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Nearly 100 guests attended a reception organised by BPCC London yesterday.
The event was opened by Lord Radice who has strong links with Poland via his wife who comes from Kraków.
Lord Radice elaborated on the significant strengths and synergies the UK have in working together - employment, trade and culture.
In his response Martin Oxley, BPCC CEO said:
I am very proud to welcome here such a strong representation of corporate members of the Chamber. Nearly 450 BPCC members represent over $12 billion invested capital and employ over 120,000 people in Poland. The BPCC is actively working both with its membership and also regional and national government to promote bilateral trade and investment.
The UK and Poland have an unprecedented opportunity to optimise growth and in cooperation assert themselves a strong competitive position in Europe. Martin outlined the major business opportunities for British-Polish relations:
What's interesting is that over 10 years (1996-2005), growth in value of UK exports to Poland was a mere 18%.
Now - all of a sudden at the beginning of 2006, UK exports to Poland surged. The first nine months of 2006 were up 68.9% compared to the same period in 2005.
3rd Quarter 2006 GDP growth was 5.8% - far higher than expected. However, the World Bank states that if Poland were to institute a reform programme that benchmarked best practice across emerging economies, growth would be around two percentage points higher – 8%.
Estimates suggest that 600,000 Poles have had the opportunity of working in the UK since the labour market was opened. That's 308,000 registered with the WRS (1.05.2004 -> 30.09.2006); around 45,000 self-employed (not the same as Polish-owned businesses, as most are sub contractors).
EU structural and cohesion funds will change the face of Poland by 2016 (when the last of the 2007-2013 budget round funds will have had to be spent by). The lion's share will be spent on infrastructure. This is a great opportunity for British firms.
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Britain is the world leader in the private financing of the building and operating of public service infrastructure. Now that the Polish parliament has passed the enabling legislation for the PPP Act, and with EU funds coming on stream, there are huge opportunities for UK firms to project manage, finance and operate public sector projects. The BPCC's PPP Working Group meets regularly to promote the concept.
Poland's unemployment - still the highest in the EU - is falling rapidly. However, the country faces the twin - and seemingly contradictory - problems of low labour market participation resulting from economic transformation - and skills shortages. The answer to both problems is wide-scale training and professional development programmes - and EU funds for HR will undoubtedly play a big part here.
Of the 1,000+ foreign companies who have invested in Poland's 14 Special Economic Zones, only five are from the UK! 2007 will be the last year in which the benefits can be really optimised from entering Polish SEZs, which will all close in 2017. British firms have only 12 months to get in start operations.
Unlike French, Italian and Spanish food companies, who have invested heavily in promoting their products to Polish consumers, British food is notable by its absence in Poland. No Stilton or Cheddar, no cider, no pork pies, Cornish pasties or other British specialties.
Rapid trade growth (see above) should be a lead indicator for investment. At this stage, however, UK investment in Poland is characterised by a few dozen highly-successful large-scale investments by British companies who've become market leaders. Britain - the world's second biggest foreign investor after the US - in Poland is only in sixth place. This is mainly because of the negligible presence of British SMEs. German entrepreneurs, however, have been outsourcing manufacture to Poland for many years, to the benefit of their competitiveness. British SMEs are put off by the Polish bureaucracy, slow legal system and unpredictable tax offices. The BPCC and its members can help support British SMEs enter the Polish market.
Strong economic growth, employment mobility, rising corporate investment and SME growth will lead to significant opportunities in education, tourism and culture. There are now 300 flights per week between the UK and Poland. Tourism between the two countries is at a record high and numerous educational and cultural exchanges have taken place between Poland and the UK in 2006. Record numbers of Polish students are studying in the UK.
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