Eastern Poland on a trade mission to India

01.03.2010

The Polish Information and Foreign Investment Agency organised a trade mission comprised of representatives of the Polish IT and BPO sectors to India. The mission took place between February 7th and 17th, 2010 within the framework of the Programme of Economic Promotion of Eastern Poland.

Businessmen and representatives of regional self-governments of the macroregion of Eastern Poland actively participated in the biggest in India and one of the biggest worldwide IT and BPO trade fairs -  NASSCOM Leadership Forum in Mumbai. The event has been organised every year and combines trade fairs with a trade conference. The event is a meeting place for IT and BPO companies from all around the world – mainly from India, the USA, the UK and Germany and also partners from developing IT and BPO markets i.e. from Egypt, China, Philippines and Poland. The Forum is a prefect place for discussions of development trends in the sectors and for promotion of new project destinations situated in good locations. During a panel discussion devoted to Eastern Poland representatives of the Region presented potential of the BPO and IT sectors in Poland, focused on Polish - Indian economic relations and the Polish system of investment incentives. The special guest of the panel was Mr Shantanu Ghosh - Vice President of Genpact - an international company which offers accounting services and which in 2008 opened its branch in Lublin.

From the left: Shantanu Ghosh - Genpact’s Deputy President, Krzysztof Libiszewski - Wardyński and Co. Law Office, Dariusz Karwowski - Trade Chancellor of the Polish Embassy in New Delhi, Robert Seges - PAIiIZ

BPO and IT are major sectors in Indian economy and offer work to around 100 million people. There are numerous companies which employ up to 100,000 IT specialists and record turnover of over USD 1 billion annually. Poland’s potential business partners may recruit from among companies which annual turnover hovers at the minimum level of USD 100-200 million – there are some 300 companies which meet the requirement. The majority of companies which enter the group of potential partners, are entities which provide services to partners in Europe and around the world.

In fact, Indian companies active in the field of IT and BPO rank among the most active investors in the sectors in Poland. To date Poland hosted investment projects run by such companies as, among others: Infosys, Intelenet Global, WIPRO, Irevna, Zensar, HCL, TCS, KPIT and Genpact. The Polish Information and Foreign Investment Agency has currently been running further investment projects initiated by Indian investors.

Members of the trade mission recruited from among local governments of Lublin, Białystok, Kielce and from the region of Świętokrzyskie as well as companies which operate in the regions of Eastern Poland: Lublin-based companies: 3-W Studio, CSF Polska, Mikrobit, SIM Spółka Inżynierów and eLeader as well as Intratel and Komserwis from Białystok, Altar and Telbridge from Kielce. Beside individual meetings with Indian companies the Polish delegation had the possibility to present Poland’s potential at a meeting with the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI).

The mission was financed from the European Regional Development Fund in the framework of Programme of Economic Promotion of Eastern Poland. Measure I.4 Promotion and Co-operation.