Joint effort in the business sphere to support the proportional composition of leading bodies and the participation of women
On the 7th of March the Budapest Stock Exchange (BÉT), the Hungarian Business Leaders Forum (HBLF) and the Institute of Directors (IoD) have signed the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU), with which they support diversity in the decision-making bodies of domestic companies. Several organizations expressed their support for the initiative and joined as signatories: the British Chamber of Commerce in Hungary, the French-Hungarian Chamber of Commerce and Industry, the German-Hungarian Chamber of Industry and Commerce, Hungarian Asof sociation of Executives, Joint Venture Association, the Netherlands-Hungarian Chamber of Commerce, and the Women in Energy association.
The Memorandum of Understanding is intended to promote the European Parliament’s 2022 directive in Hungary, according to which by July 2026, more than 40% of the decision-making bodies (in terms of all director positions) of large EU companies listed on the stock exchange must be filled by the underrepresented gender.
The main goal of the Memorandum of Understanding is to build a broad alliance with the participation of organizations supporting the domestic business sphere. The initiators support the joining of other organizations to the MoU—which is, ultimately, meant to raise the efficiency of the decision-making bodies of domestic companies to an even higher level—as well as commit themselves to equal opportunities and diversity, and launch programs to achieve these goals. The HBLF X Mentor Executive program prepares newly appointed board members and partners or candidates by providing mentorship and professional workshops to the participants. With a premium workshop on stock market presence, the BÉT will contribute to the program from 2024 as well. The organizations joining the initiative also offer several programs supporting the promotion of equality in a corporate setting: such as the Gender Equality in the Workplace event of the British Chamber of Commerce in Hungary, the Leaders in Stilettos event series of the French-Hungarian Chamber of Commerce and Industry, the Women@DUIHK women’s network of the German-Hungarian Chamber of Industry and Commerce, the Women Leaders for Society! campaign of the Hungarian Association of Executives, the diversity and equal opportunities event series of the Netherlands-Hungarian Chamber of Commerce, the mentor program and regional Gender Diversity reports of the Women in Energy association, or the efforts of the Joint Venture Association to achieve a 50-50% gender balance in the composition of board and management.
The Memorandum of Understanding was signed by Richárd Végh, CEO, and István Máté-Tóth, Deputy CEO, on behalf of the Budapest Stock Exchange, Andrea Istenes Solti, President of the HBLF and Kinga Daradics, President of the IoD.
