| POLISH INFOMATION AND FOREIGN INVESTMENT AGENCY | ||||||||||||||
 
NEWSLETTER
December 18th, 2014, Issue 413-414 | ||||||||||||||
 NEWS PAIiIZ best investments of 2014 awarded
For the eighth time in the history, during the award ceremony held in the Regent Hotel in Warsaw, PAIiIZ awarded the best investments of 2014 that were successfully completed with the support of the Agency.
This year, two main awards - “The Investment with the biggest value of 2014” as well “The Investment with the biggest number of new jobs of 2014” went to Volkswagen. At the beginning of 2014, VW decided to launch a production of a Crafter van in company’s new plant in Września near Poznań. To do that, VW invested an impressive amount of €800m and declared the creation of 2,300 new jobs there. “The Best Investment in The New Technologies” of 2014 went to American company Wabco. Company’s R&D centre in Wrocław, will hire 95 staff. The centre focuses on the development of technology related to the improvement of control system for safety and efficiency of struck, coaches and cars.
PAIiIZ also honoured General Electric giving the company the special prize for the „Lifetime Achievement”. GE has been operating in Poland for more than two decades and created 5 GE centres in Poland, research laboratories, including GE EDC, which was established together with the Institute of Aviation. Additionally, this year PAIiIZ introduced a new prize “Foreign Expansion Award” for leading Polish exporters. The first “Foreign Expansion Award” went to SMT Software operating in IT sector.
More information: www.paiz.gov.pl/20141212/paiiiz_best_investments_of_2014_awarded. (PAIiIZ) Poland and India closer - MoU of PAIiIZ & EEPC - India
The economic-investment mission of representatives of Polish institutions and companies headed by deputy minister of economy Jerzy Pietrewicz has finished successfully. The mission is one of the projects arranged on the occasion of the 60th anniversary of establishing diplomatic relation between Poland and India. PAIiIZ was represented in India by deputy president Monika Piątkowska.
Deputy minister of economy Witold Pietrewicz together with Polish companies took part in with conferences promoting Poland’s economy and Polish brands that were held in New Delhi on 12 December and in Mumbai on 15 December. "Within two years we would like to double the trade turnover between Poland and India, and in the next five years to increase it five-fold", said Mr Pietrewicz. After the meeting B2B talk between Polish and Indian companies were arranged.
Participation in India Engineering Sourcing Show on 16 December was one of the most important highlights of the mission. “IESS plays a significant role in engineering sector of India. Usually, many contracts are signed during the event”, J.J. Singh representing Indio - Polish Chambers of Commerce and Industries commented. Poland is the Partner - Country of the event. During the Show, India Poland Partnership Forum promoting Poland and Polish business was arranged. Moreover, one could watch there a verity of Polish business offer and the innovativeness of Polish companies at a white-red Polish pavilion.
The Forum finished with the ceremony of signing the MoU between PAIiIZ and EEPC-India. “Economic cooperation of Poland and India, the two partners from two different parts of the world is now entering a new, strategic level”, commented PAIiIZ deputy president Monika Piątkowska signing the MoU. The positive effects of MoU should soon be clear for entrepreneurs in both Poland and India, especially among those who represent engineering sector. Summing up the effects of the mission to India, PAIiIZ deputy president Monika Piątkowska argued that entrepreneurs from India are also interested in finding business partners in Polish BPO sector. “We took part in many business meetings with chambers of commerce and business associations in India. They all talked about >>join venture<< with Polish companies from BPO and ICT industries. They also are interested in developing the idea of “smart cities” that means city management in such aspects as environmental protection or eco-friendly communication”. (PAIiIZ/PAP)
More information: Poland-Azerbaijan
On 15 December, Baku held Poland - Azerbaijan Economic Forum, with the participation of deputy prime minister, Janusz Piechociński, PAIiIZ president Sławomir Majman, and the accompanying delegation of Polish business.
Currently, Azerbaijan is the most stable and predictable economy in the region. Polish authorities defined the most promising sectors of economic cooperation between both sides. Among them there are: construction, real estate and communal, transport, agriculture and food processing, machinery and equipment for the agri-food, energy, environmental technologies, logistics and transport services sectors as well as chemical and defence industries. During the forum the head of Polish Ministry of Economy has also stressed that Azerbaijan was added to 10 strategic countries covered by the governmental promotional programme entitled “Activation of Efforts on Selected Foreign Markets Significant for Polish Economic Policy as well as International Activity of Polish Entrepreneurs”. According to the Polish Ministry of Economy, in 2013 Polish trade turnover with Azerbaijan amounted to $153.3 million and was higher by 20.6% compared to 2012.
Poland - Azerbaijan Economic Forum coincided with the works of the 6th meeting of the Azerbaijani-Polish Intergovernmental Commission for Economic Cooperation. Participants of the commission focused on cooperation regarding energy, agriculture, transport, finance and banking, tourism, sectors as well as culture, crisis management and civil protection. More information: www.paiz.gov.pl/20141215/poland_azerbaijan. (PAIiIZ/MG/PAP) Cooperation on the third markets - Africa
Economic diplomacy, promotion of Poland on third markets, doing business in Africa, projects financing by international organizations - these were the main highlights of the debate entitled “Cooperation on the third markets - Africa".
“It is important not to enter Africa on one’s own but to use all kinds of available support provided by local governments, banks or states that already are present in Africa”, added Sławomir Majman, PAIiIZ president. Currently, Polish - African trade is at the level of 1%, however we are doing our best to increase it to 3% in the next two years", said Mr Majman. "The primary function of the government is the creation of legal environment, for example by providing bilateral trade agreements on governmental level", added deputy minister of economy Andrzej Dycha. "
Deputy president of AICEP noted that the partnership of Polish and Portuguese companies is a ticket to African countries. "260 million people in the world speak Portuguese - this is a very important business language”. More information: www.paiz.gov.pl/20141211/cooperation_on_the_third_markets. (PAIiIZ) New areas of R&D + I development in Poland
“R&D is becoming a strategic area of FDI in Poland”, argued PAIiIZ president Sławomir Majman during the conference presenting the report entitled: “R&D Market in Poland - support for research and development activity of enterprises”. Promotion of cooperation of all sides in the process of innovations’ development is the basic task of public administration, argued Grażyna Henclewska, undersecretary in the Ministry of Economy.
R&D projects with the total value of €57m are listed at the third place in PAIiIZ portfolio. According to deputy minister Grażyna Henclewska, industries listed on the list of National Smart Specialization as health, bio-economy, renewable energy or innovation technologies can benefit the most in the new EU 2014-2020 budget. Also, it is expected that the role of cooperation between science and business will increase. New budget perspective will also deliver new repayable financial instruments instead of grants.
“The Ministry of Economy has introduced the system of the support for R&D industry in Poland for all projects implemented together by science and business. It will be financed due to OP Smart Development Programme; Knowledge, Education and Development as well as due to Regional OPs”, mentioned Ms Hanclewska. Also creation of Clusters as science - business join venture will be supported. “We are approaching a new chapter - a time of great chances for those who invest in R&D. In the incoming years the support for R&D+I will be 10 times bigger that in the past EU 2007-2013 budget”, argued Michał Gwizda, Partner in Crido Taxand. More information: www.paiz.gov.pl/20141211/new_areas_of_r_d_i_development_in_poland_conference. (PAIZ/Crido Taxand/MG) INVESTMENTS IN POLAND 2014 in investments
“Polish companies have started to invest in Poland. In 2014, PAIiIZ completed 3 Polish investment projects. We will do our best to encourage Polish companies to use public aid and invest”, said PAIiIZ president Sławomir Majman during the press meeting summing up the passing year in investments supported by PAIiIZ.
The total value of 52 successfully completed investment projects supported by PAIIIZ in 2014 reached €1816,74 m. It means that the value of projects doubled comparing to last year. The average value of a single project completed in 2014 reached €35m. In terms of the sectors, 18 projects represented BPO, 11 came from automotive industry while 6 FDI were provided by R&D sector. According to Iwona Chojnowska - Haponik, director of Foreign Investment Department in PAIiIZ, 30% of companies decided to locate capital in Special Economic Zones, while 62% of all competed investments in 2014 are reinvestments. In terms of the country of origin of investment projects, the US, with 15 projects is a this year’s leader. America is fallowed by Germany (12 completed investments) and Sweden (4 completed investments). Currently, PAIiIZ is providing 150 investment projects with a total value of 2,708.6 m that in the future can create 29,117 new jobs. Comparing to the previous year, the list of leading courtiers with ongoing projects has not changed. The major of investments comes from the US (50 projects), Germany (19 projects), France (11 projects) and Japan ( 8 projects). Regarding sectors, the list of leaders consists of BPO (34 projects), automotive (3 projects) and R&D(16 projects). “Chasing new investors is not writing the Statistical Yearbook. We focus on creating new jobs in Poland”, summed up PAIiIZ president Sławomir Majman. More information: www.paiz.gov.pl/en. (PAIiIZ) MACROECONOMIC POLAND ANALYSES AND REPORTS Employment forecasts according to Polish employers
Polish employers are slightly optimistic regarding the employment market - this is the main result of the recent quarterly survey provided by Manpower HR consulting.
Manpower surveyed 750 employers in Poland. 9% of them expect an increase in total employment, 8% plans to reduce the number of employees while 79% do not plan any personnel changes in the next quarter. In seven of the 10 surveyed sectors the number of employers forecasting the increase of employment in 4Q is bigger than those who think in opposite way. The greatest optimism was noted in the manufacturing sector ( the increase by 12%), retail and wholesale (the increase by + 9%), construction (the increase by 8%), restaurants and hotels, as well as logistics/communication (the increase by 7% each). The attitude towards employment forecast for the beginning of 2015 is related to the size of each company. Big and medium ones reported the highest optimism ( +11%) while those described as micro enterprises are rather more conservative (the increase of optimism by 4%). The lowest rate was noted among small-sized companies where the level of optimists and pessimists was equal. When speaking of forecasts of the employment regarding markets in particular country, it seems that conservative optimism also dominates. The highest results were recorded in India (+45%), Taiwan (+43%) and New Zeeland (+28%). On the other hand, creation of new jobs is expected to be limited in Finland (decrease of optimism by 8%), Italy (decrease by 5%), Netherlands (decrease by 3%) and Switzerland (decrease by 2%). (Manpower Group) FROM THE REGIONS Mazowieckie, Dolnośląskie, Śląskie and Pomorskie as leaders of investment attractiveness
“Those are very valuable tips for all investors”, PAIiIZ deputy president Anna Polak-Kocińska commented results of the newest “Attractiveness of Polish provinces 2014” report conducted by Warsaw School of Economics under the supervision of prof. Hanna Godlewska-Majkowska.
The results of this year’s survey show that the investment attractiveness of every Polish provinces correlates with its social and - economic development. Moreover, the list of the best regions has not changed since years. Among the top most attractive provinces regarding investment there are the following regions of Poland: Mazowieckie, Dolnośląskie, Śląskie and Pomorskie. According to Parycjusz Zarębski from Warsaw School of Economics, one can see an internal contrasts in particular provinces regarding investment attractiveness. For instance, in Mazowieckie, Warsaw is the real engine of development and investments leaving other parts of the province far behind. On the other hand, almost all communities of Śląskie province seem to be at the similar level of social and economic development and investment attractiveness.
“The evolution in providing services for investors is essential”, argued prof. Hanna Godlewska-Majkowska. She also advised to all to establish so-called “Special Economic Zones 3.0 project” that would be a synergy of three elements: the zone, the cluster and the eco-technology park. “The times of pro-ecologic economy is approaching”, she added. During the conference Special Economic Zones as a key factor shaping the inflow of FDI to Poland were presented. “If Poland weren’t covered by SEZ programme, its investment attractiveness would be much lower”, argued Magdalena Typa from Warsaw School of Economics. The day before the presentation of the report, PAIiIZ published the results of the contest for the best and most useful web site provided by Regional Investor Service Centres and dedicated to foreign investors operating Poland. Among the top three web sites providers there are: śląskie ISC, Podlaskie ISC and Pomorskie ISC. More information: www.paiz.gov.pl/20141212/leaders_of_investment_attractiveness. (PAIiIZ) DID YOU KNOW...? Polish export bestseller - Christmas glass ornaments
No longer than two decades ago, on the outskirts of Warsaw, in the town Józefów, a family-owned business Silverado specializing in mouth-blown Christmas glass ornaments was founded. Now, the majority of products of the company is exported abroad. Moreover, few year ago blown glass ornaments from Józefów decorated a Christmas tree in the US White House.
What is a secret of one of the leading Polish mouth-blown Christmas glass ornaments’ exporters’ success? It is the highest quality, uniqueness of design and short series of products. Every year the company introduces new series of glass ornaments. They all are inspired by current trends in fashion, design or event architecture. One can also order a unique shape of an glass ornament. About 80% of products are sold abroad, mainly in the US and Switzerland. Three years ago, Silverado’s Christmas glass ornaments were given by president of Poland Bronisław Komorowski to president of the United States, Barak Obama and decorated a Charismas tree in the White House. (Silverado) 
Editorial office: Polish Information and Foreign Investment Agency, 00-585 Warsaw, Bagatela Street 12 Information and Communication Department, tel: +48 22 334 99 49, fax: +48 22 334 99 99, e-mail: redakcja@paiz.gov.pl | ||||||||||||||
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