| POLISH INFOMATION AND FOREIGN INVESTMENT AGENCY | ||||||||||||
NEWSLETTER January 29th 2009, Number 107 | ||||||||||||
|
TABLE OF CONTENTS NEWS
INVESTMENTS IN POLAND
FROM THE REGIONS
ANALYSES AND REPORTS
DID YOU KNOW...?
FROM THE EDITOR Dear Readers, This week we write about a report published by the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) which confirms forecasts classifying Poland among countries bound to suffer from the global economic upheaval only to a limited extend. We also write about the Polish government’s initiatives to prevent negative influence on the country’s economy. In the From the Regions section we recommend to read about the official ceremony during which five new investors received business permissions to operate in the £ód¼ SEZ. Moreover, we inform about investment plans of Poland’s both major and smaller cities. You will also find data concerning retail sales and car production in Poland. Pleasant reading! PAIiIZ’s editorial team NEWS Ministry of Economy for stability and development The deputy prime minister and minister of economy Wademar Pawlak, presented a forecast concerning the influence of the global financial crisis on the Polish economy. The Ministry’s project of initiatives for stability and development was presented for social consultations with partners forming the Trilateral Commission.
Although the Ministry assesses the fundaments of the Polish economy to be stable, measures preventing and levelling off negative effects of the crisis for Poland should be taken. The crisis hits Poland in an indirect way through sagging consumer demand on the country’s most important foreign partner markets and problems in investment financing from credits. The country may also suffer due to the flagging trust in shares issued by the emerging economies, capital withdrawal from the CEE markets and consequently lack of stability in monetary markets and considerable fluctuations in the rates of exchange of the Polish z³oty. Yet the Ministry attracts attention to a positive characteristic of the Polish economy consisting in the proportion of deposits to credits indicating that credits were to a large extend financed from deposits and that credits tended not to be granted to people not deemed creditworthy. The scale of Polish household and corporate debts gives reason for optimism in that it tends to be considerably smaller than that of the developed countries. Also consumption and investment projects in Poland financed from credit constitute a small part of all the realised acquisitions and projects. The Ministry’s forecasts concerning economic growth indicate the 2008 economic growth to have reached 3.7% against the average 5% growth experienced in 2004-2007. 2009 is bound to face further slowdown and experience a drop in dynamics to an estimated 2%. Improvement is expected in 2010. Economic forecasts for 2009 depend largely on domestic demand i.e. the condition of the country’s consumer spending and corporate investment outlays. Positive trends on domestic labour market, growing employment and salaries are in line to prop up positive consumer attitude and thus help the economy to face the global turmoil. At the same time growing levels of funding from the EU should boost investment spending in the entire economy. The presented package for stability and development aims at improvements in consumer and investment spending, in the funding system provided by the Ministry of Treasury, in the pace of EU financed investment projects’ realisation as well as in innovation development and improvement in the labour market flexibility levels. These are only selected priorities mapped out in the document which have now been undergoing the process of social consultations with, among other, the Trilateral Commission. The document is available on the Ministry’s website: www.mg.gov.pl (Ministry of Economy) “Euro for Health” The Ministry of Regional Development in co-operation with the Ministry of Health proclaimed a new educational programme “Euro for Health” - health sector preparation for EU funds acquisition for the years 2007-2013.
Deputy minister for regional development Adam Zdzieb³o said that 1.5 billion EUR was earmarked for the programme’s realisation in the years 2007-2013. The funds may be applied for in the frame of the Infrastructure and Environment programme, Human Capital and 16 other Regional Operational Programmes. Subsidies may also be granted by the Financial Mechanism EOG, the Norwegian Financial Mechanism EFA and the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation. Representatives of the Ministries inform that they want to prepare prospective beneficiaries for effective application and to this end have devised the first ever educational programme geared towards the health sector to be realised in Poland. The “Euro for Health” is to be realised between January and April 2009 across Poland in the form of 16 educational seminars. The training target group includes local governments and its organisational entities, public health care facilities, medical universities, health care foundations and associations. During a two day training course participants will have the chance to get acquainted with finance sources for the health care sector as well as with practical information concerning filling in applications. The former finance forecasts for the years 2004-2006 earmarked 203 million EUR for health care in the frame of Integrated Regional Development Operational Programme. Funds allocated to the purpose rose substantially in the budget for the years 2007-2013. The funds will be granted for life-saving initiatives, medical staff trainings and preventive treatment programmes. The programme includes plans of acquisition of 600 ambulances, refurbishment of 100 health care facilities and professional training of 24 thousand nurses and midwives. (Ministry of Regional Development) For more information visit www.euronazdrowie.pl, www.funduszeeuropejskie.gov.pl or www.zdrowie.gov.pl INVESTMENTS IN POLAND New permissions for investors in the £ód¼ SEZ On January 21st five new investors received business activity permissions allowing them to operate in the £ód¼ Special Economic Zone.
The permissions were granted to five companies representing the following sectors: Nepentes - cosmetics, Enginova - lift door production, C.Hartwig-Targi - logitics, Hellermann Tyton - wiring elements production, Polfa-£ód¼ - pharmacy.
The meeting ended with a speech delivered by Miros³aw Sygnet - vice president of the Nepentes S.A. MACROECONOMIC POLAND
Source: www.nbp.pl FROM THE REGIONS Local governments continue investing Economic slowdown does not refrain local governments from dynamic investment development. It has got a lot to do with the biggest EU financial support ever.
Investment projects managed by local governments have been constantly on the rise since the year 2004. 2006 saw an increase of over 30% y-o-y. High dynamics in the field continued also in the years 2007-2008. Indeed, Polish self governments have been consistent in long-term investment plans (WPI) realisation. Last year Gdańsk invested almost 510 million PLN, 471 million PLN of the city’s investment outlay was covered from the city budget. This year’s budget plans envisage the city’s investment spending to rise by 100 million PLN what would give an overall sum of 863 million PLN in investment outlays. Plans for the year 2010 foresee the Gdańsk investment budget to reach 1.7 billion PLN. Another Polish city dynamically developing and managing public investments is Poznań where the number of buildings and other investments completed in 2008 reached 1373 i.e. 251 more than in the previous year (1122). Poznań also envisages investment outlays to be even higher in 2009. Among the cities classified as the second-level unit of local government and administration in Poland, equivalent to a county, investment outlays per resident it is P³ock in the Mazowsze region that tops the list. Last year the city invested round 80 million PLN and envisages further 150 million PLN to be spent on investment this year; 64 million PLN is earmarked for the purpose in the city budget while the rest is to be covered from subsidies. In turn, the city of Gliwice plans to realise at least 34 important investment projects by 2011 and has already reserved over 640 million PLN in the budget. According to the city’s 2008 WPI investment spending accounted for 120 million PLN and is bound to reach round 190 million PLN in 2009. Kraków’s investment outlays for 2009 equal 790 million PLN compared to 595 million PLN allocated to the purpose last year. Also the capital city summed up its annual expenditure on investment for 2008. Warsaw’s deputy president Jacek Wojciechowicz presented the city’s most important projects completed last year. The city managed to carry out 83% of the Warsaw long-term investment plan (WPI). In 2008 investment outlay in the capital city of Poland accounted for 2.2 billion PLN (2007 - 1.7 billion PLN and 2006 - 1.2 billion PLN). Among the biggest investment projects completed this year in Warsaw there are: the 1st metro line, transport hub in the M³ociny district, renovation of the Bielany flyovers, revitalisation of the Krakowskie Przedmie¶cie Str. as well as numerous street modernisations and cultural institutions’ refurbishments. (Warsaw City Council, wnp.pl) ANALYSES AND REPORTS EBRD: situation in Poland among the best in the region According to a report by the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) Poland stands a good chance of entering the small group of countries bound to suffer from the global economic upheaval only to a limited extend.
EBRD’s experts claim Poland’s economic situation to rank among the soundest in the region and estimate the country’s economy to suffer from the current crisis only to a limited extend. Transition Report 2008. Growth in Transition proves that global markets’ turmoil will put countries like Poland and their transformational achievements to the test. Transition Report 2008. Growth in Transition - is an annual publication providing an analysis of economic performance and progress in the reform implementation process in the CEE region and the former Soviet republics, Mongolia and the Balkan countries. (PAP) DID YOU KNOW...? Ecological fuel from Lublin scientists
Chemists from the Maria Curie-Sk³odowska University (UMCS) in Lublin came up with an idea of an ecological fuel to be produced of carbon dioxide and water.
The scientists present an idea which consists in combining the carbon dioxide emitted into the atmosphere with water. Subsequent catalyst-based processing should generate fuel. Due to the fact that the method could effectively boost the country’s energy security, experts from the UMCS have already presented the idea to the Ministry of Economy. Cost of the method’s implementation amounts to 100 million PLN. Professor Dobies³aw Nazimek claims that research outlays and expenses connected with the initial production stages are bound to pay off very quickly. Time plays its part here as a research team has been working on the very same method in the USA. (TOK FM) 
Editorial office: Polish Information and Foreign Investment Agency, 00-585 Warsaw, Bagatela Street 12 Economic Promotion Department, tel: (+48 22) 334 99 49, fax: (+48 22) 334 99 99, e-mail: redakcja@paiz.gov.pl | ||||||||||||
|
