London and Warsaw, Monday 27 June 2011
(Date: 2011-06-27)
UK firms should not miss out on Polish business opportunities says Poland's finance minister and the British Polish Chamber of Commerce
Jan Vincent Rostowski, Poland's finance minister, warned Britain's corporate leaders in London today not to miss out on Polish business opportunities. “Over the last four years Poland has managed to charter extremely difficult waters to maintain solid growth. It remains a stable and attractive global investment destination. The UK is one of Poland's leading trading partners, although trade and investment flows between the two countries have the potential to be far greater."
Mr Rostowski is in London just days before Poland takes over the rolling six-month presidency of the EU Council.
As the UK Government launches a week of global export promotion activity, the British Polish Chamber of Commerce (BPCC) has organised a meeting in London for leaders from over 90 UK companies to hear about the prospects for this fast-growing economy from Poland's finance minister. UK-born and educated Jan Vincent Rostowski was voted The Banker magazine's finance minister of the year in 2009 for his part in keeping Poland out of recession – the only country in the entire EU to do so.
"I am pleased to have the opportunity to meet British business and Polish nationals in the UK at this exciting time in the development of the relationship between our two countries,” said Mr Rostowski.
Poland is one of Britain's fastest growing trading partners. Since joining the EU in 2004, Poland's trade with Britain has grown three-fold. This year looks set to be yet another record year; the value of British exports to Poland in the first four months of 2011 is more than double what it was in the same period in 2010.
According to the BPCC, however, British business is not maximising the trade and investment opportunities with Poland, lagging behind many other European countries in this respect. "Poland has a larger trade surplus with the UK than any other country, which speaks for itself", a spokesman said. "With a strong and stable economy, where growth in 2010 was three times higher than in the UK, Poland is without doubt the EU's leading growth market and one that British business should not ignore".
John Duckworth, managing director, Jones Lang LaSalle, Central & Eastern Europe said: “We are delighted to host the CEO Forum Why Poland? in our London offices. The involvement in this event of so many British businesses, together with Prof. Rostowski, demonstrates the depth of interest in Poland as an investment destination. Our own business in Poland is experiencing growth, which is supported by the increasing confidence demonstrated by a wide cross section of our clients with Polish real estate interests,”
Martin Oxley, head of the commercial section of the British Embassy in Warsaw, said: "The trade figures suggest that Poland is an excellent destination for British exports. There's huge scope for growth here. Retail sales are up 18.6% in the year to April, while corporate investment is up 13% year-on-year in the first quarter of 2011 - I'd suggest that British manufacturers are missing out on a boom."
Last year, JCB sold £81m worth of construction equipment to Poland, driven by the current dash to update the country's infrastructure in time for next year's Euro 2012 football championships. "Yet UK construction companies themselves are missing out. For every €1 the Austrian taxpayer puts into Polish infrastructure development via EU funds, 97 cents goes to Austrian firms winning building contracts in Poland. In the case of Germany, it's 64 cents; for Denmark and Sweden it's 43 and 41 cents respectively. For the UK – a measly 13p in every pound. Britain's taxpayers are helping to pay for Poland's new roads, yet British companies are not benefiting from this. Now is the time for the UK to seize opportunity in Poland," said Mr Oxley.
Michael Dembinski
Head of Policy
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