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ABOUT BUSINESS
Poland Attracts Investors
Over the first five months of 2007, foreign investors spent some USD 6.4 billion in Poland. In 2006, over the whole year, direct foreign investment in the country reached USD 13.9 billion, so there is a chance that this year may be a record breaking one. It is estimated that the result of the year 2007 may reach EUR 12 billion. Among the recently completed projects we may name, for instance, the factory of Toshiba in Kobierzyce, the value of which stands at USD 167 million. The largest investors in Poland come from America, Japan, Germany and China. The majority of projects are implemented in the electronics sector, in the automotive sector, and in services for businesses. The advantages that lure foreign investors to Poland include low labor costs, high qualifications of Polish workers and, of course, Poland’s membership in the European Union.
Exports on the Rise
The Polish Chamber of Automotive Industry (Polska Izba Motoryzacji) forecasts that the value of automotive exports in 2007 will reach EUR 16.2-16.5 billion. Previously, it was estimated at EUR 14.5 billion. Over the first four months of the year, automotive products of the total value of EUR 5.17 billion got to foreign markets. This is a result by 18% higher than in 2006.
Polish Airports Full of Passengers
The year 2007 will again be the best year for airlines in Poland. In the first half of the year, over 8.58 million passengers went through customs at Polish airports, which is by almost one-third more than in the same period of 2006. And the data we quote does not cover holidays nor Christmas, and these are the two periods when the air traffic is the heaviest. Therefore, we may expect that the total number of passengers will at least double by the end of the year. For the first time, the number of passengers serviced at Warsaw Ok´cie Airport covered less than a half of the total number of passengers serviced in Poland. This is the result of the dynamic growth of airports in other Polish cities, and of the increasing popularity of budget flights. Besides, this substantial development should be attributed to the open sky agreement that was signed.
Armani and the Others
The first Giorgio Armani shop was opened at Nowy Świat Street in Warsaw. The cost of the opening of the shop stood at EUR 1 million plus EUR 800,000 on a new collection every year. It is not, however, the only luxury brand that has recently appeared in Warsaw. In September, a Max&Co shop will be opened in the city, offering clothes for young women that prefer more casual and cheaper garments than those sold by the Max Mara network which has been present on the market for some time now. Within the next six or seven years, 25 shops of the brand will be opened in a few Polish cities. At the end of February 2008, affordable luxury clothes will be available for men at the first Polish shop of Z Zegna.
HSBC Conquers Poland
HSBC, the largest British bank, has started serious preparations for conquering the Polish retail market. It has commenced the issuing of first credit cards with its logo and launched a website in the Polish language. And it is just the beginning of the expansion of the bank, as by the end of the year it plans to launch Internet banking services, personal bank accounts, and finally – mortgages. HSBC declines to reveal what share in the Polish retail market it intends to obtain. Its services are destined for, in the first place, wealthy and well-educated clients.
Polish and German Gas in Norway
E.ON, a German concern, is to become a partner of the Polish Oil and Gas Company (Polskie Górnictwo Naftowe i Gazownictwo, PGNiG) in exploitation of gas deposits in the North Sea in Norway. The exploitation is to start at the end of 2011. For ten years, the German concern is to get 1.4 billion cubic meters of gas per year from the deposits in Norway, while PGNiG – 0.6 billion cubic meters, that is about 5% of the amount presently used in Poland annually. The period of the exploitation of those deposits, where oil is present too, covers 20 years. This is the second joint initiative of PGNiG and E.ON undertaken this year. In June, the two companies took over 15% of shares each in the consortium that is to construct the Skanled gas pipeline from Norway to Sweden and Denmark by the end of 2013.
Foreigners Work in Poland
The Polish Ministry of Labor and Social Policy (MPiPS) has revealed that in the first six months of 2007 the number of work permits for foreigners was by 10.7% higher than in 2006. Out of 7,750 people who received work permits, the majority (2,400) were managers of enterprises. In comparison to the first half of 2006, the number of work permits for unqualified workers grew by 63%, and it reached 1,700. Among the citizens who received these permits, the majority are Ukrainians. Since 2007, the Chinese, Japanese and Koreans may also take up jobs in Poland.
Poles More and More Keen on Eating Out
The Polish market of eating outlets has been constantly developing. Poles earn more and that is why they more and more often decide to eat out. In the opinion of experts, this tendency cannot be stopped now. According to the data of the Sfinks and Chłopskie Jadło restaurants, their income in the two first quarters of 2007 stood at PLN 86.58 million, which means a growth by 21% in comparison to the same period of 2006. The Telepizza network can boast with a yet better result, as its turnover in Warsaw grew by as many as 40%. McDonald’s, the largest network on the Polish market, in the first quarter of the year recorded an income of PLN 200 million, which is by 30% more than last year.
Shopping Centers Boom
The shopping centers boom has been continuing in Poland. Several new investors announce that they intend to construct new centers, including Casino Group that sold its shops in Poland (namely Leader Price and Geant hypermarkets) last year and that plans to open 15 new shopping centers by 2012 in cooperation with American investment fund, Whitehall. It intends to spend EUR 750 million on these investments. The new shopping centers will be opened in Warsaw, Cracow, Wrocław, Bielsko-Biała, Piła and Tarnobrzeg. Smaller cities, with the population of over 50,000, are a target of American company Polimeni. They also attract French company Auchan, which expects to build shopping centers for PLN 400-500 million this year.
Over the first five months of 2007, foreign investors spent some USD 6.4 billion in Poland. In 2006, over the whole year, direct foreign investment in the country reached USD 13.9 billion, so there is a chance that this year may be a record breaking one. It is estimated that the result of the year 2007 may reach EUR 12 billion. Among the recently completed projects we may name, for instance, the factory of Toshiba in Kobierzyce, the value of which stands at USD 167 million. The largest investors in Poland come from America, Japan, Germany and China. The majority of projects are implemented in the electronics sector, in the automotive sector, and in services for businesses. The advantages that lure foreign investors to Poland include low labor costs, high qualifications of Polish workers and, of course, Poland’s membership in the European Union.
Exports on the Rise
The Polish Chamber of Automotive Industry (Polska Izba Motoryzacji) forecasts that the value of automotive exports in 2007 will reach EUR 16.2-16.5 billion. Previously, it was estimated at EUR 14.5 billion. Over the first four months of the year, automotive products of the total value of EUR 5.17 billion got to foreign markets. This is a result by 18% higher than in 2006.
Polish Airports Full of Passengers
The year 2007 will again be the best year for airlines in Poland. In the first half of the year, over 8.58 million passengers went through customs at Polish airports, which is by almost one-third more than in the same period of 2006. And the data we quote does not cover holidays nor Christmas, and these are the two periods when the air traffic is the heaviest. Therefore, we may expect that the total number of passengers will at least double by the end of the year. For the first time, the number of passengers serviced at Warsaw Ok´cie Airport covered less than a half of the total number of passengers serviced in Poland. This is the result of the dynamic growth of airports in other Polish cities, and of the increasing popularity of budget flights. Besides, this substantial development should be attributed to the open sky agreement that was signed.
Armani and the Others
The first Giorgio Armani shop was opened at Nowy Świat Street in Warsaw. The cost of the opening of the shop stood at EUR 1 million plus EUR 800,000 on a new collection every year. It is not, however, the only luxury brand that has recently appeared in Warsaw. In September, a Max&Co shop will be opened in the city, offering clothes for young women that prefer more casual and cheaper garments than those sold by the Max Mara network which has been present on the market for some time now. Within the next six or seven years, 25 shops of the brand will be opened in a few Polish cities. At the end of February 2008, affordable luxury clothes will be available for men at the first Polish shop of Z Zegna.
HSBC Conquers Poland
HSBC, the largest British bank, has started serious preparations for conquering the Polish retail market. It has commenced the issuing of first credit cards with its logo and launched a website in the Polish language. And it is just the beginning of the expansion of the bank, as by the end of the year it plans to launch Internet banking services, personal bank accounts, and finally – mortgages. HSBC declines to reveal what share in the Polish retail market it intends to obtain. Its services are destined for, in the first place, wealthy and well-educated clients.
Polish and German Gas in Norway
E.ON, a German concern, is to become a partner of the Polish Oil and Gas Company (Polskie Górnictwo Naftowe i Gazownictwo, PGNiG) in exploitation of gas deposits in the North Sea in Norway. The exploitation is to start at the end of 2011. For ten years, the German concern is to get 1.4 billion cubic meters of gas per year from the deposits in Norway, while PGNiG – 0.6 billion cubic meters, that is about 5% of the amount presently used in Poland annually. The period of the exploitation of those deposits, where oil is present too, covers 20 years. This is the second joint initiative of PGNiG and E.ON undertaken this year. In June, the two companies took over 15% of shares each in the consortium that is to construct the Skanled gas pipeline from Norway to Sweden and Denmark by the end of 2013.
Foreigners Work in Poland
The Polish Ministry of Labor and Social Policy (MPiPS) has revealed that in the first six months of 2007 the number of work permits for foreigners was by 10.7% higher than in 2006. Out of 7,750 people who received work permits, the majority (2,400) were managers of enterprises. In comparison to the first half of 2006, the number of work permits for unqualified workers grew by 63%, and it reached 1,700. Among the citizens who received these permits, the majority are Ukrainians. Since 2007, the Chinese, Japanese and Koreans may also take up jobs in Poland.
Poles More and More Keen on Eating Out
The Polish market of eating outlets has been constantly developing. Poles earn more and that is why they more and more often decide to eat out. In the opinion of experts, this tendency cannot be stopped now. According to the data of the Sfinks and Chłopskie Jadło restaurants, their income in the two first quarters of 2007 stood at PLN 86.58 million, which means a growth by 21% in comparison to the same period of 2006. The Telepizza network can boast with a yet better result, as its turnover in Warsaw grew by as many as 40%. McDonald’s, the largest network on the Polish market, in the first quarter of the year recorded an income of PLN 200 million, which is by 30% more than last year.
Shopping Centers Boom
The shopping centers boom has been continuing in Poland. Several new investors announce that they intend to construct new centers, including Casino Group that sold its shops in Poland (namely Leader Price and Geant hypermarkets) last year and that plans to open 15 new shopping centers by 2012 in cooperation with American investment fund, Whitehall. It intends to spend EUR 750 million on these investments. The new shopping centers will be opened in Warsaw, Cracow, Wrocław, Bielsko-Biała, Piła and Tarnobrzeg. Smaller cities, with the population of over 50,000, are a target of American company Polimeni. They also attract French company Auchan, which expects to build shopping centers for PLN 400-500 million this year.
Found in our archive:
Information published at 3 September 2007
