Post by tuftabis on Jul 24, 2008 2:42:48 GMT -7
by Bogdan Żaryn
According to a report by the Vienna Institute for International Economic Studies, Poland tops a short list of European Union new member states for increased Foreign Direct Investment. Vienna Institute analyst Gabor Hunya argues that Poland stands to gain an impressive increase of Direct Foreign Investment during 2008: ‘All the EU new member states are frequent FDI targets. As for Poland of course by its large size it attracted about 15 billion Euros in 2006 and perhaps when final data comes out it will be something similar in 2007. But in large countries in large capital terms, in GDP terms get unusually less FDI’s’.
Analysts think that the financial crisis in the US and in other parts of the world has made direct investment capital more scarce and more expensive. Insiders believe that foreign investment in new member states of the EU is now being based on entirely new criteria: ‘I think that the time of competing between the Czech Republic and Poland for example, these times are over. All the countries the whole region is so much integrated into Europe that each new production site is actually assessing all these territories, so this is the case with the new investments. It is not the country that is competing it is the regions that are more important nowadays. It is the regional government, it is the connection to higher education, it is the availability of manpower in that region. One in the same investor will say that Poland is not our destination but, two months later maybe another one is going there with the same target and will find it much better.’
Since joining the EU in 2004, Warsaw has already managed to take the regional lead in providing out-sourcing, finance, management and R&D services Vice President of the Polish Foreign Investment Agency PAIZ Pawel Stelmaszczyk says that upgrades in road and rail infrastructure, cutting bureaucratic red tape and providing foreign investors with conventional tax breaks makes Poland even more attractive: ‘I know that in the past the lack of predictability regarding different regulations was a big problem for foreign investors. Now it is more predictable in Poland than in a number of other countries in Central and Eastern Europe and in Southeast Europe as well as in the CIS countries. That is something that is definitely Poland’s advantage now. This is in addition to the standard tax breaks that have always been offered to and continue to be offered to foreign investors in special economic zones.’
Despite the fact that all EU new comers recorded a good first quarter in FDI, the Vienna Institute report forecasts an overall cash flow decline in foreign investment capital by the end of the year. Several years ago the low cost of labor lured foreign direct investment to Poland. Despite recent wage increases Poland has been able to maintain the competitive edge and offer high returns for potential foreign investors.
According to a report by the Vienna Institute for International Economic Studies, Poland tops a short list of European Union new member states for increased Foreign Direct Investment. Vienna Institute analyst Gabor Hunya argues that Poland stands to gain an impressive increase of Direct Foreign Investment during 2008: ‘All the EU new member states are frequent FDI targets. As for Poland of course by its large size it attracted about 15 billion Euros in 2006 and perhaps when final data comes out it will be something similar in 2007. But in large countries in large capital terms, in GDP terms get unusually less FDI’s’.
Analysts think that the financial crisis in the US and in other parts of the world has made direct investment capital more scarce and more expensive. Insiders believe that foreign investment in new member states of the EU is now being based on entirely new criteria: ‘I think that the time of competing between the Czech Republic and Poland for example, these times are over. All the countries the whole region is so much integrated into Europe that each new production site is actually assessing all these territories, so this is the case with the new investments. It is not the country that is competing it is the regions that are more important nowadays. It is the regional government, it is the connection to higher education, it is the availability of manpower in that region. One in the same investor will say that Poland is not our destination but, two months later maybe another one is going there with the same target and will find it much better.’
Since joining the EU in 2004, Warsaw has already managed to take the regional lead in providing out-sourcing, finance, management and R&D services Vice President of the Polish Foreign Investment Agency PAIZ Pawel Stelmaszczyk says that upgrades in road and rail infrastructure, cutting bureaucratic red tape and providing foreign investors with conventional tax breaks makes Poland even more attractive: ‘I know that in the past the lack of predictability regarding different regulations was a big problem for foreign investors. Now it is more predictable in Poland than in a number of other countries in Central and Eastern Europe and in Southeast Europe as well as in the CIS countries. That is something that is definitely Poland’s advantage now. This is in addition to the standard tax breaks that have always been offered to and continue to be offered to foreign investors in special economic zones.’
Despite the fact that all EU new comers recorded a good first quarter in FDI, the Vienna Institute report forecasts an overall cash flow decline in foreign investment capital by the end of the year. Several years ago the low cost of labor lured foreign direct investment to Poland. Despite recent wage increases Poland has been able to maintain the competitive edge and offer high returns for potential foreign investors.