Returning Poles offer boost for foreign investors

Wednesday, 19 November 2008

Polish people returning home from working abroad can be the catalyst to attract more foreign investment into the country.

Michael Clay, a board member of the British Polish Chamber of Commerce, told a seminar at the Polish Embassy in London that the ‘great movement’ in returning Poles would solve the needs of foreign investors.

‘They have learned new language and employment skills and ideas in other countries which will alleviate Poland's skills shortages,’ he said. ‘Foreign investors are already welcoming their return.’ Pawel Stelmaszczyk, vice president of the Polish Information and Foreign Investment Agency (PAIiIZ), added:‘We now have much more to offer outside investors than low production costs.’

Foreign investment in Poland stood at £13.5bn in 2007, and Clay expects this figure to increase. He explained that Polish workers were returning home because they will be better off financially there than in countries such as the UK. ‘The effects of the global downturn have not really been felt in Poland,’ Clay said.

Stelmaszczyk expects economic growth in Poland this year to be 5.5 per cent, down from 6.6 per cent in 2007.‘It could go higher, but given the global economic conditions it is a fairly good result,’ he said. However unemployment rates remain high at 9.3 per cent.

Meanwhile, Rafal Szajewski, of the Investor Services Department at PAIiIZ, told Pathfinder Business that Poland is to strengthen the aftercare it provides foreign businesses who invest there. ‘We haven't supported big companies enough,’ he said.‘We will help them more with legal advice and recruitment.’