| POLISH INFOMATION AND FOREIGN INVESTMENT AGENCY | ||||||||||||
NEWSLETTER November 6th 2008, Number 96 | ||||||||||||
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TABLE OF CONTENTS NEWS
INVESTMENTS IN POLAND
FROM THE REGIONS
ANALYSES AND REPORTS
DID YOU KNOW...?
FROM THE EDITOR Dear Readers, This week we inform about an investment by Cadbury Wedel, which is about to modernise its factories in Poland. In the “Reports and Analyses” section you will find details on a report by the World Bank where an optimistic outlook on the situation of the Polish economy is presented. Despite the downturn in economies worldwide, new investment projects have been initiated in Poland - foreign investments are on the increase, Polish IT companies join a prestigious IT sector organisation and an Information Technology Cluster has been under construction in Cracow. At the end, news from the Polish Section of the World Exhibition EXPO 2010. Pleasant reading! PAIiIZ’s editorial team NEWS Polish-Turkish meeting Kürşad Tüzmen, the Turkish Secretary of State for International Trade, visited Poland last week. Due to the visit, on October 28th, a Polish-Turkish meeting gathering entrepreneurs took place at the Marriott hotel in Warsaw.
The meeting, organised under the patronage of the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economy, Mr Waldemar Pawlak, was attended by delegates of Turkish trade mission comprised of over sixty entrepreneurs and round thirty representatives of export associations. The Polish side was represented by over thirty entrepreneurs and a group of Turkish businessmen operating in Poland. The meeting was organised by the Turkish Ministry for International Trade, Istanbul Association of Clothes and Textile Exporters (ITKIB), Polish-Turkish Chamber of Commerce (PTIG) and the Polish-Turkish Business Association. The first part of the meeting was devoted to the topic: “Poland-Turkey: development capacity of commerce and economic co-operation.” During the seminar the Under-secretary of State at the Ministry of Economy, Mr Marcin Korolec; the Turkish Minister, Mr Tüzmen; the Deputy Director General for Export, Mr Altunyaldiz and the Presidents of ITKIB and PTIG made speeches. Mr Stelmaszczyk, Member of the PAIiIZ Board, introduced information of the presentation on “Investment Attractiveness of Poland.” All the speakers emphasized that despite the dynamic Polish-Turkish trade relations, in 2007 the trade turnover between the countries exceeded 3.6 billion USD, there still is a scope for expansion in a variety of sectors and goods as well as in capital. Effective information on trade offer and more effective commercial contacts between the countries were highlighted as issues that should be given priority by both sides. The number of participants in the seminar testifies to the fact that both the Polish and Turkish entrepreneurs need opportunities where new contacts may be established in an informal and personal manner. Within the numerous delegation of the Turkish businessmen, it was the textile-clothes sector that was best represented, but there came also a wide range of entrepreneurs from other sectors, among others, representatives of the leather, cosmetics, shoe, food, construction, chemical and tourist industry. Also the fact that many Polish entrepreneurs, mainly from small and medium enterprises, came to the meeting shows that there is a considerable interest in establishing contacts with Turkey, which is perceived as an attractive partner by the Polish side. The Minister Tüzmen together with his official delegation and the bosses of export associations accompanying him visited also the Polish Chamber of Commerce where they met with the Chamber’s President, Mr Andrzej Arenderski. (Polish-Turkish Chamber of Commerce) Polish innovative companies join the international KIS 100 club The first Polish companies joined the international KIS 100 club, gathering the most innovative small and medium enterprises.
The club accession offers a possibility to exchange experiences with representatives of round one hundred most innovative companies in Europe, what facilitates the creation of a European innovative and international business platform. Medforum, gathering and managing the biggest number of specialist medical portals in Poland was the first to join the prestigious Knowledge Intensive Services 100 Club. The club was also joined by Logotec Engineering located in Mysłowice, a company specializing in the provision of solutions for mobile equipment market. Several years ago Logotec entered the list of 25 most innovative software companies in the world, prepared by Microsoft Corporation. “First of all the invitation to KIS 100 Club is a big chance to get in contact and exchange experiences with enterprises, which like our company, treat the innovative software design and its implementation as one of their major goals.” the Logotec Engineering group President, Mr Jerzy Dryndos told the Polish Press Agency (PAP). According to Mr Dryndos, the club’s accession offers scope for contact development between Polish companies and various innovative industries active on the European market. Knowledge Intensive Services 100 Club is a project in progress which aims at creating an international innovative platform for experience exchange for the most dynamically developing innovative SMEs. KIS 100 CLUB is a part of the Knowledge Intensive Services - Innovation Platform (KIS-IP), a new initiative funded under Europe INNOVA, with the aim to accelerate the take-up of services innovations in the UE. The Club is expected to become a European business community gathering at least one hundred young innovative and successful companies rendering services of big development potential. (PAP) INVESTMENTS IN POLAND Further Cadbury Wedel Sp. z o.o investment Cadbury Wedel Sp. z o.o, a confectionery manufacturer, will invest close to 960 million PLN in the construction and extension of its factories in Skarbimierz and Bielany Wrocławskie. Consequently, 750 new jobs will be created. On November 4th, the Council of Ministers adopted a resolution on granting financial support to the investment.
The major effects of the Cadbury Wedel Sp. z o.o project will consist in new workplaces creation, modern confectionery technologies development and productivity growth. The project is to be realised in the frame of a multiannual programme. On November 4th the Council of Ministers adopted a resolution, prepared by the Ministry of Economy, according to which financial support will be granted to the Cadbury Wedel projects envisaging, on the one hand, the creation of an innovative and environment-friendly factory in Bielany Wrocławskie and, on the other hand, the extension of the Skarbimierz-based factory.
The company will invest near 960 million PLN and will consequently offer employment to 750 new employees, 153 out of the new jobs will be geared towards university graduates. Additionally, the investing company plans to create an R&D centre which will do research on modern confectionery technologies for the Cadbury Wedel group and the European Cadbury Schweppes division. Thanks to the introduction of innovative solutions the company will start manufacturing products which will contain neither artificial ingredients nor allergens. The investment aims also at increasing the production of highly processed and vintage confectionery products by 20 thousand tons a year. The joint value of the governmental subsidy for the investment between the years 2008-2012 accounts for 14 million PLN, 4.5 million PLN of the total funding should be directed to the creation of new workplaces. Additionally the investor will be given almost 9.6 million PLN in the form of a grant to cover investment realization expenses. The project has been realized in the Wałbrzych Special Economic Zone. Since the beginning of 2008 “Invest Park”, the company managing the Wałbrzych SEZ, issued 35 permits for business activity which jointly guarantee investment of around 2.5 million PLN and 4.2 thousand new workplaces. The government allocated round 860 million PLN to support investments realised in the frame of multiannual programmes. Round 50% of the sum was devoted to job creation activities and the average financial support earmarked for a single new job accounts 24.7 thousand PLN. The Ministry of Economy has been currently preparing 18 new multiannual programmes which will contribute to the creation of 9 thousand new jobs and investment of around 2.5 billion PLN. (Ministry of Economy, Wałbrzych SEZ) MACROECONOMIC POLAND
Source: www.nbp.pl FROM THE REGIONS Małopolska Information Technology Cluster On October 30th in the seat of the Cracow Technology Park an intention letter concerning the Małopolska Information Technology Cluster was signed.
The letter was signed by professor Jacek Majchrowski, the Cracow Presiden; professor Tomasz Szmuc, Vice-Rector for Science at the Cracow University of Science and Technology (AGH); professor Piotr Tworzowski, Vice-Rector for Development at the Jagiellonian University (UJ) and Sławomir Kopeć PhD, President of the Cracow Technology Park (KPT). The act was another step towards the realization of the project. A general concept of the cluster was worked out in accordance with earlier arrangements settled by the signatories from the KPT, AGH, UJ and the Cracow City Hall. The project will be realized in the Pychowice subzone on a lot formerly bought form the AGH. Both the AGH and the UJ already declared the willingness to provide further lots in case of further development of the cluster so that in the future it could be located on an area of 8ha. The city declared construction of access road to the area where the KPT investment and further IT projects will be realised. Infrastructure constructed in the frame of the project will be used also by companies operating within the Małopolska Information Technology Cluster and within the “European Games Centre” cluster. According to the project infrastructure planed for the cluster’s clients will embrace a joint area of 12 thousand sq m and will facilitate access to technology both to IT innovation-oriented entrepreneurs eager to introduce new solutions and to IT specialists and scientists planning to start economic activity in Cracow. (Carcow Information Technology Park) ANALYSES AND REPORTS The Word Bank’s report optimistic about Poland The Word Bank looks at the Polish economy with optimism, forecasting a 4% growth for the next year. Nevertheless the Ministry of Economy has not been planning to revise the 4.8% growth estimate forming basis for the next year budget.
Thomas Laursen, the World Bank’s manager for Poland and the Baltic countries says: “The Polish economy is bound to suffer a downturn next year. To date the estimates are that it should stay at a 4% level growth yet things have been changing every day.” That is a lot less than the over 5% growth this year and 6% growth in 2007. At the same time the World Bank has got optimistic forecasts for Poland. “Poland may not be entirely immune to the crisis yet the country has been staying in quite a good condition.”, Thomas Laursen told the “Gazeta Wyborcza” daily. Last weeks’ economic turmoil may have questioned the conviction as the Polish zloty lost several percent and the exchange rate neared 4 PLN against EUR and 2.7 PLN against Swiss frank. Foreign investors who recently have got frightened of the economic crisis in Hungary, not only disposed of Hungarian bonds but also got rid of Polish stocks and shares what weakened substantially the exchange rates for the Polish currency. This week the situation has stabilized with euro being worth round 3.5-3.6 PLN. The Eurozone accession calendar for Poland, published last week by the Polish government and the 20 billion rescue package prepared for Hungary by the IMF, WB and the UE helped stabilize the Polish złoty. “The recent weakening of the Polish złoty was psychologically motivated”, the Deputy finance minister, Katarzyna Zajdel-Kurowska told the “Gazeta Wyborcza” daily. “I am of the opinion that investors will now analyse the situation and will realise that Poland is in a completely different condition than Hungary, as the country has got far better economic foundations.”, the deputy finance minister added. The WB report confirms the conclusions. “Over the last couple of years Poland has been running a reasonable macroeconomic policy. To date the country, beside Slovakia, is the only one with a feasible plan for the Eurozone accession in the region. This is a very important issue.” Thomas Laursen told the GW. Mr Laursen added that the Polish banks are not very heavily dependent on external financing as other countries of the region. Also credits in foreign currencies constitute only one fourth of the total number of credits in the private sector, much less than in the Baltic states, in Hungary, Romania or Bulgaria where such loans comprise more than half of all loans conceded. The current situation in Hungary shows how harmful it may be to become excessively dependent on external financing where commercial banks face difficulties in foreign currency acquisition which is indispensable to finance the granted loans. Yet an economic slowdown will not steer clear of Poland. Against other estimates the World Bank’s forecasts seem to be rather optimistic. Earlier the International Monetary Fund specified the growth to reach only 3.8% in 2009 and from the latest estimates of the National Bank of Poland results that the growth may fall even to 2.8%. The Ministry of Finance has not been planning to revise it optimistic estimates for the next year budget. “The forecasts of the next year’s economic growth., at the level of 4.8%, will be maintained for the next year’s budget.”, said Katarzyna Zajdel-Kurowska. The deputy finance minister declared that the Ministry will stick to the budgetary deficit limitation plan (next year it is estimated to reach 18.2 billion PLN). “This is an important factor of the government’s credibility for investors. Should the economic growth be slower, the government will react. We can first of all introduce expenditure cuts and further steps may be based on regulation of the Council of Ministers on slashing expenses. If the economic situation was really difficult, which is hardly possible, the budget may be amended. (Gazeta Wyborcza) DID YOU KNOW...? EXPO 2010 preparations under the patronage of the Polish Public Television The Polish Section of the World Exhibition EXPO 2010 is now preparing the Polish participation in the Shaghai EXPO under the patronage of the Polish Public Television (TVP).
 At the same time we inform that the deadline for projects of the mascot of the Polish participation in EXPO 2010 has been shifted till November 14th 2008. We invite everybody to take part in the contest and to take the opportunity to promote one’s own projects and display them on the EXPO event which is an important, international forum. The created mascot will represent Poland and will become an official promotional gimmick of the country during the exhibition in 2010. The deadline is November 14th 2008, projects may be sent in or brought personally to the PAIiIZ seat in Warsaw (12 Bagatela Str.). For more information go to: www.paiz.gov.pl The EXPO world exhibitions are the most important, the largest and the most prestigious promotional events in the world. In contrast to other commercial exhibitions and fairs, their official participants are states and international organizations. It is anticipated that the EXPO 2010 in Shanghai will be the largest in the history of world exhibitions. It is to be visited by 70 million people. It will take place in Shanghai, China, between May 1 - October 31, 2010. (PAIiIZ) 
Editorial office: Polish Information and Foreign Investment Agency, 00-585 Warsaw, Bagatela Street 12 Economic Promotion Department, tel: (+48 22) 334 98 15, fax: (+48 22) 334 99 98, e-mail: redakcja@paiz.gov.pl | ||||||||||||
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