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NEWSLETTER June 18th 2009, Number 127 | |||||||||||||
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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, We invite for new conferences devoted to investment in a variety of sectors in Poland. The Polish Information and Foreign Investment Agency together with the Polish Chamber of Information Technology and Telecommunications organize a conference devoted to investment attractiveness in the Polish IT sector which will take place on June 22nd, 2009. Moreover, “Gazeta Prawna” invites to a conference devoted to investment possibilities in the Arab countries and “Puls Biznesu” to a conference on investments in the Polish SEZs. The Polish Information and Foreign Investment Agency acts as a consultant to the meeting. In this issue of the Newsletter we also recommend the latest reports concerning investment attractiveness of Poland, forecasts regarding employment rate dynamics, data on economic mood, inflation and industrial production. In the sections Investment and From the Regions we inform about new foreign investments and, among other things, about the European Investment Bank financing an investment in Poland. Pleasant reading! PAIiIZ’s editorial team NEWS “Poland - the Silicon Valley of Europe?” The Polish Information and Foreign Investment Agency and Polish Chamber of Information Technology and Telecommunications (PIIT) invite to a conference devoted to the attractiveness of investment in IT sector “Poland - the Silicon Valley of Europe?” which will be held on June 22nd at 11:00 am in the PAIiIZ Information Centre at 12 Bagatela Str. in Warsaw.
The main objective of the conference is the evaluation of investment climate and a presentation of investment potential in the Polish IT sector. Experts invited to the conference will provide analysis of the state policy for development of this sector. The most recent data will help present current situation in the Polish IT and telecommunications market. Conference participants will have the opportunity to learn about the potential of the Polish human capital and the experience of the major foreign investors and companies operating on the Polish IT market. During the conference the investment offer of Polish regions, including Polish and foreign economic operators in the IT sector will be presented. Is Poland the Silicon Valley of Europe? - experts will try to answer this question during a debate at the end of the conference. Admission is free. Conference will be held in Polish. Simultaneous translation into English will be provided To confirm your participation please contact Agnieszka Schutte: agnieszka.schutte@paiz.gov.pl. In order to provide all the conference participants with the most comfortable work conditions, only accredited journalists with a valid press pass will be admitted. (PAIiIZ) Investment in the Arab countries - a conference by “Gazeta Prawna” The conference on investment opportunities in the Middle East will be held at the Polonia Hotel in Warsaw on June 30th, 2009.
The potential of Arab countries is enormous. GDP per capita in many countries of the region is comparable to the average GDP level in the European Union. Countries of the region have considerable energy resources, cheap labour force and cheap services as well as big domestic markets. The conference organized by the "Gazeta Prawna" daily will offer the opportunity to obtain information on the possible co-operation with the Gulf Cooperative Countries (GCC) and Iraq. Despite the relatively low volume of trade with the countries and not big Polish investment, the region deserves a considerably bigger interest on the part of Polish exporters and investors. First of all due to the potential of the region’s markets in the form of a strong demand for goods exported by Polish companies and also because of investment programmes realised in those countries. Organisers invite to co-operate in the organisation of the event which aims to best present possibilities opened by investing and contacts with the whole region of the Middle East to Polish entrepreneurs. During the meeting not only opportunities, investment tendencies, potential, economic and cultural characteristics of the region but also legal, administrational, financial and communication problems and solutions will be discussed. Organisers especially expect Polish companies already co-operating with the Gulf Cooperative Countries, institutions and local governments interested in entering into such co-operation as well as the GCC region’s representatives (embassies, consulting companies and business agents) to attend the meeting. For more information contact Sylwia Szarfenberg, Tel.: (+48 22) 530 42 69, sylwia.szarfenberg@infor.pl. Conference on investment in Polish SEZ and a workshop on taxes A tax workshop for entrepreneurs and a conference “Investments in Special Economic Zones” will be held between June 18th - 19th. The event is organized by “Puls Biznesu” and the Polish Information and Investment Agency is a partner of this event.
The conference will take place on June 18th at 10 am, at Deloitte House (19 Jana Pawła II Str.). It will be devoted to the opportunities and advantages of investing in one of the 14 Polish special economic zones. Participants will discuss new tools available for investment support and the opportunities offered by the prolongation and enlargement of the SEZs. On the second day of the event, a special workshop for entrepreneurs “Taxes in SEZ” will be held. The workshop will present the latest arrangements concerning tax regulations in SEZ. During the workshop, experts from Deloitte will discuss the most frequent problems reported by entrepreneurs operating in the zones, e.g. the assessment of the taxable base and a precise calculation of deferred tax. All these issues will be discussed in the context of recent modifications and the upcoming revision of the regulations concerning zones. The current rules determining tax administration with regard to the most important and most recent interpretation provided by tax offices and administrative courts will also be presented. This part will be supplemented by a discussion on the results of the last fiscal controls carried out in the SEZs. For more information visit: www.bbp.pb.pl. INVESTMENTS IN POLAND The European Investment Bank to finance a thermal power station in Częstochowa Fortum, a Finnish energy company, was granted a credit of 250 mln EUR by the European Investment Bank (EIB) to realise three investments in Europe. One of the projects will be realized in Częstochowa.
In a press release the EIB informs that the credit was granted to Fortum as the company is to improve energy efficiency in Finland, Poland and Sweden. In the first two countries the company will continue construction of two cogenerational thermal power stations while in Sweden Fortum will handle installation of an automatic measurement management system in an electric energy distribution centre. The Bank’s representatives emphasise that all the projects are consistent with EU policies regarding energy efficiency and ways of producing energy and heat in Europe. The EU supports initiatives preventing climate change. The Częstochowa-based investment is a medium-sized coal- and biomas-fired thermal power station. The station will start operating in 2010. Fortum has been present in Częstochowa for some years since it invested in Przedsiębiorstwo Energetyczne Systemy Ciepłownicze. The agreement for the investment worth 130mln EUR was signed in December last year. The new facility will be located on a lot adjacent to the existing thermal power station Rejtan and its productive capacity is expected to reach 120 MW thermal and 64 MW electrical. The station will live up to all EU requirements and directives. The investment is a response to the constantly growing demand on electric energy and the facility is expected to improve the local energy market’s potential. Fortum quoted on the Helsinki-based stock exchange ranks among the leading energy companies in Scandinavia and is also active in the Baltic countries and Russia. The concern deals mainly with production, distribution and sale of electric and heat energy as well as with exploitation and maintenance of power stations. In Poland Fortum owns four heat engineering companies hiring jointly 900 people. The European Investment Bank is an EU institution created by the Treaty of Rome in 1958 which makes long-term finance available for investment. (PAP) MACROECONOMIC POLAND
Source: www.nbp.pl FROM THE REGIONS New investor in the Satarachowice SEZ The Starachowice-based SEZ issued a new business activity permission for a new foreign investor - an Italian Vidacolor Sp. z o.o.
The company will provide services and manufacture ceramic products in the Końskie sub zone of the Starachowice SEZ. Vidacolor declared to invest at least 450 thousand PLN and employ 3 people. This is the 3rd permission issued in the SEZ this year. This year’s permissions will jointly generate investment worth at least 39.42 mln PLN (8.5mln EUR) and the minimum of 53 new workplaces. Investment realized in the SEZ since its establishment was jointly worth over 1 mld PLN (268.65 mln EUR), what resulted in 3,500 new workplaces. 62.40% the SEZ’s area has been developed. (Starachowice SEZ) The future of Małopolska discussed in KPT A conference opening the “Kraków-Małopolska - Technology Perspective 2020” programme took place in the Kraków Technology Park on June 16th, 2009.
The meeting devoted to the future of Małopolska and ways of determining the region’s development strategies was attended by representatives of regional authorities, local universities and people from business and media circles. Marek Sowa, member of the region’s local authorities and Jerzy Miller governor of the Małopolska region emphasized that the projects got full approval and enjoys support on the part of local authorities and realization of the proposed solutions stands a very good chance of being released. Kraków universities' stand on the issue was presented by rectors of local colleges. The next to take floor were people from organizations representing entrepreneurs: Tadeusz Syryjczyk - president of the Kraków Industry Association, Wacław Andruszko - head of the Kraków Chamber of Commerce and Paweł PrzewięĽlikowski - president of Selvita. The conference was chaired by Sławomir Kisieliński a journalist from Computerworld. Special dimension was added to the discussion by a speech made by Edwik Bendyk from the ‘Polityka’ weekly, who participates in a nationwide project regarding technological development of the country and Piotr Legutko's, editor in chief of Dziennik Polski, words emphasizing the role media play in the promotion of the project. (Kraków Technology Park) ANALYSES AND REPORTS Poland still attractive to investors In the latest survey conducted by Ernst & Young, Poland ranks 5th in Europe and 1st in the CEE region in terms of new foreign investments in 2008 and 2nd in Europe regarding the number of new jobs generated by foreign direct investments (FDI). The Ernst & Young report European Attractiveness Survey was presented today at a conference held at the Ministry of Economy.
The conference was opened by Waldemar Pawlak, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economy who recalled that Poles make up one fourth of the CEE region’s population and generate one third of the region’s GDP. The Deputy Prime Minister emphasized that Poland has the most stable economy and as the only country in Europe recorded a positive economic growth in the 1Q 2009. The report informs that 2008 saw 176 new investment projects realised in Poland what shows a 21% increase in investment when compared with the previous year. In Europe Poland ranks 5th, behind the UK, France, Germany and Spain, however, in the CEE region our country becomes a leader. In terms of new jobs generated by investment projects, Poland where 15 thousand workplaces were created, classifies 2nd, following only the UK. Moreover, the report confirms 2007 forecasts, that Poland would be the most frequently chosen new investment destination in Europe.
Respondents found both Western Europe (40%) and Central and Eastern Europe (39%) to be the most attractive investment destinations. This means this year the European continent outstripped the 2008 leader China (33%). India is on the 5th position with (20%). According to Agnieszka Tałasiewicz, the ranking shows that in the time of crisis business leaders opt for safety and turn to well known markets. Yet prognoses suggest the next three years should see the CEE region become increasingly popular and achieve the leading position as an investment destination. -Investments in the CEE region will be realised not only because of cheap labour force and low costs of business activity but, first of all, due to the quality of human capital and large domestic markets - Tałasiewicz said. Ernst&Young European Attractiveness survey is an annual survey conducted since 2004. This year’s edition is based on the responses of over 800 investor representatives from 42 countries. The survey is based on an original two-fold approach: tracking the investment project announcements in Europe in a year precedent the publication of the report and surveying the perceptions and expectations of investors themselves. Employers plan to increase employment The latest report published by Manpower, an employment services company, shows that 18% of employers in Poland plan to increase employment in the 3rd Q of the year.
The report’s commentary points out that the comparison of 18% declarations to increase employment, 9% of declarations to cut employment and 70% announcements to stick to the current level of employment, gives reason to expect the net employment rate for Poland to reach +9% i.e. rise 3 persentage points in the comparison to the previous quarter. The biggest number of optimistic plans regarding employment increase can be found in gastronomy and hotel industry where the net employment forecasts hover at +30%. Declarations made by employers active in the construction industry settled the net employment prognosis at the level of +23%. +15% is the prognosis for the finance, insurance, real estate, service and public sectors what translates into considerable chances of finding a job in the sectors. Among the sectors where employers declare to cut jobs there are: power engineering, gas and the water supply industry (-13%) as well as industrial production (-8%). The Manpower Barometer of Employment Prognoses for the 3rdQ 2009 was devised on the basis of individual interviews with a representative group of 750 employers in Poland. (WNP, Manpower) DID YOU KNOW...? Marek Cygan, a PhD student from the University of Warsaw, classified on the 3rd position in the world’s biggest individual computer programming competition TopCoder Open which took place in Las Vegas.
The competition was divided into five categories out of which the one called Algorithm was the most prestigious one. 4114 IT specialist from all over the world opted for the category. Marek Cygan was the only Polish participant who qualified for semi finals. The young student has already gathered a number of titles and prizes. In 2005 Cygan won the Google Code Jam competition after defeating 14,500 competitors from around the world. In 2007 together with his three university fellow students he won a golden medal in an academic team programming championship organized in Tokyo. The team called “Warsaw Eagles" comprised also of Filip Wolski and Marcin Pilipczuk won with 88 other teams. Marek Cygan has also served internships in foreign IT companies. At the moment he plans to complete his PhD studies at the University of Warsaw and is not thinking about leaving Poland. Thanks to Cygan’s and other students’ achievements the Faculty of Mathematics, Informatics and Mechanics at the University of Warsaw comes first among numerous world universities classified in the TopCoder ranking. The Las Vegas finals saw also another Pole achieve a success - Przemysław Dębiak ranked 2nd in the Marathon category of the contest. Przemysław Dębiak has already won in the TopCoder Open and Microsoft’s Imagine Cup contests in previous years. (University of Warsaw, Faculty of Mathematics, Informatics and Mechanics) 
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 99, e-mail: redakcja@paiz.gov.pl | |||||||||||||
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