The CEE Summit 2019 – Day 2: ‘Poland welcomes future-proof investments’
The whole of Poland is now a special economic zone, as the new Government is keen to promote investment beyond Warsaw, delegates heard yesterday at the CEE Summit 2019, organised by Poland Today and Real Asset Media.
‘Our attitude to investment has changed,’ said Tadeusz Koscinski, deputy Minister of Finance. ‘The entire country is a special economic zone with tax incentives, because we want to promote high-tech, future-proof investments that will create good quality jobs’.
The Government is particularly keen to encourage investment into second-tier cities by focusing on infrastructure and improving transport links, Koscinski said.
An example of the scale of the Government’s ambitions is the Solidarity Transport Hub or CPK, a large project to build a new airport and infrastructure and railway hub 40 kms from Warsaw. The airport will be a hub for flights to and from the Far East, while improved train links and significantly faster travel times between cities will make a big difference to business.
The political elections earlier this month saw the ruling Law and Justice Party or PiS win an unprecedented second overall majority in the Lower House and gain an additional 2.3 million votes.
The new Government, which will be appointed in November, will be more pragmatic and business-friendly, said Marek Matraszek, Chairman, CEC Government Relations: ‘It is likely to be less ideological and more technocratic and looking to forge a new relationship with post-Brexit Britain’.
Koscinski said that in future ‘the voice of the market will be listened to more and more. Politicians now listen to business first, then they speak and make decisions, while before it was the other way round’.
The second and last day of the CEE Summit was well-attended and included panels of experts discussing the opportunities in the office, retail, residential and logistics sectors, responsible real estate investment in Poland and the dynamics behind the new wave of international and particularly Asian capital coming to Poland.