Five years ago Poland became a member of the European Union and is now considered a country of significant economic potential with one of the fastest growing economies in Central Europe. Commanding a strategic position in the heart of Europe, Poland's remarkable economic growth in recent years has led to greater trade integration with other EU countries. This stable economic situation along with a market of 38 million consumers and 250 million other consumers within a radius of 1000 km ensures the success of long-term investments. As part of the trans-European road corridor it integrates well with other transport networks, thus facilitating the access of goods, services and people.
While Poland is the major beneficiary of structural funds, it is tackling the financial crisis through the soundness of its economic system and the influx of foreign capital, thus having managed to maintain an economic growth of 1.9 per cent of GDP as recognised by Eurostat. The forecasts of the economic world are favourable to Poland. The Economist estimates that the Polish GDP will significantly speed up in 2010 to a level of 2.2 per cent with an inflation rate of three per cent.
The entry of Poland into the EU created a series of business opportunities. The large European market was fully opened to Polish products while foreign investors took the opportunity to establish businesses in Poland. An important element at the core of the Polish economy is the connection between the increase in productivity and the average cost of labour, which has favoured new industrial settlements and the creation of new service centres.
Human capital remains a very important factor in the growth of the country's economy. Poland is one of the youngest countries in Europe (half of the population is younger than 35 and 35 per cent of these are younger than 25). With a network of 448 universities and polytechnic superior institutes, it ranks second in Europe for number of students with 87 per cent of these knowing foreign languages. Moreover, Poland trains highly skilled workers, especially engineers and managers.
Other important benchmarks of the country's economic success are beneficial incentives to attract investors and foreign capital, a dynamic private sector, a large domestic market and an impressive growth in consumption, a large and well-qualified labour force and relatively low labour costs, a business-friendly infrastructure and environment and a modern and well developed banking system. Poland is also a country of research and development centres as well as well-known service centres in Europe.
Among the many incentives to attract investors and foreign capital are the 14 Special Economic Zones which are administratively separate parts of Polish territory and which have been allocated for the running of businesses on preferential terms. A foreign company, through settling in an SEZ, is assured of tax benefits and is granted permission to begin trading directly by the managing board of each zone. In addition, various industrial and technology parks offer further business opportunities.
The Polish government promotes selected industrial sectors, in particular the manufacturing of value-added products as well as the services sector (a synergy between production, research and development). They both offer the highest growth potential and the best prospects for sustainable development in Poland. The industrial sectors promoted by the government are international trade in services (financial services included), call centres, shared service centres, IT centres, electronics, automotive, biotechnology, research and development and aviation. Many projects are financed through structural funds from the National Operational Programme "Innovative Economy".
Within the framework of the new EU financial perspectives for 2007/2013, Poland benefits from the strong support of structural funds. In fact Poland will have a total of over €90 billion divided among various national operational programmes and regional operational programmes. These funds will strengthen the economic development of the country on two main fronts: they will guarantee a more modern and dynamic environment through communication and IT infrastructures and this enormous flow of resources will go towards companies, especially small and medium sized businesses, in order to support innovation and new technologies.
Another important economic opportunity in construction, services and tourism comes from the preparations related to the organisation of the European Football Championship EURO 2012, which Poland will host together with the Ukraine.
Recently, a new law on public-private partnership entered into force. This law opens up many opportunities for Polish and foreign companies to build and manage entrepreneurial activities.
www.roma.trade.gov.pl
This article has been written by the trade and investment promotion section of the Embassy of Poland in Rome.