Expat CEO of the Year Award
SAVE THE DATE
Work has already been underway for some time on what will be the 10th annual BBJ Expat CEO of the Year Gala, due to be held on Friday,
March 22, 2024.
The venue of the Expat CEO of the Year Gala event is the Grand Ballroom of the Corinthia Hotel Budapest. Address: Budapest, Erzsébet krt. 43,
1073 Hungary.
The title of Expat CEO of the Year is given to the business leader who has done most for the country’s development and international recognition through his or her professionalism and outstanding achievements in the past 12 months.
The winner will be chosen by a professional awards committee. This award will be given to that leader who has done most for Hungarian
suppliers and for strengthen the domestic SME sector during the past year.
The BBJ Expat CEO of the Year Gala is one of Hungary’s most prestigious annual events. On that evening, the Expat CEO of the Year Award is presented to a company head recognized as the most successful foreign leader in the past year, chosen from a pool of several hundred expat leaders. Success here means that they contribute at an exceptional level to Hungary’s economic development and set an outstanding example to their employees and also to their peers within the expat community.
The award is now a tradition dating back a decade; it has been granted annually since 2015. The idea to create a prize offering exclusive
recognition of the efforts of the most outstanding foreign CEO of the year came from the Budapest Business Journal.
“The BBJ is Hungary’s only English-language economic bi-weekly and has always played an important role in providing information for expat CEOs working and living in Hungary. It was natural that we should decide to found an award to recognize their efforts annually,” explains Balázs Román, the CEO of the Budapest Business Journal.
The 2023 title went to Veronika Spanarova, managing director and Citi country officer, Hungary. For the first time, a new Community Award was introduced in 2023 and was presented to Andrea Solti Istenes, president of the Hungarian Business Leaders’ Forum and country chair of Shell Hungary, recognizing her efforts in diversity, inclusivity, disability, and sustainability.
The 2022 winner of the Expat CEO Award was Giacomo Pedranzini, CEO of Kometa 99 Zrt. After a COVID-induced delay to the gala of 18 months, Erik Slooten of Deutsche Telekom IT Solutions Hungary was selected as the 2021 winner. His immediate predecessor, albeit one named in January 2020, was BlackRock’s Melanie Seymour. Taira-Julia Lammi, CEO of ABB Hungary Kft., won the award in 2019, while in 2018, it went to Marc de Bastos Eckstein of Thyssenkrupp Components Technology Hungary Kft. In 2017, it was Jörg Bauer, then of GE Hungary; he followed Jost Ernst Lammers, CEO of Budapest Airport Zrt. in 2016. The inaugural award went in 2015 to Javier González Pareja of Bosch Magyarország.
Each year until 2020, the official event partner, the Hungarian Investment Promotion Agency, presented its Partnership Award in recognition of the work of foreign-owned multinational firms in promoting the use of local SME suppliers in their value chain and of the ambassadorial role their CEOs play in representing Hungary to their home boards. Over the years, the award has been presented to the following:
Nevijo Mance, director of engineering, Jaguar Land Rover Hungary (2021); Dale A. Martin, president-CEO of Siemens Zrt. (2020); Kannan
Prabhakar, projects chief of Apollo Tyres Hungary Kft. (2019); Frank Müller, head of the Regional Office of VW Group Eastern Europe (2018);
Ekkehard Günter Philipp, CFO of Mercedes-Benz Manufacturing Hungary Kft. (2017); Naoyuki Takeuchi, CEO of Magyar Suzuki Zrt. (2016); and
Kersten Bachmann, CEO of TAKATA Safety Systems Hungary Kft. (2015).
The independent jury members’ expertise strengthens the high quality of the award. It is comprised of leaders of bilateral chambers and international business development organizations with outstanding experience both in international and domestic economic life, complemented by the prize winner of the previous year and the CEO of the Budapest Business Journal.
Jury members are charged with nominating expat CEOs for the award based on the following criteria:
- Innovative skills
- Successes on domestic and international markets
- Being a prominent and committed representative of his or her mother country in Hungary
- Their impact on Hungary’s economic life
- The CEO must have lived in Hungary for at least two years
- The financial results of the company represented by the CEO must be positive
The jury responsible for deciding the 2024 winner:
PREVIOUS WINNERS OF BBJ EXPAT CEO OF THE YEAR
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
Dress-code
The dress code is black-tie: black tuxedo for men with a bow tie, evening wear for women (long ball gown or cocktail dress).
Food allergy, special diet
When registering, please let us know about any special dietary requirements.
Registration process
Registration to the event is open to those who have received a personal invitation to the BBJ Expat CEO of the Year Gala via email. Please note that only by giving a written confirmation of your registration here will you be entitled to attend the Gala. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact us at event@bbj.hu.
Venue
The venue of the Expat CEO of the Year Gala event is the Grand Ballroom of the Corinthia Hotel Budapest.
Website: www.corinthia.com/hotels/budapest/
Address: Budapest, Erzsébet krt. 43, 1073 Hungary
Parking is possible on site at the hotel garage (spaces permitting) according to the parking rates of the Corinthia Hotel Budapest.
To become a sponsor please contact us here: balazs.roman@bbj.hu