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TABLE OF CONTENTS NEWS
INVESTMENTS IN POLAND
FROM THE REGIONS
DID YOU KNOW...?
FROM THE EDITOR Dear Readers! In this weeks edition we will present the UKIE report on the four years of Poland’s EU membership and the idea of the Ministry of Science on promoting studies that are strategic from the Polish economy’s point of view. We will also write about the Lublin’s success, which shows that Eastern Poland can also be attractive for locating new investments. We will mention the British-Polish Chamber of Commerce’s award for Wrocław and the Polish producers of mead, which by placing their articles on the EU regional products list see the chance for the development of their craft. Pleasant reading! PAIiIZ’s editorial team NEWS Additional scholarships for science students Building engineering, elektrotechnology/electrical engineering and machine building are among the ten key-study-fields for the future of Polish economy.
The rest of the key-study-fields-list, elaborated by the Minister of Higher Education Ms Barbara Kudrycka, includes: environmental engineering, power engineering, mechanics and machine building, automatics and robotics, mathematics, biomedical engineering, and Mechanical and Electronics Engineering. Due to the growing demand for specialist in the areas the government is to boost youth interest in science by the so called desired-faculties programme. Students who opt for science are to be granted additional 1000 PLN monthly scholarship, starting from the very first semester of studies. According to Dziennik daily also calleges offering programes within the mentioned fields may count on financial support. According to Dziennik the pilot project is to start in the 2008 academic year and the envisaged number of students to be granted the scholarship is said to account for 3 thousand. While the granting of the scholarship to future students is to be based on the final secondary school exam performance, the financial support for academic centres is to be appointed through an open competition. As the Ministry of Science and Higher Education emphasises the need for new technologies development, special attention will be paid to the innovative aspects of the syllabuses. The Vice-Minister of Science, Grażyna Prawelska-Skrzypek, stated that the opening of the competition is to be expected next week. That would give the academic centres some three weeks for the preparation and application. The Ministry’s final decision about the subsidy and additional recruitment will have been taken by the end of June 2008. Dziennik states that 30 key-study-fields will have been chosen by the year 2013 with an estimated number of 21 thousand students entering courses, mainly in science, the natural sciences and engineering. Within the next five years the Ministry of Science planes to allocate over 1 billion PLN to this end. (Dziennik) Go to top...
Poland is summing up four years in the EU The Polish Press Agency’s analysis of the latest UKIE (Office of the Committee for European Integration) shows Poles to be satisfied with the Poland’s four-year EU membership. The EU entry had a positive influence, among others, on economic growth, unemployment reduction, and self-complacency in Poland.
The fourth anniversary of the Polish EU entry was celebrated on 1 May 2008. For the four years the UKIE’s Department for Analysis and Strategy has been preparing a report summing up Polish EU membership. According to the Polish Press Agency the UKIE’s report entitled “4 years of Poland’s membership in the EU - Balance of socio-economic benefits and costs - (1st May 2004 - 1st May 2008)” focuses on the general macroeconomic aspects, labour market, migrations and education, agriculture, infrastructure, security and justice. After having analysed the SMG/KRC, Pentor’s i GfK Polonia surveys from the years 2005-2008, the report authors emphasize that the respondents support for the Polish EU membership has never declined below 58%. Moreover, just days before the 4th EU entry anniversary, the membership acceptance reached almost 78%. Respondents have a fairly positive outlook on the Polish future in the EU within the following 10-20 years and 69% believe that Poland will definitely or moderately take advantage of the membership (PBS DGA survey for Gazeta Wyborcza, March 2008). Interestingly, according to the Polish Press Agency, the positive EU attitude is not only expressed by those who are young, well educated and live in big cities but also by those who feared the EU accession e.g. farmers. The UKIE (Office of the Committee for European Integration) analysts claim that Polish economy derives perceptible profits from the EU membership. The PAP’s dispatch reports that 2007 was the second consecutive year characterized by accelerated economic growth, when the rate of economic growth 6%. For the last four years, since 1 May 2004, the unemployment in Poland has fallen by almost half - from 20% in 2003 to 11,4% in 2007, and the nominal pay rise contributed to substantial consumption increase. According to analysts, the short- and long-term EU membership positive results are, among others, due to the growing EU support and also a good use of both the pre-accession and structural funds. The document’s authors inform that the EU financial transfers in 2007 amounted to over 8 billion EUR what accounts for 2% of the Polish GDP. The report defines also, as one of the indirect positive effects, the constant direct foreign investors inflow with a total amount of over 12,8 billion EUR. The Agency also points out to the visible changes that have taken place for the last four years in Polish agriculture; emphasising positive influence of the accelerated modernisation and restructuring process on Polish agriculture. The Schengen Zone accession was deemed the most important event of the fourth Polish year in the EU. The reports authors stress that it is due to the effective European funds usage that the introduction of the Schengen system did not result costly for the Polish budget. As for challenges posed by the EU membership the report mentions the inflation increase (from1% in 2006 to 2,5% in 2007) and the fact that very few Poles hold important posts in the EU institutions. For full version of the UKIE report please go to: More and more Poles leaving the Isles Polish Radio London published an internet poll suggesting that 21,5% of Poles who left for the British Isles in search for work has been planning coming back to Poland. 8,4% plans the comeback within the next three months, while the other 13,1% within one year - tvn24.pl informs.
On the other hand, the service reports, almost 22% of the respondents have not made their mind about staying or leaving. While a similar amount, 21,6% is not planning to come back within the next three years, 35% have already decided to stay in the UK. While the British Home Office data suggests that the inflow of immigrants form Poland has been falling for some time now, no information about Poles leaving for Poland has been collected. According to the information editor from TVN 24, one of the main reasons for the changing situation is the falling value of the British Pound. The fact may not be of much importance for those who want to stay on the Isles but for those limiting themselves to a short-term economic stay, the situation may prove very unprofitable. At present, the average remuneration in the UK amounts to around 9 000 PLN which still is almost three times as much as an average Polish monthly salary. Nevertheless, at the point of the Polish EU accession, the possible British salary was seven times bigger than the average one offered in Poland. During the last four years the Polish zloty got considerably strengthened, not only against the British Pound. While in 2004 we had to pay 7 PNL for the British Pound, in the near future it may only cost us 4 PNL. Certainly, that is also of no importance that still the cost of living in the UK is significantly bigger than in Poland. INVESTMENTS IN POLAND Siewierstallat: Polish market offers possibilities Siewierstallat, a Russian metalurgy company, has officially announced the activity of its daughter partnership, Siewierstallat Silesia. The modernisation of the plant in Sosnowiec will cost 33 million EUR.
Anatolij Kruczinin, the president of the company’s supervisory board, told the wnp.pl service that the partnership’s activity opens a new era in the ten-year cooperation with Polish companies. In the interview for the wnp.pl Kruczinin admitted that Siewierstallatu will certainly make use of the past experience which allowed the company to become one of the leaders among the steel service centres in Eastern Europe. The total cost of the bought assets and the envisaged cost of the plant’s modernisation is estimated at around 33 million EUR. Siewierstallatu planes to invest in a variety of new production lines and in the modernization of the already existing ones. According to the arrangements the Siewierstallatu Silesia will also process steel for the needs of the construction industry. Thanks to the investment some 600 workplaces will be kept in the plant. According to wnp.pl Siewierstallat Silesia has at present six production lines at its disposal, among others a production line for pipelines. The partnership’s representatives emphasise that the Polish market expansion is based on a firm background. According to Aleksiej Godunow, the president of the Siewierstallat management bard, Polish market is very interesting and full of possibilities. The company has been providing steel products for four years and in 2007 its trade flows with Poland amounted to 20 million EUR - reports wnp.pl Is Lublin to become the apple of investors’ eye? Until recently Lublin seemed to be a kind of uncharted waters on the Polish map of Special Economic Zones. As Puls Biznesu reports it is thanks to the Americans that a breakthrough in the region may finally take place.
Ball Packaging, an American company, announced in May that it will invest 200 million EUR in the construction of a drink-can producing plant in Lublin. Mariusz Błędowski, the director of the Industrial Development Agency in Mielec which manages the Special Economic Zone, told the Puls Biznesu that another, this time a Belgian investor Aliplast is also interested in investing 35 million EUR in a aluminium shape and systems plant. Around 100 workplaces are scheduled to be created in the Belgium investor’s plant. Another investor is expected to enter the Zone in May 2008 and the 70 ha of the total Zone’s area in Lublin is planned to have been allocated next year. Lublin Has also been attracting increasing interest as a place of a possible service centres construction - Puls Biznesu reports. It is worth mentioning that Lublin was mentioned by Paweł Łobejko, the president of the Warsaw Accenture centre, currently employing 700 people. The president of the Economic Zone in Mielec emphasized in his interview for “PB” that Lublin is cheaper than the popular Polish cities, has got a big academic centre and a good connection to the capital. That is why it is very probable that a big service investment may appear in Lublin next year. It seems that Special Economic Zones in eastern Poland have been gaining in popularity among foreign investors. Due to infrastructure development plans cities are the natural target. According to Paweł Panczyja from Ernst & Young, dynamic academic centres and big Zone’s areas enable the companies to start both service and production activity. As in all fields of life - first came, first served... Eastern voivodeships will face a period of intensive investment also in the public sector as the Ministry’s of Regional Development Operational Programme - Development of Eastern Poland (2007-2013) has an appreciable budget of 2,2 billion EUR. (PB) MACROECONOMIC POLAND
Source: www.nbp.pl FROM THE REGIONS Wrocław - The Most Business Friendly Region British-Polish Chamber of Commerce awarded Wrocław for its investors-friendly atmosphere.
The capital of Lower Silesia is perceived by entrepreneurs - especially the foreign ones - as one of the best places for investment in Poland. Already 2340 firms invested here (according to the Central Statistical Office GUS for the III quarter of 2007). According to the entrepreneurs’ opinion, which were collected by the Wrocław Agglomeration Development Agency in 2007, investors, motivated their choice of Wrocław by its strategic location, availability of qualified staff, dynamic development of cities and very beneficial investment climate.
Wrocław received a Business Award 2008 granted by the Polish-British Chamber of Commerce in the category of the Most Business Friendly Region. - Wrocław is excellently prepared for foreign investments. We know what entrepreneurs need - said Tomasz Godnek, Director at the Wrocław Agglomeration Development Agency - All the more we are happy that companies which decided to locate their business here, are succeeding in Poland. It is Wrocław’s input into the development not only of the region, but the whole country - he adds. The award in the category of Business Development also went to Wrocław. PM Group Polska received the award. The company chose Wrocław as the location of their investment. PM is operating in Poland since 10 years now. The company plans to build an architectural an engineering centre that will service the Central East Europe. The BPCC took into account the criteria such as - growth of number of customers, turnover and the value of contracts, as well as the time of operating on the market. - This award shows that PM Group made two excellent choices. First of all we chose a country in which we can actively develop. Secondly, we chose a city in which these possibilities can be raised to second power - Con Murphy, CEO of the PM Group Polska emphasized. PM Group frequently cooperated with companies that are members of the BPCC - Unilever (when building the plant of tea packaging in Katowice), Cadbury Wedel (in expansion of the plant in Bielany Wrocławskie) and Philip Morris (management of the investment in Kraków). (PM Group) DID YOU KNOW...? Polish meads apply for the EU regional product list Polish mead makers are taking steps to introduce the Polish meads into the EU regional products list. The deadline for the list application in the European Commission is close - informs “Polska” daily.
Magdalena Głodek from the Ministry of Agriculture, told the daily that there is no information of any objections to the application. Due to the fact that until now nobody else used to apply the specific Polish methods to mead production, the placement on the regional products list will ensure the Polish makers monopoly on the recipe. The meads will be produced exclusively of genuine honey and will contain between 15% to 18% of alcohol. Illegal mead production will be made punishable. “Polska” informes that the apiarist cooperative Apis from Lublin will be the main beneficiary of the change. Apis produces 500 thousand liters of mead annually and thus controls over three fourth of the Polish mead market. Renata Janik from Apis hopes that meads will also gain in popularity among Poles. In the past meads were one of the main alcoholic drinks in Poland and for some years Apis has been trying to prove the meads Polish origin. In the application to the European Commissionone we can even find information dating back to 966 on an Arabian diplomat, traveller and merchant Ibrahim Ibn Jakub extolling the virtues of meads from the Mieszko I land. According to the article’s author the mead introduction to the protected product list may be a perfect occasion for the drink promotion. Maciej Jaros, an owner of the second largest mead brewery Pasieka from Tomaszów Mazowiecki hopes for an increase in production and interest of foreign clients. Renata Janik from from Apis also believes in the scenario “ We hope to double our export within three years. At present we export around 100 thousand liters and export grows by 25% annually and definitely faster than the domestic clients interest.” Now Poland produces around 650-700 thousand liters of meads per year. (POLSKA Gazeta Krakowska)  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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