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Dear Mr…..
Ladies and Gentleman
Good Morning,
First of all let me thank you for inviting me to this important Forum. I
am very honoured to have the opportunity to address the esteemed
audience particularly because of the fact that the attention of this
gathering is focused on the real estate sector.
Let me start by stressing that I have just returned from Warsaw, the
capital city of Poland where I have participated in the Forum of 16
Central European Countries and China. The subject of the Forum was
the further cooperation in investment under the programme announced
in April 2012 in Warsaw by Prime Minister Wen Jiabao. I am happy to
let you know that the above Forum decided to establish the Secretariat
for the cooperation in investment between Central European countries
in Warsaw. This decision shows again that Poland is recognized as an
important destination for Chinese investment.
The question arises on why is it so?? There are several reasons I would
like to outline briefly here.
Poland is the biggest country in Central Europe, both as for the size of
the territory as well as for the number of people. 38 million Polish
nationals are quickly progressing achieving higher and higher living
standard. The Polish middle class creates the demand for luxury goods
and drives the development of the real estate market as well.
The economic prospects for the development of the Polish economy are
very promising. The country has been the member of the European
Union since May 1, 2004. Within over fourteen years of the membership
the huge progress has been achieved. Poland is the fastest growing
economy in Central Europe, with the stable financial system and
transparent legal framework fully harmonized with the European
Union standards. As the member of the EU Poland is the part of the
single European market, what in practice means that more Polish
people work, invest and act in other EU countries as well as the growing
number of foreigners come to invest and also buy real estate in Poland.
The growth of GDP in Poland in 2014 is predicted to reach the level of
3,2% which is one of the highest in Europe, much higher than the
average growth rate in other EU countries.
Transportation is very important for the investors. As mentioned,
Poland has been developing the transportation network utilizing her
location in the heart of Europe. Nowadays there are 12 international
airports in the country and four big sea ports. The network of
motorways has been expanded to serve the increasing logistics needs in
this part of the continent. There are two logistic corridors where Poland
is the key location for, that is the direction from the West to East and
also from the northern Baltic sea coast, where the Polish sea ports are
located to the South. The network of connections with China has also
been extended. LOT Polish Airlines fly from Warsaw to Beijing three
times a week, Shanghai has a regular sea connection with the city of
Gdansk, Chengdu has the railway container connection with Lodz and
Suzhou in Jiangsu with Warsaw.
All these facts prove that there are excellent conditions and
circumstances for the Chinese investors to be even more active than so
far in Poland.
I am happy to stress that more and more people from Zhejiang go to
Poland both on business and tourism. In May 2014 we had a special
guest in Warsaw who was the governor of the Zhejiang province visiting
the country with the mission of local businessmen.
Before I start to talk about the real estate market of Poland let me stress
that there is nowadays the network of Chinese financial and legal
entities already operating on the Polish market. There are two banking
institutions that is ICBC (Industrial and Commercial Bank of China)
and Bank of China. There are two important law offices of China which
have the partners in Poland that is Yingke and Dacheng. Polish
Information and Foreign Investment Agency have established the
Chinese Centre which serves the potential investors from China who are
interested in searching the possibilities of bringing capital to Poland.
The platform “Go Poland” in Chinese has been established. There are
already three Chinese companies which got through successful IPOs
and are present on the Warsaw Stock Exchange.
So summing up – the broad infrastructure and environment in Poland
are very friendly for the foreign investors, with those coming from
China included. Poland is the leader of Central European region as for
the value of the foreign investment in this part of the continent.
We have prepared for you the set of information in soft copy (in
Chinese) about the investment environment and opportunities in Poland.
I hope you will find it useful.
It is obvious that the real estate market reflects all the positive aspects of
the economic situation of Poland. The Polish real estate market attracts
the attention not only of the local Polish investors, but also attracts
companies and individual investors from the Western Europe, the USA
and Asia.
Briefly there are two categories of the real estate units which are offered
on the market namely:
a/ commercial facilities:
These are used either for trade, warehouses, market centres as well as
the offices.
The main categories here are the offices and the most attractive
locations are in Warsaw, Wroclaw, Krakow, Gdansk, Poznan and
Katowice, the most important investors in this segment come from
Germany and Austria. The bright economic prospects for the Polish
economy make the demand grow.
b/ shopping facilities – the chains of supermarkets have been quickly
growing in Poland. The monthly rate in Warsaw for renting the best
facilities (space of 100 sqm) is about 90 Euro per square meter. The
supermarkets and shopping areas are particularly popular among
investors from Germany, UK, the Netherlands and Portugal.
c/ real estate for individual needs – like apartments. The number of the
newly built apartments is quickly increasing. Just to give you the idea –
the highest number of the apartments in Warsaw, the capital city of
Poland fall into price brackets between 6 – 8 thousand PLN what is
roughly 1.500 - 2.000 Euro / square meter. Around 3% of the total
Polish real estate market fall into the luxury category that is apartments,
lofts or residences and in this case the prices may reach the value of a
few million Euro. Some of the examples/offers have been placed in the
source information handed over to the organizers of this Forum.
As far as the luxury residences are concerned there are the following
features which have the influence on the price:
a/ location either close to the city centre or close to the tourist roots,
mountains, lakes or the sea coast. There are leaflets distributed in
Chinese with the names and short characteristics of the most beautiful
Polish cities which are also the leading and most attractive locations for
the real estate,
b/ level of standard provided with AC and smart systems used,
c/ large space, in the cities is more than 100 sq.m and in case of
residences – 300 sqm.
d/ protection against the noise,
e/ modern or traditional design and layout.
More and more foreigners buy the residences for commercial reasons –
not for their own use. It is usually the case of going for the rental
arrangements – for tourist or the facilities in the spa. Generally Poland
is the country of the very nice landscape, many historical cities and
tourist attractions that is why the cities are attractive to go for but also
smaller places located in the mountains or in the sea shore or lakes.
As far as the regulations on purchasing the real estate by the foreigner
are concerned there are the regulations (Law) implemented in 2004 in
connection with Poland’s accession to the European Union.
In case of foreigners – in case of purchasing the real estate by the
foreigner the formal permit from the Ministry of Interior is needed.
This step is not required when the transaction refers to the individual
flat/apartment. The permit is granted within two months after placing
an application.
In 2012 for instance the highest number of buyers who got the permit
came from Germany, the Netherlands, the USA, Ukraine, Austria and
France.
The most popular locations for the foreigners as for purchasing the real
estate are: Warszawa (Warsaw), Kraków, Wroclaw, Poznań, Katowice,
Lodz and Zakopane. With the booming incoming tourism and growing
number of foreigners visiting Poland every year your investment in
hotels, spas, restaurants and generally in hospitality business is also
worth a consideration.
Polish cities attract foreigners with their outstanding flavor which is
combination of the history and modernity. When you think of going to
Poland to look for the real estate – you may either select the top modern
apartment or the nice house of the nineteenth century. There are also
excellent cottages in Poland in the rural area which may be used as the
restaurants/hotels etc. Some of the offers I have brought with me today
so we are ready to respond to any enquiries you might have.
I would like to thank you again for inviting me and for your attention.
I wish the forum a complete success and the individual investors from
Zhejiang – good deals in Poland.
Thank you very much
Shanghai, 28.11.2014