This year’s second EGTC workshop was organised by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade, on December 7-8, 2023, at the Főnix Wellness Resort in Nógrádgárdony. The choice of location was born out of the desire to see the recently completed Ipoly Bridge between Őhalom and Ipolyvarbó. At the event, despite the considerable snowfall that made safe traffic difficult, almost all of the Hungarian participating EGTCs were represented.
The professional program began with the opening of Dr. Balázs Loppert, head of the department of regional and border developments which was followed by Illés Úsz, the head of the state secretary’s office responsible for energy and climate policy at the Ministry of Energy, gave an insightful presentation on the expected development of the domestic energy mix, the scope for its diversification, and the application opportunities for renewable energy sources. After the round of questions, Béla Hegyesi, regional cooperation officer of the department of international territorial development cooperation of the Prime Minister’s Office, held an informative briefing on the current affairs of the Interreg transnational and interregional programs.
After the coffee break, CESCI employees, legal consultant Dr Katalin Fekete and project manager István Oláh, as well as director Kitti Dubniczki, presented the participants with unique European capacity development opportunities (available through the support of innovation) as well as in topics relevant for all EGTCs such as poster advertising or contracting authority status of EGTCs.
The professional part of the event was closed by Zsolt Antoni, head of the department of regional and border developments. In his speech, he reminded the participants of the workshop about the significant border crossing development results of the past decade. The event ended with a team-building dinner in accordance with the traditions of EGTC workshops.
