Many companies from all over the world are looking for business partners in Central Europe. This is a great opportunity for Polish entrepreneurs as well as entities investing in Poland. These were the conclusions of the panel discussion that took place at the Polish House during the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.
The meeting under the slogan “The role of CEE on the global value chains and competence centres map” was preceded by a speech by Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of State Assets, Jacek Sasin. According to him, the last 2.5 years have brought extremely difficult experiences related to both the coronavirus pandemic and the war in Ukraine.
“These events have proven that the existing economic processes must undergo a profound change. The pandemic disrupted global supply chains and it became clear that dispersing production around the globe did not work. The war showed how important it is to build independence from Russian energy resources,” Prime Minister Sasin said.
At the same time, he stressed that Poland may become a place where large global investments will be carried out and production transferred because as a country Poland has a lot to offer.
“Poland lies at the intersection of transport routes: east-west and north-south. We are investing in communication infrastructure, for example, in a road project that will connect the port of Thessaloniki with the Baltic countries,” Prime Minister Sasin said.
According to him, in terms of logistics, Poland is prepared to become a production centre and take over the role, that other countries, especially China, have played so far. There also are excellent professionals who can participate in this process.
In the panel that followed, views on the role of Central and Eastern Europe in global value chains were exchanged by representatives of the largest companies in the world, including Google Cloud, Honeywell, IBM and Polish market giants such as Pekao, Asseco, KGHM and PESA.
“We had a chance to talk about the importance of Central Europe, the Polish economy for investors, not only foreign ones but also Polish companies that actively participate in the global fight for their position,” Leszek Skiba, CEO of Pekao S.A., summed up the discussion.
In post-pandemic times, especially in the context of the war in Ukraine, it is already evident that many companies are looking for trade partners in our part of the continent.
“Delivering goods from Asia takes time, it also means the risk that the goods will not always arrive. Delivery networks are breaking up and, in this context, Central Europe gains, Polish entrepreneurs, i.e., our clients, gain,” the president of Pekao S.A. said.
On the one hand, it is possible to observe an increase in demand for Polish and Central European products, and on the other hand – high inflation, resulting primarily from an increase in energy prices.
“Costs are rising in many places. For many companies, wages are also an additional cost increase. However, this is not as problematic as the lack of manpower at times. The level of unemployment in Poland is one of the lowest among the countries of the entire European Union,” Leszek Skiba reminded.
Poland is also a country where many people have very high qualifications. According to him, we live in a world where we can see great opportunities for Poland’s further economic growth.
“On the other hand, we have risks: related to the Russian aggression against Ukraine, i.e., the perception of Poland as a country threatened with war. It is extremely important that we fight this kind of perception because after all, we are safe. The war is far from Warsaw,” Leszek Skiba said.