this year also arouse great interest, during which
this time employed people could seek new employment. So this way such persons
could also get a possibility, who wish to find a better job, another one nearer
to their home or would like to change because of professional promotion.
Almost a thousand people have
visited the program, where about 20 companies were waiting for the job-seekers
with 400 job offers and three labour offices were looking for 150-200 employees
additionally on behalf of several companies. Supply is very different: from
insurance agent to soldier, from semi-skilled work to quality controller.
There was a greater demand for
semi-skilled workers than before, but today more and more companies are looking
for qualified workforce.
The international research program
PICS, realized between 1999-2000 deals with the relationship of cities and its
regions, the regional influences of European integration and globalisation.
The Sociological Research Institute
of the Hungarian Academy of Science and its Middle Transdanubian Research Group
has made the researches together with the colleagues of the academy in Paris.
The French, Polish and Hungarian research group researched the global and local
features, which determine the regional social processes of the Hungarian and
Polish transition, economic and social relations of the city centres and its
environment. The participating professionals didn’t stress the present
situation, moreover the future prospects.
As a result of this research arose
the final study with the title “The Social and Economic Relationships of
Tatabánya and its Region; the Elements to Increase Competitiveness”. It has
been stated that the economic restructuring was the fastest, the appearance of
the foreign capital was the most active and in improving competitiveness the
most spectacular results could be showed up in this region.
Primary object of the research was
to explore in case of Tatabánya and Oroszlány one of the important
competitiveness conditions needed for the European integration, the relations
of the city to its region, especially to Tata and Oroszlány and the sociological
elements, interest-structures and social conflicts determining the development
of the co-operation. The municipality of Tatabánya, Tata and Oroszlány see this
research as a starting point that makes it possible to define what to do in the
following 10 years in the interest of increasing competitiveness and
intensification of the co-operation.
The study analyzes the economic,
local, social and political relations of these three cities, their dependence
relations and explores the impacts influencing the established economic
situation.
It examines the sub urbanization
processes, which settlements receive the people moving out of Tatabánya with
favourable and with rather unfavourable social position into, and as an
influence of these mechanisms what kind of social conflicts arise. It analyzes
the political, power relations of Tatabánya, Tata and Oroszlány according to
the attitude to co-operation and the regional co-operation between the
municipalities. It deals with two important social conditions of the regional
development, the environmental protection and the civil social organizations in
single chapters.
There are two basic things needed
for the economic development: money and collaboration. They are needed for the
market members to get resources.
The Hungarian Investment and Trade
Development Agency (ITD), the Chamber of Commerce and Industry in
Komárom-Esztergom County, the Euroregion Vág-Duna-Ipoly and the municipality of
the county organized a professional forum this year. Main topic of the meeting
were the utilization possibilities of the Széchenyi Plan and the SAPARD
structural founds.
One of the important tasks of the
forum was to introduce the resources and possibilities of the tenders to the
participants.
From the programs of Széchenyi Plan
that one has to be mentioned, which deals with strengthening the enterprises,
home building and developing tourism. However with regard to the whole economy
the regional economy building program, the R + D and innovation program, the
information society and economic development program offer important
possibilities.
In case of every region it can be
said that if it gets the needed resources that is followed by prosperity.
The Hungarian Investment and Trade
Development Agency organized also the Honeywell Middle Eastern European
Supplier Conference and Businessman Meeting in Budapest between 13-15 May. The
American company with 120 thousand employees throughout the world invited its
American and Western European primary suppliers to Budapest, who had business
talks with the companies of the region and looked at the investment
possibilities in Hungary for the purpose to establish industrial co-operations.
The Slovenian, Polish, German, Dutch, French and American participants visited
the industrial park in Tatabánya to get some practical experience on the last
day of the conference.
The powers keeping up the growth and
operation of the city have exhausted for 12 years. The objective was that time
to stop the decline of Tatabánya before the collapse of the one sidedly
developed heavy industry buries everything under itself. The objective wasn’t
only to keep the city’s ability to operate, but it had to be striven for
starting Tatabánya on the way becoming a real city. After handling the crisis
and making the preparatory works the economic independence of the city became
stronger, because only a stable economy can provide safe job for the
inhabitants. It is very important for the city to have its own mentality, in
which people respect and preserve the traditions, and different opinions have
also place.
The fact that the settlements in the
region have made its co-operation tighter contributed to the speeding up of the
economic development and increasing the effectiveness of the economic development
work. The Által-ér Union, including the municipalities, the important members
of the economy and the civil organizations of the region, has worked
successfully to extend the economic development over the whole region that has
started in Tatabánya. The billion-HUF renovation of the water treatment plant
has been finished, the municipality has done the recultivation of the old
refuse dump, has built a waste selection plant, has started the recultivation
of the old mines, has developed the rescue technique of the fire service and
has extended the industrial park. All these works gained an almost HUF 2
billion subsidy. The companies settled down in the industrial park had a share
of almost HUF 1.5 billion in the Széchenyi Plan.
The management of the city was working
primary on creating the conditions of daily living in the past decade, namely
on the economic development. This is the base. Meanwhile other demands appeared
and striving for satisfying them means for the municipality the objectives
creating better home conditions, establishing orderly public areas, creating
high-level institutional provision. Above this level we would like to establish
such services in the city that ensure the opportunity to entertainment of
high standard and to live the magic atmosphere of communal being together.
So there may be public areas, cultural institutions, and even literary cafés.
A lot of people would like to see steps taking in the field of body culture.
An indoor swimming pool of high level, an open-air bath, a stadium, and covered
tennis court show up as demand from side of the inhabitants. The high level
entertainment and recreational facilities are missing in the city. The harmonization
between the built and natural environment, stopping former environmental damages
and preventing additional damages with making our everyday life more conscious
have to be also continued. Doing everything in the interest of creating a
friendlier and more homely environment.