Intercultural competence is a relatively new term and may be more relevant than ever due to the growing number of misunderstandings and miscommunication during intercultural interactions. Experts generally point out that it is the existence of intercultural competence which facilitates intercultural communication. The purpose of the present paper is to discuss the effect of intercultural competence on intercultural communication. Therefore the paper reviews the most relevant literature of the topic, and emphasizes the consequences of the lack of intercultural competence on intercultural communication with the help of some case studies collected among Hungarian businesspeople working with partners with different cultural backgrounds. Finally, the paper draws conclusions about the effect of intercultural competence on intercultural communication.