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NEWSLETTER
January 8th 2009, number 104
NEWS
FROM THE EDITOR
Dear Readers!
This week we write about last week's summaries
presented by the Ministry of Economy on activities
supporting enterprise in Poland and about economic
forecasts for 2009. We also present data on car
sales and foodstuff export performance for 2008.
Despite financial slowdown observed worldwide,
major economic indices in Poland reflect quite a
good shape of the country's economic state. The
Warsaw Stock Exchange managed to confirm its
leading position in the region in the field of debuting
companies. Moreover, we inform about new
investment enterprises in the Special Economic
Zones and about investment plans to be realised in
Lidzbark Warmiński where thermal swimming pools
are to be constructed by the year 2012.
At the end of this week's issue you may read about
achievements of a young IT specialist from the
Warsaw University.
Pleasant Reading!
MINISTRY OF ECONOMY: 2008 WAS
GOOD FOR THE POLISH ECONOMY
In his summery of the year 2008 the deputy prime
minister and economy minister Waldemar Pawlak
said that last year Poland enjoyed a robust and
dynamic economic development. According to the
Ministry's estimates, the over 5% GDP growth in
2009 is still a possible scenario for the Polish
context.
The deputy prime minister Waldemar Pawlak and
the secretary in the Ministry of Economy Adam
Szejnfeld summed up the most important economic
events and the Ministry's performance in 2008. Mr
Pawlak emphasized that the 2008 economic data
for Poland, as expected, reflects the rise in demand,
investment outlays and production growth. The
Ministry estimates that while the increase in
individual consumption for 2008 may reach 5%, the
gross fixed assets outlays may have risen even by
10%. The sold production is expected to have
increased by 4.3% and the assembly-construction
output by 12% y-o-y.
According to the deputy prime minister forecasts for
2009 should include data provided in prognoses
presented by institutions like: OECD, the European
Commission or the International Monetary Fund.
Both EC and IMF estimate the GDP growth for
Poland in 2009 to reach 3.8% while according to
OECD the increase is bound to near 3%. All the
estimates testify to the fact that against the backdrop
of global financial typhoon the Polish economy is in
a good condition. Mr Pawlak pointed out that the
Ministry will actively participate in the “Stability and
Development Plan” with the aim to support demand
and investment, both by means of traditional and
new financing solutions e.g. consumer leasing.
The deputy minister Szejnfeld presented a summary
of activities undertaken in the frame of a package
“Actions for enterprise” and emphasised that
ministerial efforts boosting economic freedom and
Polish companies development will not end with the
programme. As for actions undertaken last year it
was the changes in the foreign exchange law that
classified among the key improvements for
entrepreneurs. Thanks to it the obligation imposed on
companies operating in the country to run financial
settlements in PLN was abolished. Mr Szejnfeld
recalled also that last December the Parliament
finalised preparations for the amendment to acts
regulating issues connected with running economic
activities and public-private partnership i.e. the two
most important regulations determining enterprise
development in the country. All the efforts are
expected to boost the economy on its way to enter
the euro zone.
The government's plans for 2009 consist in devising a
bill on slashing administrative barriers encountered
by entrepreneurs that would finally eliminate
superfluous requirements and regulations hampering
effective economic activity development in Poland.
(Ministry of Economy)
The Ministry of Economy sums up events and activities of 2008.
Source: Ministry of Economy.
THE KRAKOW SEZ OPERATIVE TILL 2020
The Krakow Special Economic Zone will continue
operative till the year 2020.
On December 15th, 2008 the Council of Minister
issued a decree concerning the Krakow SEZ.
According to the decree the SEZ's existence will be
prolonged to the year 2020. It came into force on
December 30th, 2008.
Initial regulations regarding the Krakow Special
Economic Zone assumed the zone to be operative till
the end of 2017. At the moment the 417 ha zone
comprises of lots located in Krakow, Krosno, Nowy
Sącz, Oświęcim, Tarnów and in the Andrychów,
Dobczyce, Gdów, Niepołomice, Słomniki, Wolbrom
communes. (the Krakow Technology Park)
INVESTMENT IN POLAND
THE TARNOBRZEG SEZ EXPANDS ITS
OFFER FOR INVESTORS
Construction of two new production buildings was
successfully completed in the Tarnobrzeg SEZ in
2008. Now space of a total of 5 thousand sq m
may be offered to new investors, like PolimexMostostal already eager to invest in the Siedlce sub
zone.
Last months of 2008 witnessed finalisation of the
latest investment in the Tarnobrzeg-based SEZ. The
new production buildings have a joint space of 5
thousand sq m and are destined for renting both by
current and future investors. In fact, the Tarnobrzegbased Industrial Development Agency, in charge of
the zone, already managed to attract and locate two
companies now successfully operating in the new
buildings. In the years 2009-2010 the SEZ
management plans to start further production
investments which together with the two constructed
last year are to form one of the biggest production
complexes in the Podkarpacie region. In December
2008 the Tarnobrzeg SEZ attracted a new important
investor, Polimex-Mostostal. The company,
manufacturing mainly steel structures and pressure
vessels, plans to build a factory in Siedlce. The project
will not only create new workplaces but will also
contribute to a creation of a network of companies
co-operating with Polimex-Mostostal. The
Tarnobrzeg-based SEZ, created in November 1997
and operating since 1998, managed to issue 168
business activity permissions, included 35 for
investments involving foreign capital. The SEZ
consists of 11 sub zones located in 6 different
voivodships. (Industrial Development Agency)
envisages the lift door producing plant to be located
in the Kutno sub zone.
In the next two years Enginova declared to invest
some 22 million and wants to create at least 50 jobs
by the 2013. The whole investment is planed to be
completed by May 2017. (Łódź SEZ)
NEW INVESTOR IN THE ŁÓDŹ SEZ
A new factory producing automatic lift door will be
constructed in the industrial complex Wschodnia
located in the Łódź SEZ's sub zone in Kutno.
Enginova is the SEZ's brand new investing company
attracted to the sub zone.
The company is to invest 22 million PLN and wants to
construct a factory on a 3ha plot bought from the
Łódź Special Economic Zone. A company selected
for the project realisation was chosen on December
10th, 2008 in a competitive bidding. The project
Polish Information and Foreign Investment Agency
The industrial complex Wschodnia located
in the Łódź SEZ's sub zone in Kutno.
www.paiz.gov.pl
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MACROECONOMIC POLAND
FOOD EXPORT ROSE BY 7.2%
In 2008 food export from Poland rose by 7.2% y-o-y.
The value of foodstuff sold abroad last year
accounted for 10.7 billion EUR. 75% of the exported
food goods go to the markets located in the
European Union. Also 60% of the imported food
originates from the EU member states. (Institute of
Agricultural and Food Economics)
Exchange rates (as of 8.01.2009)
USD
Buy
2,9061
2,9649
Sell
EUR
3,9701
4,0503
Source: www.nbp.pl
ANALYSES AND REPORTS
SAMAR INSTITUTE: SALES OF
PASSENGER CARS ON THE RISE
According to the data provided by the Automotive
Market Research Institute Samar passenger cars
sales for December 2008 result to exceed car sales
recorded in Poland in November when over 27
thousand unites were sold.
The head of the Institute, Wojciech Drzewiecki told
the Polish Press Agency that the good car sale
performance in December may have to do with the
preferential terms of end-of-the-year sale of old car
models. Moreover, due to fears connected with the
excise tax increase and weakening zloty many
potential buyers tended to delay the acquisition of a
car till the end of the year - said Wojciech
Drzewiecki. In turn, the European Automobile
Manufacturers' Association (ACEA) estimates the
number of cars registered in November last year in
Poland to account for 27 thousand which translates
into a 10.7% increase y-o-y. The overall number of
cars registered in the 11 months of 2008 reached
290 thousand i.e. increased by 9.3% in comparison
with the same period of 2007. (Samar, PAP)
WARSAW STOCK EXCHANGE - THE
LEADER OF THE REGION
The Federation of European Securities Exchanges
(FESE) published a performance summary for the
year 2008. The Warsaw Stock Exchange (GPW)
classifies 1st in Europe in terms of debuts and comes
before, among others, the London and Wien-based
stocks.
The joint number of new companies which entered
the Warsaw stock in the 11 months of 2008 accounts
for 82, while the London Stock Exchange hosted 72
new companies and the Euronext in Amsterdam 21.
The Warsaw stock results to be the unquestioned
leader in the CEE.
It is the capitalization of domestic companies, the
number and value of public offers, the forward
market as well as the domestic transactions value that
made the stock perform better than all the other
stocks in the region. In terms of capitalization the
Warsaw stock managed to outdo both the Wien and
Athens-based stocks and became the biggest stock
not only among stock markets located in the region of
eastern and central but also from among those
operating in the southern part of the continent.
In terms of the value of companies listed, the Warsaw
stock exceeded the Wiener Boerse by some 15
billion EUR and as of the end of November 2008 its
capitalization value was near 2 billion EUR higher
than that of the stock located in Athens. According to
FESE, the stock's performance for the first 11 months
of 2008 makes the stock an unquestionable leader in
term of the number of Initial Public Offerings i.e. the
number of companies which issued shares to the
public for the first time. As far as debuts are
concerned Warsaw managed not only to outdo all
stock from the region but also such markets as
Euronext, OMX and the London stock. (IAR, GPW)
DID YOU KNOW THAT...
THE LIDZBARK COUNTY TO INVEST
IN THERMAL SPRINGS
Lidzbark Warmiński presented a concept of a new
investment which is to consist in constructing
Warmia Thermal Springs i.e. a swimming pool
complex with a hot brine to be built by 2012 close
to Krzyżowa Góra in the vicinity of the 51 national
road.
The project has already been approved of by the
Ministry of Economy. In the frame a “Good
Practices” contest the Ministry allocated 250
thousand PLN for the preparation of the thermal's
springs concept. The investment is bound to cost 35
million EUR. Half of the money will come from the
Regional Operational Programme (ROP) for the
Warmia-Mazury voivodship for the years 20072013. The Warmia Thermal Springs entered the list
of key ROP projects for the region and thanks to an
intention agreement with the voivodship's selfgovernment 17.5 million EUR was earmarked for the
purpose. The rest of the funds is expected to come
from the emission of municipal bonds. However, due
to the commune's little experience in realisation of
this kind of investment and the scale of the project, the
local government has been looking for a private
partner who would take charge of the planning and
construction works. After the project's completion the
private partner becomes a co-shareholder of the
company. In his interview for “Gazeta Olsztyńska”
Marek Chyl, representing the Lidzbar k
administration, said that the authorities are open also
to foreign investors.
The project's realisation is planed to start in the 3Q of
2009 and should be completed by December 2012.
The complex is to be comprised of hot brine
swimming pools (27-36°C), a wellness centre,
a hotel and restaurants as well as a sport centre. The
energy needed for the thermal centre will come from
renewable sources that is why an alternative source
of energy in the form of a bio-gasworks is planed to
be constructed in the vicinity of the centre. (Lidzbark
Warmiński, Gazeta Olsztyńska)
facilitating the browser's co-operation with systems
other than Windows almost on a daily basis. The
Polish student's work found recognition and Paweł
Hajdan Jr. became the first ever external programmer
to join the project on terms equal to those offered to
regular Google employees. Code's corrections
worked out by the Pole were very highly assessed,
among others, by a Google programmer Evan
Martin. The student's achievement is all the more
worth recognition that rules according to which one
gains access to Google sources rank among the most
restrictive and are granted only after several
corrections and proposals have been positively
evaluated by at least three other programmers.
(IDG.pl, Wp.pl, Dobreprogramy.pl)
A model of the Warmia Termal Spirngs.
Source: Lidzbark Warmiński
A STUDENT FROM THE WARSAW
UNIVERSITY JOINS THE GOOGLE TEAM
Paweł Hajdan Jr., a student of the Warsaw
University Faculty of Mathemetics and Informatics
becomes the first external programmer to join a
Google team working on the new Chrome Internet
browser.
Chrome is a new application currently prepared by
Google, a company known mainly for its worldwide
famous Internet browser. Until recently only the
company's programmers were entitled to take part in
the works on Chrome. Since the company decided to
allow external programmers to send in corrections
and their own proposals, Paweł Hajdan Jr. from
Warsaw has been sending corrections aimed at
Polish Information and Foreign Investment Agency
Polish Information and Foreign Investment Agency
00-585 Warsaw, ul. Bagatela 12
tel. (+48 22) 334 99 49, fax (+48 22) 334 99 90
e-mail: [email protected]
Public Relations Division
Economic Promotion Department
www.paiz.gov.pl