BUSINESS

HEALTHY PEOPLE, HEALTHY PLANET

"OUR FUTURE DEPENDS ON SUSTAINABLE FOOD SYSTEMS" While right now the key factor is the survival of the supply chain, after overcoming the pandemic, it will also be necessary to address the challenge of sustainable food systems, which play an essential role in maintaining the health of people and the planet. This was highlighted by Diane Holdorf, Managing Director of the World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD) Food and Nature program early April.

Diane Holdorf delivered a highly successful and thoughtful presentation at the Business Council for Sustainable Development in Hungary’s (BCSDH) Virtual Business Breakfast and Action 2020 Forum. The business breakfast of the organization, which has 92 member companies responsible for 30% of Hungarian GDP, was followed by a workshop with company executives and In the first quarter of 2020, over 40,000 square meters of new space was added to the total modern industrial stock in Budapest and its surroundings, with the handover of the BUD Cargo City (8,700 m 2 ) and the new building of CTPark West (31,320 m 2 ). The total modern industrial stock in Budapest and its surroundings stood at 2,286,970 m 2 at the end of Q1 2020, according to a report by the Budapest Research Forum of large real estate companies. Total demand amounted to 79,660 m 2 in Q1 2020, indicating a 5% decrease from the figure noted in the same period last year and a 10% decrease compared to the previous quarter. Lease renewals accounted for an outstandingly high ratio, reaching 85% of the quarterly volume, followed by new leases with a share of 10%. Pre-lease stood for 5% and expansions stood for 0.2% of the quarterly figure. Take up excluding renewals added up to 11,840 m 2 – 13% lower than in Q1 2019. 19 leasing transactions were recorded in the first quarter of 2020, out of which three agreements were signed for more than 10,000 m 2 . The the quarter. 96% of the transaction volumes was recorded in logistics parks, with an average transaction size of 5,470 m 2 . The remaining 4% of the transactional volume was registered in city logistics parks, reaching an average transaction experts. This served the purpose of helping the business sector to take real steps forward in the area of food sustainability and biodiversity. In his opening remarks, BCSDH President Attila Chikán Jr. emphasized that “in the field of sustainable development, we often say that business as usual is no longer viable and cannot be allowed to continue. Now, the world has turned on its head because of the coronavirus. Business is anything but ordinary. While some sustainability size of 630 m 2 which consists of an average transaction size of 1,000 m 2 in case of warehouse space and an average transaction size of 235 m 2 in case of office space. The two largest transactions in Q1 were renewals in the building of Batta Park on 28,590 m 2 and the other was in Prologis Park Budapest M1 on

BUDAPEST INDUSTRIAL PROPERTY REPORT

DEMAND FOR CORPORATE PROPERTY IS DOWN ON LAST YEAR

aspirations are being neglected, it is our common responsibility to develop new impetus for climate protection and to create a sustainable world once our current problems are solved. Thus, the professional work continues at BCSDH.” Agriculture is estimated to be responsible for 23% of greenhouse gas emissions, as well as for around 80% of deforestation and 70% of freshwater use worldwide. Hungary has one of the largest proportions of obese people in The COVID-19 epidemic has radically transformed the way customer services work. Due to restrictions, customer activity has slowed down and customer interaction has changed. Given the economic difficulties, the willingness to pay is expected to weaken, which may lead to an increase in the debt portfolio and a decrease in the number of customer inquiries. Some of the payment solutions that have worked so far have been pushed back, while other methods that have not been widely used before are on the rise, a study by Deloitte Hungary suggests. “After the restrictions imposed due to the epidemic, personal visits to administration offices are not recommended. However, the availability of customer services must be ensured in spite of exceptional circumstances, in such a way that customer satisfaction is maintained. At the same time, there is a need to be prepared for the proliferation of problematic issues in an emergency, which can pose new challenges for customer services. In order to maintain a smooth business, it is worth assessing what risks are involved and how they can be managed,” Senior Manager in Advisory Services at Deloitte Hungary, Eszter Lukács points out. In most businesses, customer service staff now work from home, which represents a fundamental change in work culture. In order Europe, and produces about 1.8 million tons of food waste each year, about a quarter of which comes from households. Around 46% of Hungary's total area is arable land, about 60% of which is threatened by soil degradation, and has very low ecosystem service capacity and biodiversity. “We are living in challenging times, and the pace of change has accelerated. Our future depends on our ability to create a system that supports healthy people and a healthy planet. We have been able to produce a great amount of food for the world's population, and there are already solutions that allow us to feed the growing population. But our current systems make demands that go way beyond the resources of our planet,” Diane Holdorf explained. The business breakfast was followed by a virtual Action 2020 Professional Forum, the primary purpose of which was to initiate joint thinking and work in the business sector that will make a real impact. A total of 60 corporate executives, professionals, academic and civilian experts participated at the forum in four groups. The main objective of the Action 2020 Hungary program is to promote the creation of a sustainable, safe, and local food production and supply system, which can provide everyone with a healthy, balanced diet, while also

CUSTOMER SERVICES DURING THE PANDEMIC

A FUNDAMENTAL CHANGE IN WORKING CULTURE

average transaction size was 4,190 m 2 during 15,880 m 2 .

restoring and preserving biodiversity.

to manage the resulting risk, when setting up a home office system, it is also necessary to ensure the introduction of IT solutions that help monitor the quantity and quality of work performed and enable the motivation of employees working in isolation. It is extremely important that either the home office system itself or the employee control system be the best possible in terms of cyber security, as both are used to transmit sensitive personal and corporate data.