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TABLE OF CONTENTS NEWS
INVESTMENTS IN POLAND
ANALYSES AND REPORTS
DID YOU KNOW...?
FROM THE EDITOR Dear Readers, In this week’s Newsletter we encourage entrepreneurs from food industry to take part in a trade mission to Israel and we invite those interested in striking up new business contacts to a Forum devoted to a Polish-Spanish cooperation. Moreover, we inform about a new plant in Lublin and report on the Polish IT market value in 2007. Pleasant reading! PAIiIZ’s editorial team NEWS “Supporting Poland’s Competitiveness by Development of Transport Infrastructure” The conference took place on June 9, 2008 from 9:00 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. at the InterContinental hotel in Warsaw. The meeting was organised by the American Chamber of Commerce in Poland in cooperation with PAIiIZ and with honorary patronage of the Ministry of Infrastructure.
This time the event, being a continuation in the series of „Building Competitive Advantage” conferences, was divided into two parts. The first part was devoted to a discussion concerning the possibilities of the Polish transport infrastructure development. Roman Rewald, the chairman of the AmCham, spoke about the Chamber’s last year report on the condition of the Polish transport infrastructure. Moreover, Cezary Grabarczyk, the Minister of Infrastructure together with representatives from the General Directorate for National Roads and Motorways and Wierzbowski Eversheeds presented European and American standards of infrastructure construction and also put forward some changes indispensable for the road construction pace acceleration. The second part of the debate, opened by Dr Paweł Wojciechowski, the PAIiIZ President, concerned the impact that the condition of transport infrastructure has on the investment attractiveness of the country. The WestLB Bank, CMS Cameron McKenna and the Confederation of Polish Employers representatives conferred about the necessity of hammering out an effective formula for infrastructure financing within the Public-Private Partnership framework. - I do hope that his conference will enhance the determination for the necessary legislative changes that may accelerate the realisation of the Polish infrastructure development programme in Poland. Good infrastructure is one of the first things a potential foreign investor takes into account when considering any investment - the PAIiIZ President said. The series of „Building Competitive Advantage” conferences have been organized in cooperation with bilateral chambers of commerce. The discussion, always in cooperation with experts, practitioners and entrepreneurs is aimed to select sets of best practices within the key fields of the economy. The conclusions are planed to be presented to the government and administrative entities in form of a set of suggestions for future legislative application.
The PPRP organises an Economic Forum in Warsaw. The Forum, will take place on June 20, 2008 in the Warsaw Palace of Culture and Science.
The Entrepreneurship Promotion and Development Programme (PPRP) is geared towards enterprises and local self-governments located in Warsaw and in the Mazowsze region as well as towards companies and institutions investing in the area. The programme focuses on promoting entrepreneurship, facilitating business contacts and, above all, on the development of the region’s economic image. The programme is expected to result in an efficient model for successful public and private entities’ cooperation. The programme is coordinated by a special Office (Biuro PPRP). The Economic Forum scheduled for June 20, is the Office’s flagship initiative and is to serve as a showcase for the Mazowsze region economic elites to represent the voivodship in and out of the country. Moreover, the meeting is thought to provide a possibility for the future investment basis creation in Warsaw and Mazowsze. The Forum’s leitmotif will consist in UE fund for 2007-2013, public-private partnership and the Mazowiecki region development strategy. During the closing ceremony, GALA MAZOWSZE’08, the Programme prizes - Lider PPRP - will be awarded, among others, to Lech Wałęsa, the former Polish president; Hanna Gronkiewicz-Waltz, the Warsaw President and Piotr Walter, Chairman of the TVN Management Board. For more information about the programme and news from the region visit www.msg.org.pl Office for the Entrepreneurship 5th Spanish-Polish Entrepreneurs Forum Between June 16-17, 2008 in the Novotel Centrum hotel in Warsaw the 5th Spanish-Polish Entrepreneurs Forum is to take place. The Forum is organised by the General Directorate for Chambers of Commerce in Spain and the Commercial Counsellor's Office by the Spanish Embassy in Poland.
The meeting aims at facilitating business contacts establishment among Polish and Spanish entrepreneurs. This year’s Forum hosts representatives of energetic, automotive, pharmaceutics, engineering, construction and many other sectors. The event is coordinated by Chambers of Commerce from various Spanish regions e.g. Madrid, Navarra, Zaragoza, Lugo and Barcelona. According to the representatives of the Navarra Chamber of Commerce, Spanish companies see the Polish market as an opportunity to find, above all, partners for production cooperation and product variety development. Spaniards are also interested in infrastructure and renewable energy connected investments. Around 50 Spanish companies and institutions are expected to participate in the Forum. For the full list of the participants and further information on the Forum go to: http://www.camarazaragoza.com/misiones/polonia2008/ New tenders expected The President of the Office of Electronic Communications (UKE) has an interesting offer for telecommunications investors.
Poland has been among the spearhead countries, which allocate the new frequency resources according to the investors’ needs. In the near future there are various invitations to tenders to be expected concerning frequencies at which the mobile TV DVB-H (470 - 790 MHz) can be offered, through the mobile telephony frequencies (900 MHz), to resources of broadband standards 3G and 4G (nomadic and mobile - 2,3GHz; 2,6GHz; 3,7GHz). Change of the frequencies’ allocation for the digital TV DVB-T has been prepared. Investors who decide to participate in the tender gain a unique chance to come into being at the dynamically developing Polish telecommunication market. Investments in telecommunications infrastructure are funded by the European Union. However, local governments, which are holders of such funds, need the support of experienced partners. New organizations with the range of investment and operational abilities will be formed within the scope of partnership between the public and private sector. The new infrastructure will allow the provision of advanced telecommunications services. Creating investment conditions in the telecommunications industry will enable a dynamic development of many other sectors of economy. Promoting Poland as an “investor-friendly” state is one of the priorities of the strategy of the President of UKE for the years 2008-2010. Special foreign investors support team has been created at UKE. It aims at providing full and complete information regarding the possibilities and conditions of investing in Poland. All entities that wish to start their business in Poland and need assistance can contact the foreign investors support team using the following e-mail address: investors@uke.gov.pl Trade mission to Israel The Polish Information and Foreign Investment Agency, as a subject responsible for the realisation of the project of Economic Promotion of Eastern Poland in the frame of 1.4 Operational Programme - Development of Eastern Poland (EPD OP) announces an open competition to appoint representatives for a trade mission to Israel. The trade mission is planed to take place between September 25-28, 2008. The competition is directed to entrepreneurs operating within food industry.
The competition eligible criteria:
Applications may be sent to The Polish Information and Foreign Investment Agency, Bagatela Street 12, 00-585 Warsaw or delivered personally. The application period closes on July 31, 2008. (please mark the topic on the envelope "Konkurs - Misja przedsiębiorców do Izraela”) Participants bear the mission’s expenses including accommodation, the Warszawa - Tel Aviv - Warszawa flight and food. PAIiIZ organizes meetings, transport in Israel as well as participation in the Polish-Israeli Entrepreneurs Forum and in ceremonies celebration the 20th anniversary of the Polish Israeli Chamber of Commerce creation. For more details contact: krystyna.skrzyńska@paiz.gov.pl INVESTMENTS IN POLAND Can-producing plant in Lublin to cost 200 mln PLN Ball Packaging Europe, an aluminium can manufacturer, has just obtained a permit to invest in the Lublin Sub-Zone. The company intends to buy a 12.5 ha lot and plans to build a new plant within a year’s time. It is estimated that the project will cost 200 mln PLN and may offer employment to more than 100 people.
Grzegorz Skóra, the production director from Ball Packaging Europe Radomsko, said that the company wants to start the construction as soon as possible. The Lublin plant, with production premises equipped with one can-manufacturing line, warehouses and office blocks, will be the second, together with the Radomsko plant, investment of the partnership in Poland. According to “Wiadomości Lublin”, the plant’s productive capacity may amount to 2 mln packages a day. It is scheduled to start operating in the first half of 2009. The production process to be introduced in the plant will be highly automated that is why the low-qualified staff percentage will be rather low. The required cadre will consist mainly of highly-qualified specialists; engineers and economists. After the recruitment process, which will start in June, selected persons will take part in several months’ training in the Ball plants. The Lublin sub-zone does very well as far as investors’ interest is concerned. Recently three new investors have applied for permits to operate within the zone. Currently the zone’s area approaches 70 ha but there are plans for expansion to up to 180 ha. (Wiadomości Lublin) Saint-Gobain invests 110 mln PLN and doubles production The second production line in the Gliwice Saint-Gobain glass wool plant has just started operating and the third one is planed within a year’s time.
Saint-Gobain Construction Products Polska has just activated the second line for glass wool and roof materials production. Due to the change the plant will double its production to reach 210 tonnes per day. The estimated cost of the investment accounts for 110 mln PLN. Installation of another new production line, this time for ceilings, is to start by the end of 2008 and will cost around 34 mln PLN. The plant’s development may result in 300 new workplaces. Around 30% of the plant’s production is earmarked for export, mainly to Eastern and Northern Europe. However, the situation is about to be changed as the company plans to direct the whole of its production for the domestic market. Saint-Gobain estimates its share in the Polish insulating materials market for 15% and seems not to be satisfied with that figure. Recently the company took over two competing companies: Maxi and Rigips. The company’s last year’s turnover equalled 340 mln PLN. (PB) MACROECONOMIC POLAND
Source: www.nbp.pl ANALYSES AND REPORTS The Polish IT market is worth 10 bln USD The Polish IT market was worth 10 bln USD in 2007. According to “Computerworld Polska”, the Polish Hewlett-Packard (HP) division is the biggest company in the sector.
According to the weekly magazine, the value of the Polish IT market rose by 25% compared to the same period last year. 9.9 billion USD was spent in Poland on IT hardware, software and IT connected services. The data confirms the opinion of Mr. Jacek Murawski, the General Director of Dell Computer Poland, who claims that Poland is the 6th biggest PC market in Europe. The report’s authors claim that 3.2 million computers were sold last year and notebooks comprised half of the number. The computer sale increased by almost 31% to 6.3 billion USD compared to the year 2006 and accounted for almost 65% of the whole IT market value. The software market segment was worth 12.2% of the total market in 2007 and rose by 14.3% - the Polish Press Agency (PAP) informs. Hewlett-Packard was found the biggest IT company operating in Poland in 2007 with estimated revenue of 2.6 billion PLN. It was also ranked in the first place in 2006 with a 2.25 billion PLN revenue. In turn, Asseco Poland results to be the biggest group business. In the rest of the categories the following companies were ranked in the first places: DID YOU KNOW...? A Quantum Optics Centre to be built in Toruń The Nicolaus Copernicus University (UMK) in Toruń signed a contract for concept architectural design and construction and executive plan for a Quantum Optics Centre.
The Quantum Optics Centre will be a modern research centre dealing with the quantum optics and the natural and biomedical science applications in Poland. The centre’s seat, a 2 000 square metre building, is to be located on the premises of the Toruń Institute of Physics. While the overall investment costs will amount to 25 million PLN, 22 million PLN is to be subsidized from EU funds. Professor Włodzimierz Jaskólski of the Institute of Physics in Toruń claims that - The Centre will help improve the quality of research in the field of quantum optics to meet the European standards, e.g. research done in one of the hi-tech quantum photonics laboratories will help improve ways of information storage in optic systems and may influence the information cryptography development to facilitate data transition. The research aims at identifying and eliminating problems hampering the quantum computer construction. The construction is planed to start at the beginning of June 2008 and is scheduled to be finished by the end of 2010. The laboratories are planed to be equipped in 2011. (PM Group)  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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