It may seem so at first glance, but on closer examination we can find many examples both from Western and Eastern Europe that it is not only the “megacorporations” that thrive on the stock market.

It is a well-known truism that without SMEs, there can be no successful economies: multinational and national corporations and factories are unable to employ people and to produce on the same scale as all the “small ones” put together. Both segments are needed in order to make the system complete.

In a normal economy, the stock exchange is a mirror for real economy processes. When all goes well on the trading floor – not only Hungarian and foreign investors, but also households buy shares – then everything is fine with business in general.

Therefore the renewed efforts of the BSE to attract as many operators as possible to the Hungarian stock market, along with innovation and increasing capacities, are only to be encouraged.

Representing Figyelő, also recently revamped, we are proud to have once again cooperated on a project that illustrates how the economy gathers strength and is modernised, and a dynamic corporate world is presented in the form of the new “top fifty”.

And if more and more actors in the Hungarian economy feel that their place is, in some shape or form, on the trading floor, a successful stock exchange does not only increase the transparency and competitiveness of the economy, but also transmits resources to market operators.

Many have a clearer view of the stock exchange, as interviews with the managers have proved – stock market processes were no longer automatically associated with speculation.

Answers also proved that a successful stock exchange requires a robustly growing economy, a stock exchange-friendly political, legal, and tax environment, public offerings by a multitude of companies, a high-level education system in finance, and a good pool of qualified professionals in the field. Basically, the framework is there: expansion is fast, the legislator favours market interests, and more and more educational opportunities are available.

During the regime change in 1990, Austria, Southern Germany, and Northern Italy were the examples to follow, precisely because in these nearby markets, efficient and creative small- and medium-sized enterprises were, and still are, the backbone of their economies.

Catching up with them is still a target, but maybe now we can also aim higher. While their financing is not yet complete, Hungarian SMEs produce half of our GDP, and they also account for over 70% of employment.

This is why we are placing our focus on them.

Csaba Szajlai, Managing Editor