Executive Note

Dear Members and Readers,

It’s been already been three months since the last edition of Contact Magazine Online of 2022 appeared. Back in December, we focused on the activities that marked our 30th anniversary year, but our entry into 2023 has proved equally dynamic. On 11 January we met to look at the prospects for Polish economy with the participation of Prof Witold Orłowski and a line-up of top managers representing British investors in Poland; Adam Uszpolewicz, the former Aviva Poland CEO and BPCC board advisor; Aneta Jóźwicka, corporate relations director Northern Europe, Diageo and BPCC chairwoman; Beata Balas-Noszczyk, managing partner, Hogan Lovells Poland; Paweł Bajorek, CEO for the CEE region, Reckitt; Tomasz Buras, CEO, Savills Poland; Piotr Kuberka, CEO, Shell Poland; and Michał Mastalerz, CEO, PwC Poland. It was a great line-up of CEOs and leaders who shared their views on what to expect this year and how we can predict trends in the increasingly unpredictable world.

The other important event at the start of 2023 was our membership survey which gave us critical insights into the needs communicated by our members. You’ve seen the executive summary of the results; for us this has become a blueprint for our B2B and B2G activities going forward, as well as serving as an assessment for how we can communicate better with you and offer more efficient networking. As a result, what we used to call policy group meetings are being turned in to sector-focused events with a separate distinction for regulatory initiatives (a good example being a meeting with the Ministry of Finance on the introduction of e-invoicing) and CEO engagements – in March our big event will be an Executive Lunch with Lady Ashton (27 March), the former head of the European Commission’s diplomatic service.

This month, we have also prepared two networking events – on 9 March (a day after International Women’s Day), we will he holding our first Female Entrepreneurship Forum; we shall also be celebrating St Patrick’s Day on 15 March. In addition to the events listed events here there is a large number of sector events held each month, live on online, across our entire network – please make sure you’re signed up to our weekly newsletter. If you are Warsaw-based, please be aware that we are also active across Poland’s regions; in the last month we have visited Gliwice, Kielce, Szczecin and Wrocław; other Polish cities are in the pipeline

In essence this will be a busy spring and we hope to see you involved – your chamber is keeping busy for you!

Finally, the horrors of war in Ukraine continue to dominate the headlines as we passed the first anniversary of Russia’s brutal and unproved invasion. As a neighbouring nation, Poland takes every effort to support with military and humanitarian aid, as well as integrating Ukrainian refugees into Polish society – they’re welcome for a long as it takes. As a business community we support the spirit of humanitarian aid and we will be publicising every opportunity to help re-build and re-shape the future of Ukraine.