West-Transdanubia Region

The West Transdanubian Region (also known as West Pannonia), which includes the counties Győr-Moson-Sopron, Vas and Zala, is one of the seven statistical regions adopted by the Hungarian Parliament in 1998.

According to GDP and rates of foreign capital, the West Transdanubian Region is the second most developed region after the Region of Central Hungary, mainly thanks to multinational companies (AUDI, General Motors, LuK, Epcos, etc.). R&D activities are concentrated mainly at the university level in institutions like the Széchenyi István University, the University of West Hungary and the University of Pannonia, Georgikon Faculty.

Small and medium-size enterprises, which amount to 99% of companies in the region, are supported by cluster initiatives established over recent years in the most important sectors of the region: automotive, thermal tourism, forestry, renewable energy, mechatronics, ICT and others.

The regional University Knowledge Centre and Centre for Cooperative Research was established in Széchenyi István University within the Faculty of Engineering and in the University of West Hungary within the Faculty of Forestry and the Faculty of Wood Sciences in 2005 and 2006 to exploit research and development results in close cooperation with industry.

The Innovation Strategic Programme of West Transdanubian Region will be renewed under the stewardship of the West Pannon Regional Innovation Agency in collaboration with a wide range of regional partners.