FICCI Business Seminar

Dynamic, stable, risk-free Poland, beckons India to deepen trade and investment ties His Excellency Mr. Dariusz Bogdan, Deputy Minister of Economy of the Republic of Poland, addresses FICCI seminar

Hyderabad, February 28, 2013. His Excellency Mr. Dariusz Bogdan, Deputy Minister of Economy of The Republic of Poland, today invited Indian business to explore the emerging business and investment opportunities in Poland, a country that has maintained sound economic policies contributing to macroeconomic and financial stability as well as a relatively high level of competitiveness.

Addressing an interactive session with CEOs of Polish and Indian companies, organized by FICCI,

H E Darius Bogdan, said Poland is the 6th biggest country in the EU with working age population of 26.6 million and a strong export performance (total exports in 2011 stood at 135 billion Euros). It is well integrated with the EU in terms of trade and foreign direct investments.

As a result, Poland is an important part of the EU production chains. At the same time, sound economic policies kept the economy stable in terms of inflation, output gap and the current account which was largely covered by net FDI inflows and EU capital transfers. Thus, the Polish economy has not built up any significant imbalances (Polish public debt in 2011 was 56.4% of GDP; without pensions: 39.2% of GDP and Private debt: 79.5% of GDP.)

He said the Polish labor market was relatively flexible with well educated workers that are competitive in terms of wages. This is appreciated by investors. According to an Ernst & Young European Attractiveness Survey 2012 of 840 respondents constituting executives of large companies around the world, 10 per cent of them found Poland to be the second-most attractive investment destination in Europe in the next three years. (Germany stood at No. 1 at 35 per cent; followed by Poland, the UK (8 percent), Russia (7 percent) and France (4 percent).

Ms. Bozena CZAJA, Member of the Management Board, Polish Information & Foreign Investment Agency, in her remarks, said that UNCTAD had placed Poland as the 6th most attractive FDI destinations. Ernst & Young ranks the country in the 2nd in a group of the most attractive countries in the next three years and the Financial Times of London gives Poland the 3rd place globally in quality of processing industry.

Within Poland, she said, Eastern Poland was one of the fastest developing regions of Poland The region has the lowest labor costs in the country, is one of the most ecofriendly regions in the whole of Europe has a young and highly-skilled workers and there is a positive outlook for road infrastructure development.
The priority sectors in Eastern Poland are: food sector, furniture production, metal and machinery sector, BPO, aviation industry, yacht industry and business tourism.

Today's seminar is the third of the road shows by the country on 'Doing Business in Poland'. The first road show was held in Delhi followed by the one in Bangalore yesterday. The 14-member Polish business delegation to India represents sectors such as aviation, machinery and equipment and food processing.
Ms Sangita Reddy, Chairperson FICCI AP Sate Council & Executive Director, Apollo Hospital said, Indo-Polish relations are longstanding and friendly. Poland and India seek to develop and upgrade their relationship. Thousands of Poles visit India every year for a firsthand encounter with the world's largest democracy and its traditions, culture and civilization. Poland is already India's largest trading partner in Central Europe and India's private sector considers Poland an investment destination. Andhra Pradesh is one of the largest business destinations. Andhra Pradesh economy has registered over 5.5% annual economic growth rate during the last two decades. Andhra Pradesh (AP) has been an exporter of many agricultural products. Besides, the state is also one of the most industrially developed states of India. The key sectors of the state are Tourism, Drugs and Pharmaceuticals, Food and Agro-based, Information Technology, Mines and Minerals, Textile and Leather, Defense and Aerospace, etc.

The State of Andhra Pradesh is poised towards creating a benchmark in Information & Communication Technology (ICT) endowed with a high quality state-of-the-art physical & communication infrastructure of international standards, harnessed human resources, and proactive business friendly policies of the Government. Ms. Reddy personally believes that there is a large scope for expanding the two-way interaction between Poland and Andhra Pradesh and we must harness this opportunity and attempt to convert the challenges if any into opportunities.