The food sector is a dominating economic branch of the Eastern Poland Macroregion that covers Warmińsko-Mazurskie, Podlaskie, Lubelskie, Podkarpackie and Świętokrzyskie provinces. Companies from Eastern Poland that operate within the food sector are the key beneficiary of the Eastern Poland Economic Promotion Programme. From January 2010 to May 2014 they signed 452 contracts for the amount of PLN 162,328,796.34. This is a consequence of an active participation of the companies in promotional and exhibition events organised by PAIiIZ. “Such a good result confirms a high competition level in the EU and global market of agri-food processing from Eastern Poland. Entrepreneurs often participated in numerous economic missions and the most important trade fairs and perfectly benefited from the opportunity to develop and establish new contacts” - says Monika Piątkowska, a member of the Management Board of PAIiIZ.

One of the most valuable branches of the food sector of the Macroregion is dairy and meat industry, while the fruit and vegetable sector is the largest exporter. Polish agri-food products are highly appreciated in foreign markets. Good quality and cost-price advantages allowed producers from the Eastern Poland to successfully enter Far East market and markets of the post soviet countries including: Tajikistan, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Belarus or Uzbekistan and Ukraine.

By the end of this year PAIiIZ will promote food sector from Eastern Poland during trade fairs and economic missions in: France, Tanzania and Ethiopia, Romania and China.

More information:
www.paiz.gov.pl/20130818/food_sector_a_key_beneficiary_of_the_eastern_poland_economic_promotion_programme  (PAIiIZ)

AB’s new fulfillment centre will be located in Magnice, near Wrocław and will be designed for the distribution of electronic products and toys. The total area of the facility will reach 27,000 m2 therefore the capacity of distribution will be improved to even 120,000 packages a day. The total value of investment, including the purchase of land, will reach PLN 103 m, of which over PLN 24m will be co-funded by the EU. The new fulfillment centre is expected to be open in the first half of 2015. (ARAW)

The project includes the enlargement of the production hall by 7.500 m2 and extending offices facilities by another 5.000m2. The new production hall will be used for manufacturing the new Solaris Urbino, whose official premiere will take place in September, at this year’s IAA Commercial Vehicles in Hannover.

Solaris Urbino Electric (source: Solaris Press Office)

The company also plans to double the production capacity that now is over 1300 vehicles per year. Solaris is a Polish company and one of the European leading producer of busses, trams and trolleybuses. (Solaris)

The project has been implemented since 1999. 411 participants took part in the last survey. Participation is free of charge. All participants will have a chance to get the access to the General Industry Salary Survey in Poland.

We invite you to take part in the Survey. Enter: www.raportplacowy.pl/en

The business mission is open only to companies from five provinces of Eastern Poland (Lubelskie, Podlaskie, Podkarpackie, Świętokrzyskie and Warmia-Mazury), operating in the furniture industry for more than 18 months.

Submitting applications is opened until 10 September. Terms of conditions and other documents are available on:
http://www.paiz.gov.pl/20140818/Nabor_wnioskow_na_targi_IMM_Kolonia_2015

If any questions, please contact Aleksandra Bigda: (+48) 22 334 98 97 or e-mail: aleksandra.bigda@paiz.gov.pl

The trip is organized by PAIiIZ from 11 - 14 November 2014 (PAIiIZ)

The fourth China Expo Poland, arranged by Targi Polska and Pol-Chin Consulting, is a place where the offer of Chinese companies will be presented. The exhibition is also the best opportunity to establish Polish - Chinese business contacts.

This year’s China Expo Poland is dedicated to interior decoration and house appliances, lightning, electronics and textiles.

More information: www.chinaexpo.pl (MT Polska)

The mission to Norway will be held between 13 and 16 October. Oslo is said to be the major centre for ICT and new technologies in the country. Over 60% of Norwegian ICT companies is located on the city. The program of the mission includes meeting with Norwegian companies, B2B talks and study visits.

The second mission, to Denmark, will be arranged between 24-26 November. Participants will take part in Agromek 2014 - one of the biggest exhibitions of the agricultural sector in Europe.

Both economic missions to Scandinavia are organised by the Pomeranian Regional Development Agency in Słupsk under the project entitled "INVEST IN POMORSKIE II - Promotion of investment attractiveness of the region of Pomerania in the Nordic countries and Germany."

More information: www.sse.slupsk.pl (SSSE)

PAIiIZ has called for applications to co-fund the participation in the SIAL MIDDLE EAST 2014 in Abu Dhabi (UAE) for food industry. The fairs will be held on 24-26 November. Twenty enterprises can take part in the trip.

Entrepreneurs from Eastern Poland who are interested in participation in the event can submit their applications until September 3.

For detailed information regarding recruitment, please go to: http://whyeasternpoland.eu, “nabory” (recruitment) tab and to:
www.paiz.gov.pl/20140813/Nabor_wnioskow_o_dofinansowanie_uczestnictwa_targach_spozywczych_SIAL_MIDDLE_EAST_2014

Companies from the machinery and metal sector can benefit from participating in the fairs ELMIA SUBCONTRACTORS 2014, to be held on 11-14 November in Jönköping (Sweden). This trip may also be attended by 20 companies from the five Eastern Poland voivodeships: Warmińsko-Mazurskie, Podlaskie, Lubelskie, Świętokrzyskie and Podkarpackie.

More information on:
www.paiz.gov.pl/20140813/Nabor_wnioskow_o_dofinansowanie_uczestnictwa_w_targach_Elmia_Subcontractors_2014

In June 2014 compared with May 2014, seasonally adjusted industrial production fell by 0.3% in the euro area (EA18) while in EU 28 went down by 0.1%. The decrease is due to production of non-durable consumer goods falling (by 1.9% in the eurozone and by 1.4% in the EU 28) and the decrease in energy sector (by 0.6% in eurozone and 0.7% in EU28). On the other hand the production of intermediate goods, durable consumer goods and capital goods increased. The largest decreases in industrial production were registered in Ireland (-16.5%), the Netherlands (-3.0%) and Lithuania (-2.7%), and the highest increases in Malta (+5.2%), Denmark (+2.4%) and Hungary (+1.8%). In Poland, the industrial production went up by 0,4% comparing to the previous month.

Source: Sergej Khackimullin - Fotolia.com

Compared with June 2013, in June 2014 industrial production remained stable in the euro zone and rose by 0.7% in the EU28. The highest increases in industrial production were registered in Hungary (+11.3%), Romania (+9.9%) and Slovakia (+7.5%), and the largest decreases in Greece (-6.9%), Malta (-3.8%) and Latvia (-2.0%). (Eurostat)

Accoriding to the latest Focus on Poznań report on the investment attractiveness of the capital city of Wielkopolska, one of the Poznań’s advantages is well tailored educational offer. 6 local colleges and universities offer a wide range of foreign language studies. Every year, about 3,000 graduates with fluent knowledge of foreign languages are ready to make their best at the thriving job market. Managers can earn in Poznań even PLN 20,000, PLN 5,000 - 7,000 is offered to specialists and PLN 3,000 is an avarage salary of accountants. It is worht mentioning that the city has one of the lowest unemployment rate in the country reaching 3.8% in May 2014.

Source: Barbara Strojna - Fotolia.com

The authors of the report also write that the capital of Wielkopolska is at the forefront of Polish cities where outsourcing industry is growing. Therefore, a good and flexible education offer allows to expand the network of contacts with investors from all over the world. The city is an outsourcing hub for such industries such: IT, finance, accounting, consulting, sales, marketing, R&D, call centre. The majority of investments comes from abroad - the United States, Germany, France and Great Britain.

Investment position of the city is highly connected with its location close to the motorway and the airport servicing 24 different destinations. Poznań-Ławica Airport handled over 1.3 million passengers in the past year.

To increase its investment actrativeness, the capital city of Wielkopolska has significantly extended the offfer of office space. Currently, the city offers more than 300,000 m2 of office space and a further 200,000 is to be build soon. (Focus on Poznan / PAIiIZ)

Łódź Technology Incubator had received a major facelift. Today, it offers at least 1,110m2 of modern office space and laboratories tailored to the needs of start-ups representing new technologies and innovation sector. Tenants are also offered a professional business advice. The total value of investment amounted to PLN 1.3 m (85% came from EU funds).

The offer of modernized incubator has already attracted new tenants. The first is the PortalE company which creates advanced e-technologies for the treatment of anxiety disorders using technology of virtual reality. Another is Tomorrow company providing specialised e-learning services. The company works on creating business simulators and Serious Games. (Technopark Łódź)

WSEZ covers 2.500 hectares of land, while 490 hectares is located in Opolskie area. Plots nearby Opole have attracted many investors. 23 foreign companies have already invested PLN 2bn in total in Opole, Kluczbork, Namysłów, Nysa, Praszka, Prudnik and Skarbimierz. New investments has let to the significant reduction of unemployment. 2,600 people have been hired due to foreign investor projects in the Opole area. The opening of the new office of WSEZ has been planed for September, 2014.

Thanks to the high science skills of Poles, the number of high - tech investments in Poland is rapidly growing, so does the popularity of Poles as workforce. This year, the Mathematics Competition for University Students was held in Bulgaria. The contest was attended by 324 students form 73 universities from North and South America and Asia and Europe including students from Poland. The first award of the contest went to two Polish students: Jakub Koncki and Szymon Kanonowicz. It is thanks to the high mathematical and technical skills of Poles, Poland has become one of the leading destination for European ICT investors and the rising destination of R&D projects. Polish ICT sector is developing faster than the ICT industry in the whole CEE. By 2015 the Polish ICT market is expected to be worth €4.1 bn. It is worth mentioning, that Poland is the Facebook’s second, most important recruitment grounds for programmers. (The University of Warsaw/PAIiIZ)