Polish Market No.7 (274)/2018

PU B LISHED SIncE 199 6 No. 7/274 /2018 :: www.polishmarket.com.pl

special edition

“ LEadEr As the

of the global HR market, we set trends in numerous areas”

......................

EuropE & EmiratEs Economic Forum – sustainablE Economic DEvElopmEnt ...................... polish EntrEprEnEurs vEnturE into uaE ...................... rich pickings For uaE invEstors in polanD

AnnA WichA Adecco PolAnd ceo

special edition

What would you say if you lived a secure, prosperous, even luxurious life for two or three generations, but were told that in 50 years’ time the main, or actually the only, source of your country’s income would dry up?

I think in many countries the news would markedly weaken social ties and structures, triggering devastating conflicts. Many people would probably think: “Take what you can and look for a new home.” But there is a place on earth where people have not panicked. What’s more, they deemed as unimportant all the disputes and conflicts they had with their closest neighbours, who had found themselves in the same situation, and jointly devised a plan to transform the economy. And they have pursued it consistently ever since.

This place is the seven tiny emirates at the south-eastern end of the Arabian Peninsula: Abu Dhabi, Ajman, Dubai, Fujairah, Ras al-Khaimah, Sharjah and Umm al-Quwain. In 1971, they established a joint federal state: the United Arab Emirates (UAE), which changed the appearance of this corner of the world and its prospects. The country has prospered thanks to oil extraction and exports, with its per-capita GDP at around USD70,000. But today, the oil sector accounts for less than one fifth of the Emirates’ economy. Thanks to wise investments and a tax-free and duty-free economy, the country has become a huge tourist, financial and logistical hub of global importance. Another guarantee of a prosperous future, apart from investment, is technological innovation in every sphere.

Poland has maintained relations with the Emirates almost since the country’s inception. The first regular air connection between Warsaw and Dubai was launched in 1976. Inter-governmental agreements on taxation and the protection of investment were signed in the 1990s.

Polish investment in the Emirates began soon after 2000 when Polish companies appeared on the local market. They operate in the oil and gas industry, construction (Librus), installation sector (Sergas), IT services (ComArch), surveying, air-conditioning sector (VTS Clima), furniture industry (MDD), metal packaging (Can-Pack), real estate development (Kulczyk Investment House) and the chemical sector (Gulf Fluor). Among the specialists who have come from across the world to work in the Emirates is a sizeable group of Poles – around 2,500 people – mainly engineers, architects and medical staff. Quite many Polish business people take part in trade fairs organised in the Emirates.

The Polish Business Group association has been present in Abu Dhabi to support the development of economic and trade relations between Poland and the Emirates. The Poland-UAE Chamber of Commerce has been set up in Poland on the initiative of Polish entrepreneurs interested in conducting business activity in the Emirates, the Persian Gulf and the Middle East. Another organisation, supported by the UAE authorities, is the Emirates & Europe Business Development Cluster (EEBDC). It works as a technological intermediary and development advisor, specialising in bringing together business partners. Bilateral visits by government officials are paid almost every year and cooperation agreements are signed in more and more sectors. Thanks to these activities, the United Arab Emirates has become the largest economic and trade partner for Poland in the Arab world, with the value of two-way trade having exceeded USD1 billion.

The National Innovation Strategy, announced in the UAE in 2014, with the goal to turn the Emirates into the world’s most innovative nation within seven years, may give a special boost to bilateral relations. The programme covers seven priority areas of innovation: renewable energy, transport, technology, education, healthcare, water economy and space exploration. And these are the areas of cooperation which Poland is very interested in. Remembering about the popularity which the Polish-Arab Forum and the Polish National Exhibition held at the Dubai World Trade Center as part of Polish Business Days attracted in 2007, let’s try to repeat this success at the World Expo to be held in Dubai in 2020 under the slogan “Connecting Minds, Creating the Future.” The preparation have already begun.

Krystyna Woźniak-Trzosek Editor-in-Chief President Rynek Polski Publishers Co. Ltd.

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CONTENTS

4. Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki: INNOVATIVE POLAND

23. Adam Półgrabia, Jakub Ćwiek, Global

6. Tadeusz Kościński, Undersecretary of State, Ministry of Entrepreneurship and Technology: WE NEED BALANCED DEVELOPMENT

24. Andrzej Szewczyk, Vice-President,

8. Polish Ambassador to UAE Robert Rostek:

DYNAMICALLY DEVELOPING REGIONS IN POLAND

2018 - A SPECIAL YEAR FOR POLAND AND UAE

Control 5: WHO STANDS BEHIND BMS?

Efigence; THE BIGGEST BANKS BANK ON US

26. LUBELSKIE REGION – ONE OF THE MOST

9. Yousif Eisa Hassan Eisa Alsabri, UAE Ambassador to Poland: POLAND AND UAE STEP UP COOPERATION IN THE YEAR OF ZAYED

28. DEFYING GRAVITY

10. Tomasz Pisula, President, Polish

30. Marek Kołakowski, owner, MKDesign:

Investment and Trade Agency: POLAND HAS TECHNOLOGICAL POTENTIAL

14. Emirates and Europe Business

Development Cluster: BRIDGING POLAND AND THE GULF

15. EUROPE AND EMIRATES ECONOMIC FORUM – SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT

16. POLISH-UAE ECONOMIC RELATIONS –

29. STRIKING SCULPTURES IN PUBLIC PLACES FURNITURE 4.0

32. Sylwia Mokrysz, Mokate SA Proxy: FIVE O’CLOCK WITH LOYD TEA

34. Krzysztof Koszela, Colian Board Member: SWEET TOOTH

36. FROM WASTE TO PRODUCTS INNOVATION FOR ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION

FACTS AND FIGURES

20. Anna Wicha, Paweł Królikowski, Adecco Poland: LEGAL CHANGES LETHAL FOR TEMPORARY WORK – OUTSOURCING IS AN ANSWER

Cover: ANNA WICHA, Adecco Poland Photos on issue: www.shutterstock.com

SPECIAL EDITION

Publisher: Oficyna Wydawnicza RYNEK POLSKI Sp. z o.o.

(RYNEK POLSKI Publishers Co. Ltd.) President: Krystyna Woźniak-Trzosek Vice - Presidents: Błażej Grabowski, Grażyna Jaskuła Address: ul. Elektoralna 13, 00-137 Warszawa, Poland Phone (+48 22) 620 31 42, 652 95 77 Fax (+48 22) 620 31 37 E-mail: info@polishmarket.com.pl Editor-in-Chief: Krystyna Woźniak-Trzosek Deputy Editor-in-Chief: Ewelina Janczylik-Foryś redakcja@polishmarket.com.pl Marcin Haber m.haber@polishmarket.com.pl

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Magazing Editor: Rafał Kiepuszewski Writers/Editors: Maciej Proliński, Jan Sosna, Janusz Korzeń, Jerzy Bojanowicz, Janusz Turakiewicz, Translation: Sylwia Wesołowska-Betkier, Rafał Kiepuszewski, Agit Contributors: Agnieszka Turakiewicz Graphic design: Godai Studio Agnieszka Andrzejczak, Joanna Wiktoria Grabowska Sales: Phone (+48 22) 620 38 34, 654 95 77 Marketing Manager: Magdalena Koprowicz m.koprowicz@polishmarket.com.pl

DTP: Godai Studio www.godai.pl Printing: Zakłady Graficzne TAURUS – Roszkowscy Sp. z o. o., www.drukarniataurus.pl

Oficyna Wydawnicza RYNEK POLSKI Sp. z o.o.

Nr KRS 0000080385, Sąd Rejonowy dla m.st.

Warszawy XII Wydział Gospodarczy Kapitał zakładowy 80.000,- zł.

REGON 011915685, NIP 526-11-62-572 Published articles represent the authors’ personal views only. The Editor and Publisher disclaim any responsibility or liability for their contents. Unsolicited material will not be returned. The editors reserve the right to edit the material for length and content. The editors accept no responsibility whatsoever for the content of advertising material.

Reproduction of any material from this magazine requires prior written permission from the Publisher.

POLAND –

AN INNOVATIONDRIVEN

ECONOMY

In the following statement delivered at the Impact 2018 Forum in Krakow June 13-14, Polish Prime Minister MATEUSZ MORAWIECKI argues that partnerships involving start-ups make a meaningful contribution to the modernisation of the Polish economy.

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olish entrepreneurs, start-ups and scientists are looking forward to great times ahead. During previous industrial revolutions, for instance in the past century, the cream of Polish inventors was forced to emigrate. Take Mieczysław Bekker who designed the lunar rover used by NASA in the Apollo 15, 16 and 17 missions. This Polish scientist left for the US after WWII. Another example was Jacek Tramiel, one of the founders of the Silicon Valley, and the man who gave the world the Commodore computer. Polish genius, which could once only bloom outside Poland, can now develop at home in cooperation with designers and start-ups all over the world. I am glad that better and better conditions are being created for that to happen. I am happy that the Polish Development Fund has set up PFR Ventures, a fund which very successfully develops cooperation with other funds and start-ups in the development of the latest technologies. We would like to invite all start-ups and all innovators to join us in Poland. There are plenty of opportunities to develop your technologies through our partnership programmes geared toward the needs of major companies.

In particular, I would like to single out one programme which we inaugurated several days ago. It is called GovTech. The world’s most technologically agile governments, of which we intend to be one, make room for the development of services for all their citizens through the creation of innovative platforms.

These platforms are meant to bring about change in the health service, public finances, education, defence and many other areas.

The first foundations for GovTech have already been laid.

Polish public administration is one of the first in the world to become involved in a debate and practical undertakings with groups of developers and software engineers in the field of public administration. Before I took the office of Prime Minister, as a Minister of Finance I had had the great pleasure to follow the development of various technological solutions in the broadly conceived areas of BigData, machine learning and the first steps being made in the development of artificial intelligence.

Ground-breaking changes are now taking place within Polish public administration. Two and a half years ago, as a newly sworn in Minister of Economic Development, I was getting ready for my first foreign trip. I got a call from the BA to walk two floors up to receive a cash advance in the relevant currency.

I guess this procedure had not changed for thirty years. Now in many government offices things are very different. The Ministry of Digital Affairs and the Ministry of Science and Higher Education keep integrating various digital functions at a rapid pace.

You could say that Europe used to get integrated faster than its IT systems. Now, unfortunately – because I would love Europe to be a strongly integrated community of individual homelands – IT systems are being integrated much faster than member states are. We need a new way of thinking about platforms and network systems which will support the development of new solutions. I am grateful to start-ups and innovators. Thanks to them, in the first year of this form of partnership alone, we managed to tighten the inland revenue system, thus saving

WE WOULD LIKE TO INVITE ALL START-UPS AND ALL INNOVATORS TO JOIN US IN POLAND. THERE ARE PLENTY OF OPPORTUNITIES TO DEVELOP YOUR TECHNOLOGIES THROUGH OUR PARTNERSHIP PROGRAMMES GEARED TOWARD THE NEEDS OF MAJOR COMPANIES.

a sum of about USD 500 million. It is a huge amount of money which can be channelled into the development of education.

The scale of this injection of funding demonstrates how important cooperation between those involved in high tech and public administration is. Thanks to Big Data and data analysis solutions, among other things, it proved possible to clamp down on large-scale tax evaders, something which contributed to the small economic miracle which we are witnessing today. We are very grateful to all start-ups which became involved in this form of cooperation. We are aware that everyone has their development plans, but the world has gathered pace to such an extent that – to quote Mike Tyson - “Everybody has a plan until they get punched in the face.” The agility of an efficient, strong and flexible public administration which I want to build together with entrepreneurs, consists in the ability to adapt, to get up after you get punched, to change course and to build the most advanced solutions. To achieve it, more and more public procurement contracts are now awarded to SMEs. We trust that these solutions are going to modernise the Polish economy.

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TADEUSZ KOŚCIŃSKI, Undersecretary of State, Ministry of Entrepreneurship and Technology in conversation with “Polish Market’s” Marcin Haber.

WE NEED BALANCED DEVELOPMENT You have introduced a Single Investment Area. In colloquial terms, does it mean that all of Poland has become a giant Special Economic Zone?

Investment incentives will become available all over Poland wherever economic activities are pursued. That’s the main change under the law on support for fresh investment. So far, 0.08 percent of Poland’s territory has been covered by such incentives. The new regulation has been expected by many entrepreneurs who suggested that support mechanisms should be changed. They underscored that the new system should take into account local operating conditions, the potential and size of businesses, to enable them to carry on in their natural environment without having to switch their operations to a particular special economic zone. The newly introduced changes have been designed with entrepreneurs in mind, and with their participation, because Poland’s business environment is being transformed to accommodate their needs. The changes are ground-breaking and will significantly change the country’s economic landscape.

PM

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Equally importantly, as the government strategy itself indicates, what we are aiming at is balanced development.

This will also be possible to achieve through diversified terms under which entrepreneurs will be eligible for support. The decision whether to support an investment project will be based on several criteria meant to ascertain whether it will contribute to the economic and social development of the country and region. Particular support will be extended to investment projects in mid-sized towns which are in economic and social decline. Preferential treatment will also be given to regions with high unemployment – the higher the unemployment rate within a given district, the lower local investment outlay will be required. From the point of view of Poland’s development policies, it is equally important that the new rules governing public aid will significantly improve the chances that micro, small and mid-sized companies will obtain public aid. They will be required to come up with own funding to the extent their capabilities allow.

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What has prompted these changes? Have existing Special Economic Zones run out of steam or have they just run out of room?

The existing investment support system has exhausted its potential of stimulating the development of regions. Instruments applied there were suited to the political and economic realities of the early 1990s. The focus at the time was to cut unemployment and to make use of idle manufacturing potential.

In the new piece of legislation we have adjusted the system of public aid in the SEZ format to the changing needs and challenges facing the Polish economy. Above all, we have expanded the scope of possible support. We place emphasis on the quality of individual projects to promote investment projects which involve knowledge transfer, R&D activities and the emergence of clusters.

Tax incentives will also depend on the quality of jobs created as part of the project.

PM

A government ministry to oversee economic development, what is known as the Constitution for Business and the idea of the Single Investment Area, these are all part of a package of moves meant to improve Poland’s business environment.

How are investors reacting to legislative changes in this field?

Both the Constitution for Business and the SEZ law are flagship projects of the Strategy of Responsible Development which is being consistently implemented by the government. It is a confidencebuilding factor which definitely boosts Poland’s position on the international scene.

The Constitution for Business is a comprehensive reform of the system of economic law which – next to practical solutions like cutting red tape and boosting confidence in the law by making it transparent – also introduces a catalogue of Polish business values. It is very important, because it builds a culture open to entrepreneurship. Among the principles contained in the Constitution for Business is the presumption of honesty on the part of the entrepreneur, the rule according to which which whatever is not punishable by law should be allowed, and the rule that regulations should be interpreted in favour of entrepreneurs. The new law on SEZs is a solution meant to adjust the system adopted in the early stages of Poland’s market economy to fresh challenges of building an innovative economy. The aim of the two reforms is to make them rooted in the postulates of business representatives from the micro scale to big players as the state consistently implements its balanced development policies.

The result will be an environment favourable for all entrepreneurs and innovation irrespective of the scale of business activities.

PM

The Polish economy is looking for fresh markets. The need to pursue foreign expansion has long been talked about. What markets are the most promising?

Although Poland is strengthening its position on international markets and the share of and value of Polish exports in world trade grows, as much as 80 percent of Polish exports is bound for the EU market. We intend to change it to encourage Polish entrepreneurs to diversify their export markets. We also need to encourage companies to increase the share of technologically advanced commodities among their exports. One major challenge for Polish exports is to increase the involvement of firms from the SME sector, which is dominant in Poland. However, let us bear it in mind that to define how attractive a market is for a given firm depends on the sector, product, ease of operation and the nature of PM

the firm itself. Some markets are attractive for entrepreneurs from the IT/ICT sector, others for the suppliers of medical equipment, mining equipment and food products.

At the Ministry of Entrepreneurship and Technology we build a new integrated promotion system of the expansion of Polish companies abroad. It is called “Exports are in.” The programme operates on three platforms. One concerns measures undertaken at home to improve Polish companies’ development potential and their ability to venture into foreign markets. Another platform concerns undertakings pursued abroad, i.e. support offered to firms ready to enter definite foreign markets and the promotion of Polish products. The final pillar of the programme is all about co-ordination, information and advice offered through a dedicated portal and contact point for entrepreneurs.

The foreign expansion of Polish companies is assisted by the activities of the Polish Investment and Trade Agency S.A. which operates a network of Foreign Trade Offices. Ultimately, the network is to include some seventy offices in countries with the highest development potential. About thirty of them have already been set up, among others in San Francisco, Mexico City, Toronto, Tehran, Dubai, Nairobi, Shanghai, Singapore, Ho Chi Minh City, Bogota, Astana, Tel Aviv, Buenos Aires, Washington and Los Angeles.

What are bilateral relations with the Gulf region countries like?

When it comes to the Gulf region, pride of place goes to Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries which include Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman and the United Arab Emirates.

Poland’s economic and trade relations with the GCC countries are pursued in line with the Cooperation Agreement between the EU and GCC signed in 1989. It is one of what are known as new generation agreements because it is not limited to economic cooperation but – in the long term – it provides for the possibility of establishing a free trade zone between the parties. The idea behind the EU – GCC Agreement is to facilitate the development of trade relations and opening up of commodity markets.

In spite of growing interest in bilateral cooperation, Poland’s economic relations with GCC countries do not reflect our capabilities and aspirations. Admittedly, last year saw a record-high level of two-way trade which for the first time crossed the USD 3.1 billion mark, 16 percent up on 2016 levels.

Statistics for Q1 2018 indicate that this upward trend in Poland’s trade with GCC countries has been maintained (up 28 percent on the corresponding period of last year.)

A good opportunity to present Poland to the region as an attractive economic partner with a rich export offer, technologically advanced products and highly innovative solutions, will be EXPO 2020 Dubai.

PM

Are North Africa and the Middle East promising markets for Polish companies? Which sectors of the Polish economy can seek markets there?

The countries of North Africa and the Middle East, that is the southern Mediterranean basin, is one of our priorities.

This is due to historical, political and economic reasons. It is a promising market for Polish exporters of consumer goods and investment projects. Opportunities for trade and economic cooperation exist practically everywhere in most areas.

• PM

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2018 -

A SPECIAL YEAR FOR POLAND AND UAE In the following statement written specially for „Polish Market”, Polish Ambassador to the United Arab Emirates ROBERT ROSTEK takes stock of bilateral relations between the two countries.

F

irst of all I would like to underline that the year 2018 is very unique and very special for both the Republic of Poland and the United Arab Emirates.

It is very seldom that two distant countries belonging to two different traditions and cultures are celebrating their very important and distinctive anniversaries in the exact same time. We strongly hope in Poland that this symbol is more than just a common date!

2018 is the Year of Zayed - the founder and visionary leader of the United Arab Emirates whose determination allowed for the creation of this modern state in such a short time. The United Arab Emirates have many reasons to be very proud of their achievements.

And also 2018 in the Republic of Poland is the year of commemorating Poland 100 years anniversary of regaining its independence. Our modern history after 1989 gives us grounds to be proud as well. Poland is a member of the European Union, NATO Pact, Schengen zone and the country is the sixth largest economy in Europe.

Both 100 anniversaries are of huge importance for our past, our present and future generations in both countries.

An example that the common 2018 anniversaries are not just words I would like to emphasize an event of major importance that took place in the end of April 2018. Poland for the first time was the Guest of Honor of the Abu Dhabi International Book Fair. It was a very distinctive role for our country not only in the Emirates but in the whole Arab world. It was a priceless occasion to promote Poland through its culture, literature, travel destination and tradition. There are chances that this project will result in long term common projects in the sphere of culture. The best example of the importance of this venue was the presence of our Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Culture and National Heritage, Professor Piotr Gliński at the opening ceremony.

When it comes to pure business relations we must not forget that Central and Eastern Europe is a “newcomer“ to the Gulf region as before 1989 this part of the world was closed to us. The exact same scheme was applicable to the United Arab Emirates and other Gulf states in regard to their presence in Poland. A lot has been done in the past two decades to bring both of our countries closer, to build mutual trust and understanding and thus to promote bilateral trade and enhance commercial coopera• tion.

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HISTORY OF DIPLOMATIC RELATIONS BETWEEN POLAND AND THE UAE - 1988: before the official relations were started, Poland has established a trade office, The Polish Commercial Centre in Dubai, later transformed into the Commercial Councilor’s Office.

- September 1989: official diplomatic relations between Poland and the United Arab Emirates have been established.

- November 11th 1991: on Polish Independence Day, the Polish Embassy in Abu Dhabi has been officially inaugurated.

Today the Republic of Poland and the United Arab Emirates are much closer to each other. Aviation played a very important role in narrowing the gap between our countries and enlarging mutual understanding. Today we have daily connections flights between Dubai and Warsaw, Dubai and Cracow newly opened in April 2018 and between Dubai Al-Maktoum Airport and Katowice.

There is a growing interest of Polish companies in coming to the Emirates market and welcoming Emirati investment in Poland. Now the sky is the limit and our work in the Embassy is to bring that sky a bit closer and closer to our daily matters and to materialize aspirations of different parties.

We want to convey a message that Poland, although a relative new-comer to the region, have something to offer in terms of economy, know-how, technology, culture, and travel destination.

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POLAND AND UAE STEP UP COOPERATION IN THE YEAR OF ZAYED The following is a statement written for “Polish Market” by HE DR. YOUSIF EISA HASSAN EISA ALSABRI, UAE Ambassador to Poland.

I

would like to take this opportunity to thank the prestigious “Polish Market” magazine for giving me this chance to address their distinguished readers for this special edition on the occasion of the third Emirates & Europe Economic Forum. It will contribute to further strengthening friendly relations between Poland and the UAE, especially in the field of economy. I wish to give my sincerest appreciation to Emirates and Europe Business Development Cluster, for organising this event, and my special thanks go to Mr. Abdulkhaliq Girgash, the President of the Cluster and his team. The Forum is very crucial in developing the economic relations between our two friendly countries, and many representatives of the UAE have attended the Forum through its journey, including H.E. Ayesha Al Kubaisi, Director of Trade Policy and International Organizations at the Ministry of Economy on behalf of His Excellency Sultan bin Saeed Al Mansouri, Minister of Economy.

The year 2018 is a very special year for both our countries. It marks the Centenary of Poland Regaining Independence, and it also marks 100 years since the birth of the founding father of the UAE, Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nayhan. We call 2018 the “Year of Zayed”. So many things link our two nations, and I would like to hail the bilateral relations between the United Arab Emirates and the friendly Republic of Poland. These relations have found their roots in the principles of cooperation and mutual respect and evolved into a strategic partnership between the two countries and peoples over recent years. The mutual visits of the leaders of the two countries and the ever-growing volume of commercial, economic and cultural exchanges bear witness to the strong bilateral ties our countries share in various fields.

Our Embassy in a short period of less than nine years since its opening has has taken quantum leaps towards strengthening and intensifying cooperation between our two friendly countries, particularly in the field of economy; and shall use all its efforts to further develop these relations in various areas. It is also worth mentioning that the UAE and the Republic of Poland have signed more than 20 agreements on cooperation in various fields, contributing to strengthening relations between the two countries. There is a Joint Economic Committee that supervises the economic relations between the two countries. On the 8th of November our Embassy will organise together with the Polish Investment and Trade Agency the Polish-UAE Economic Forum.

The UAE is recognized to be the largest trade partner of Poland in the Middle East. This is reflected in the size of annual turnover between the two countries, which reached approximately USD 1.3 last year. Polish exports to the UAE reached more than USD 974 million while UAE exports to Poland reached more than USD 227 million.

Of great impact on the development of the relations between our friendly countries, were the numerous visits paid by the leaders and representatives of both countries, where of utmost importance was the official visit of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Vice President, Prime Minister of the UAE, the Ruler of Dubai, and the accompanying high-level delegation, to Poland on 7-9 June 2015, which was a great success and consequently resulted in signing many agreements that contributed to the further deepening of the friendly relations between the two countries.

Furthermore, and on a ministerial level, several visits were paid to Poland by the UAE Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation His Highness Sheikh Abdullah Bin Zayed Al Nahyan; and also, by His Excellency Sultan bin Saeed Al Mansoori, Minister of Economy, and other high officials from the UAE. On the other hand, many representatives of Polish authorities paid visits to the UAE including two previous Minsters of Economy. There were also numerous cultural delegations and trade missions from Poland to the UAE and vice versa.

In the framework of strengthening mutual cooperation, Emirates Airlines launched, in February 2013, a direct flight between Dubai and Warsaw in order to facilitate trade and tourism between the two countries. Additionally, in December 2015 the superior range of Boeing 777 was launched to operate the trips between the two countries, and in April 2018 Flydubai launched a direct flight between Krakow and Dubai, which only emphasizes the progress of the unique relationship.

Finally, I would like to express my thanks and appreciation to the Polish government for such a fruitful cooperation. Indeed such partnership reflects highly positively on the relations between the two countries.

I would also like to thank again all those who participated from the Polish and Emirati sides in organising the Emirates & Europe Economic Forum.

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POLAND HAS TECHNOLOGICAL

POTENTIAL

Tomasz Pisula, President of the Polish Investment and Trade Agency, talks to "Polish Market".

The Polish Investment and Trade Agency is currently developing a network of Foreign Trade Offices. What criteria are applied in the selection of new locations?

Above all, we do our best to follow current business trends. We take note of where Polish firms operate and what markets they look at.

We talk to entrepreneurs about the markets they find interesting. Not so much help is needed wherever Polish firms are doing well by themselves and where they have been active for some time. But support is needed in those markets where the potential is growing and where international competition is becoming fierce. In these places either no diplomatic activity was undertaken before, or more frequently, the first attempts were made to open a government credit line or to sign international agreements. A good case in point is CETA, the free trade agreement between the European Union and Canada. We try to aggregate all these factors, and on their basis, to map new directions together with the government side.

Apart from countries which have always been important economically to our companies, we mainly focus on developing countries where a demographic explosion is taking place. These are usually countries where less advanced, reasonably priced but reliable technologies are in demand.

They are attractive markets for Polish companies.

PM

PM

What value do Foreign Trade Offices present to the potential foreign investor? What are their responsibilities in terms of attracting foreign capital?

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Attracting foreign capital to Poland remains part of our mission and it will be one of the responsibilities of Foreign Trade Offices, especially in countries or regions of the world whose economies are well-developed. However, the offices’ primary goal is to assist Polish investors in their foreign expansion. When we know that a Polish firm tries to set up a plant or purchase an existing company abroad, we do our best to help it in its undertakings. We provide information about good business opportunities outside Poland, we help to verify the credibility of partners, we offer advice on the choice of location. I have personally taken part in negotiations which followed business leads our Trade Offices came up with.

We have extended our assistance to investment projects in Singapore, Malaysia, Vietnam, and most recently in Germany. We have provided considerable amounts of information and business analyses to companies which planned to invest in Mexico, the US and in East African markets.

I would like to stress that we are talking not just about simple exports but also complex investment activities outside Poland.

A Foreign Trade Office is now being set up in Kiev. What plans does the Polish Investment and Trade Agency have for co-operation with Ukraine?

In the near future we will be launching an office in Kiev. We are also planning to open one in Minsk in Belarus. Many Polish companies are interested in securing manpower from Eastern Europe, building their plants there and outsourcing part of their business services to PM

optimise costs. Trading with Russia and the Far East via Ukraine and Belarus is also important.

In Poland there are companies which do it very successfully.

In what way is Poland’s perception abroad changing? Are we successful in persuading foreign investors that Poland is moving away from its former role as a country of cheap manpower to become a country which is open to innovation?

One good example is the fact that Silicon Valley investors have started arriving in Poland.

They openly say that Poland has world-class technological talent. Add to that the fact that the time difference between Poland and the US, especially the East Coast, is very beneficial.

Poland is famous for its very high work culture, which west European or US firms are unlikely to find for instance in India. Interestingly, in the Silicon Valley there are too many investors and too few projects to invest in. In Central European countries, including Poland, there are too many projects but there is too little money, especially for the middle stage of company development, what is commonly known as start-ups. There are sufficient resources to finance the first stages of a project – there is talk about an amount of USD 500 million. But problems arise during product development, scaling and market launch. It is precisely at this stage that serious US investors become partners in promising projects or base their companies in Poland. To answer the question whether Poland has technological potential, I can definitely say that it does.

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UNFORGETTABLE POLAND EXPERIENCE

BRIDGING POLAND AND THE GULF

E

mirates & Europe Business Development Cluster (EEBD) (www.eebd.eu) is an unique business structure developing economic cooperation between Europe and the United Arab Emirates (UAE). The Cluster emerged from the initiative of the Polish private service sector, which is supported by the government. Among its members, there are business and local-level representatives, as well asl representatives of universities, institutions and consultancy agencies, all of which contribute to the development of the Cluster.

EEBD is open to all entities willing to improve the PolishEmirati economic relations. The form of cooperation proposed by the Cluster guarantees its efficient functioning by means of free access to market and financial-economic knowledge. Latest information in those fields provide a basis for the wide promotion of our activities, business exchange, as well as for scientific, economic and industrial cooperation.

The list of the Cluster’s main objectives include: assistance in seeking trade and investment partners, comprehensive support in obtaining grants from the European Union, maximising the benefits of European-Emirati business cooperation and promoting, as well as safeguarding the member companies’ interests.

Emirates & Europe Business Development aims its focus on innovative technologies transfer. It is, after all, the leading factor for business structures’ competitive advantages. Therefore, the Cluster supports and promotes new technologies and innovations in the following sectors: renewable energy, waste management, sustainable transport, Smart City, resource management, environmental technologies, medicine and pharmacy.

The second significant area of the Cluster’s expertise are investment projects. Making use of its extensive contact network and cooperating with its partners in the European private and

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public sectors, EEBD supports the relations between entrepreneurs and potential investors from all parts of the world. Experts from the Cluster assess the investment perspectives and give specialist advice on financing plans. These activities deliver powerful benefits for the members of the Cluster and help them choose and implement investment projects which have a very high rate of return.

Development of trade and economy is the Cluster’s third main area of focus. EEBD is a platform for exchanging experiences and matching business partners. It creates opportunities for development and allows for the local economy to thrive. To achieve this, EEBD implements various actions, such as: assessment and expansion of the international market in order to ensure market-entry options for regional products, promotion of innovative multidisciplinary solutions, development of any initiative contributing to the modernisation of the national and regional economy, support of the industrial and manufacturing sector, improving occupational skills and competence, reducing unemployment, ensuring an ongoing access to new goods and services, contributing to efficient use of natural resources and making use of the domestic production base.

Emirates & Europe Business Development Cluster ensures an effective form of cooperation which creates perfect opportunities for developing long-term relations between partners. Its mission entails a high-level exchange of experiences, resources and knowledge between the members. In order to achieve success, involvement in one economic activity is not enough. It is, however, crucial to improve conditions and factors conduicive to economic, cultural and social development of the partners’ realities. This is why Emirates & Europe Business Development Cluster takes action across a wide array of economic sectors. •

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EUROPE & EMIRATES ECONOMIC FORUM – SUSTAINABLE ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT 5-6 SEPTEMBER 2018

III

edition of Europe & Emirates Economic Forum – Sustainable Economic Development will take place on 5 and 6 September 2018 at Sheraton hotel in Warsaw. This year’s theme is: ”Integration between the emerging markets and developed markets through foreign direct investments”.

Poland, with its strong and continually growing economy, has been seen by the United Arab Emirates as a business gateway to Europe. It was inevitable that a platform for investment implementation and for creating business relations has emerged. Building on the previous successes, the organizers will define most promising areas for future investment and cooperation. New projects connecting Poland and the United Arab Emirates will be presented, especially those which are financially attractive and able to produce opportunities for sustainable economic development in Poland.

The Forum will focus on economic development and knowledge based on direct foreign investments, as well as on formal and legal issues defining economic opportunities. It will create a sound framework for building long-term cooperative relations between business partners. The Forum will also supply necessary tools for trading, investing, promoting and developing innovative technologies. It will be conducive to creating new business opportunities on an European and global level by taking joint business and marketing actions.

A rich programme of the Forum includes many discussion panels related to the following topics: effective development of business and scientific communities, international economic and trade cooperation, cybersecurity and blockchain; modern construction technologies of the Smart Building Programme, which are the future of the ecological real estate sector; logistics, as well as Silk Road, which provides an opportunity for the development of the Polish economy.

The organizers of the third edition of the Forum are: Emirates & Europe Business Development Cluster (EEBD), European Green Technology Alliance (EGTA) and Investment Service Center (ISC).

Emirates & Europe Business Development Cluster (www.eebd.eu) is a unique business organization, developing economic cooperation between Europe and the UAE. Among its members, apart from business representatives, there are also representatives from entities such as: local government authorities, universities, advisory institutions and companies, all of which contribute to development of its activities. The list of the Cluster’s main objectives include: assistance in seeking trade and investment partners, comprehensive support in obtaining grants from the European Union, maximising the benefits of the European-Emirati business cooperation and promoting, as well as safeguarding member companies’ interests.

The European Green Technology Alliance (www.egta.eu) is an international platform for technological and business cooperation, associating over 300 companies and institutions from all over Europe. EGTA focuses on the transfer of innovative technologies between European countries, creates an international network of partners, and provides support through specialized business environment institutions in all European countries.

Investment Service Center (www.investpl.eu) is an international business structure associating high-class experts. Its main task is to finance investment projects and search for investors for projects with high business potential. ISC runs its business in many countries around the world. All implemented investments create huge business potential thanks to effective management of both technological and financial risks. In addition, the subsidies obtained increase the effectiveness ofimplemented projects.

• For more information about the event please contact us at office@eebd.eu or visit www.forum.eebd.eu.

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POLAND-UAE ECONOMIC RELATIONS: FACTS and FIGURES In the following report prepared by the Ministry of Entrepreneurship and Technology, we take a look at the latest trends in economic cooperation between Poland and the United Arab Emirates.

• • • •

KEY NATURAL RESOURCES: petroleum, natural gas CURRENCY: Emirati dirham (AED); exchange rate: USD1=AED3.673 GDP COMPOSITION IN 2017: agriculture (0.9%), industry (49.8%), services (49.2%) MAIN INDUSTRIES: petrochemical industry, fishing, metallurgical industry (aluminium), construction (construction materials - cement), chemical industry (artificial fertilizers), shipbuilding (ship repair), handicraft, textiles

The UAE has a positive trade balance (USD73.4 billion in 2017).

Oil, gas and petroleum products account for around 45% of the country’s goods exports. Re-exports of imported products account for around 30%. The remainder is made up of various products, mainly dried fish and dates. Unwrought aluminium, of which the UAE is a leading exporter, is the country’s main export apart from hydrocarbons. Another important item in this group is gold, which is the main re-exported product – 10% of the world’s trade in this metal goes via Dubai.

MAIN MARKETS FOR UAE EXPORTS IN 2016: India (10%), Iran and Japan (around 9% each), Switzerland (8.5%), Oman and China (around 5% each) UAE imports (data for 2016) come mainly from China (7.5%), United States and India (around 7% each), and Germany (around 4.5%). The imports are dominated by machines and transport equipment, chemicals and food.

•

BASIC INFORMATION, ECONOMIC SITUATION The UAE is a country with an open economy, high per-capita income and a substantial trade surplus. Thanks to successful economic diversification

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measures, the contribution of oil and gas production to the country’s GDP has been reduced to 25%. Since the discovery of petroleum more than 30 years ago the UAE has undergone a deep transformation, turning from an impoverished region of small desert principalities into a modern state with high living standards. The government has increased spending on job creation and the development of infrastructure and created conditions for a greater involvement of the private sector. The UAE’s free trade zones offer the right to 100% foreign ownership and zero taxes – thus they help to attract foreign investors.

The global financial crisis of 2008 dealt a serious blow to international credit relations, bringing asset prices down. The UAE authorities tried to counteract the crisis by increasing spending and liquidity in the banking sector. Dubai was hit the hardest by the crisis. It suffered the most from a drop in real estate prices. Dubai lacked cash to meet its obligations and there were global worries about its solvency. Finally, the USD20 billion provided by the UAE central bank and government solved the situation.

Continued significant reliance on oil, a large percentage of foreign contract workers and mounting inflationary pressure are serious long-term challenges. In the coming several years the UAE’s strategic plan will be focused on economic diversification, and the creation of a bigger number of jobs for its citizens through better education and higher employment in the private sector.

ECONOMIC POLICY The active implementation of a new vision for the country’s development and its economic structure is a special feature of the economic policy pursued by the federal government and individual emirates. The vision is centred on two goals: diversifying the economic sectors and making them more modern by raising the economic and social importance of science

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Basic economic indicators 2013

2014

2015

2016

2017*

GDP (PPP, USD billion)

596,0

623,2

641,9

682,8

691,9

PER CAPITA GDP (PPP, USD THOUSAND)

62,0

64,5

67,0

69,3

68,2

GDP (% GROWTH)

5,2

4,6

3,8

3,0

1,3

BUDGET DEFICIT/SURPLUS (% GDP)

B/D

+ 5,9

- 2,9

B/D

- 7,6

PUBLIC DEBT (% GDP)

44,5

44,2

52,1

62,7

60,3

INFLATION (%)

1,1

2,3

3,7

1,8

2,1

UNEMPLOYMENT (%)

15,6

14,2

3,6

B/D

B/D

CURRENCY RESERVES (USD BILLION)

68,2

74,7

79,9

85,4

89,8

FOREIGN DEBT (USD BILLION)

168,8

173,3

B/D

218,7

239,7

GOODS EXPORTS (USD BILLION)

378,6

404,7

323,8

298,6

314,7

GOODS IMPORTS (USD BILLION)

241,5

271,7

248,2

230,3

241,3

FOREIGN DIRECT INVESTMENT IN UAE (USD BILLION)

103,4

114,9

126,4

134,8

144,3

UAE DIRECT INVESTMENT ABROAD (USD BILLION)

61,95

65,7

86,1

114,6

124,9

Source: Economist Intelligence Unit, CIA, BM I

and education as factors indispensable for the application of highly qualified technologies and management techniques. The objective is to make the Emirates less dependent on conditions on the global oil and gas market and base its economic and social situation to a larger extent on dynamic sectors supporting development: modern industry based on the country’s own natural resources (petrochemical industry, iron and aluminium industry, production of construction materials) and a wide range of services (hotel industry, tourism, maritime and air transport, financial services). In the longer run, the aerospace industry and the energy industry based on renewable energy sources would be added to the above sectors.

The UAE is one of the most modern countries in North Africa and West Asia (NAWA), and the most innovative Arab country. In an effort to turn the country into the most innovative nation in the world – the UAE is in 41st place now in this respect – the Emirate authorities announced in 2014 its Strategy for National Innovation. It is composed of seven innovation areas identified as being of key importance for the local economy: renewable energy, transport, technology, education, healthcare, water economy and space exploration.

Foreign trade plays a very important role in the economic development of the UAE. Thanks to high oil and gas prices, and large re-exports, the country has for years recorded a trade surplus (over USD70 billion in 2017).

ECONOMIC COOPERATION AGREEMENTS

EU-UAE

Cooperation Agreement signed between the European Communities and the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) in 1989

The countries’ foreign ministries meet once a year at a Joint Council/Ministerial Meeting. The agreement is the first in a series of new-generation agreements which the EC signed with third countries. It is not limited, as was the case with earlier agreements, to economic cooperation, but assumes the possibility of establishing a free trade zone between the parties in the long run. The objective of the cooperation agreement is to facilitate the development of trade relations and open markets for goods. Under the agreement, a number of working groups have been set up to coordinate the development of cooperation in the industrial, energy and environmental protection sectors. Decentralised cooperation, which covers academic cooperation, and cooperation between businesses and the media, was added to the programme of joint activities in 1996.

Free Trade Agreement (FTA) negotiations between the European Union (EU) and the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) The EU-GCC negotiations are among the longest negotiations ever conducted in bilateral trade relations. However, one should remember that they are not conducted by two states, but by two international organisations with a different level of integration and ability to agree on positions among institutions and member states. The talks began in 1990. Despite several rounds of technical and political meetings, no full agreement was reached. Consequently, the negotiations were suspended in 2008.

POLAND-UAE

Agreement between the Polish government and the government of the United Arab Emirates on avoiding double taxation and counteracting income tax evasion, signed in Abu Dhabi on January 31, 1993 (Journal of Laws 1994, no. 81, item 373, amended by Journal of Laws 2015, item 312) polish market

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Trade between Poland and the UAE (USD million)

2013

2014

2015

2016

2017

CHANGE 2016=100

EXPORTS

752,5

1.127,8

777,9

658,7

549,8

83,5

IMPORTS

112,9

162,5

126,8

123,6

196,2

158,7

TURNOVER

865,4

1.290,4

651,1

782,3

746,0

95,4

BALANCE

639,6

965,3

-1 430

535,1

353,6

X

Source: INSIGOS – MPiT

Agreement between the Polish government and the government of the United Arab Emirates on supporting and protecting investment, signed on January 31, 1993 (entered into force on April 9, 1994) Agreement between the Polish government and the government of the United Arab Emirates on economic cooperation, signed on April 22, 2012.

The agreement was a basis for establishing a Joint Committee for Economic Cooperation. It has held two meetings so far – the most recent one was in Abu Dhabi on April 29-30, 2015.

TRADE BETWEEN POLAND AND THE UAE The UAE is a very attractive economic partner, with a long trading tradition and modern infrastructure. It is Poland’s second largest partner in the GCC region. In 2014, the value of trade between the two countries rose nearly 50%. A major shortcoming of the trade structure is that it largely depends on just a few products (for example, a 60% share of mobile phones in 2014-2015). Fluctuations in economic conditions may result in significant changes, like for example a 31% drop in exports in 2015 and the continuation of this trend in 2016.

In 2017, Polish exports to the UAE were dominated by: • FURNITURE – USD30.8 million; 5.6% share in total exports, • MAKE-UP AND SKIN-CARE PRODUCTS – USD30.3 million; 5.5%, • ENGINES AND TURBINES – USD28.1 million; 5.1%, • MAGNETIC TAPES AND DISCS – USD27.2 million; 5.0%, • MOBILE PHONE EQUIPMENT – USD25.3 million; 4.6%, • SHAVERS AND RAZORS – USD25.0 million; 4.5%, • AUTOMATIC DATA PROCESSING EQUIPMENT – USD14.0 million; 2.5%, • FLOUR AND GRITS PRODUCTS, BABY FOOD – USD12.0 million – 2.3%.

In 2017, Polish imports from the UAE were dominated by: • UNWROUGHT ALUMINIUM – USD80.4 million; 41.0% share in total imports, • MOBILE PHONE EQUIPMENT – USD40.9 million; 20.9%, • COVERS FOR CONTAINERS (bottle caps, lids, etc.) – USD19.0 million; 9.7%, • PLASTIC PRODUCTS (films, bands, sheets) – USD15.8 million; 8.1%, and: unwrought tin, cooling equipment, tea, tableware, dishes.

A recent significant change to the trade structure should be noted. As the implementation of a contract for the delivery of Rosomak armoured

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vehicles has begun, the manufacturer (WZM SA Siemianowice Śląskie) became in 2016 the biggest Polish exporter to the UAE. The value of the products delivered that year was nearly USD46 million. An investment made by the ComArch company has also produced results in the form of an increase in the sales of IT services. Meanwhile, the share of mobile phone equipment is decreasing steadily: from almost 60% in 2014 to 11% in 2016 and around 3% in 2017.

According to preliminary data for 2017, the downward trend in Polish exports to the UAE was not reversed. Compared to 2016, exports dropped by 16.5% while imports increased by 58.7%. Mobile phones and similar devices continue to be one of the dominant goods sections. Therefore, a drop in these exports brought overall exports figures down. The sales of readyto-eat food products is growing rapidly. In 2017, they accounted for over 14% of Polish exports to the UAE. In January-April 2018, trade between the two countries was worth USD244.5 million, up by 7% year on year. Polish exports to the UAE were worth USD170.0 million (down 2%) and imports from the UAE USD74.5 million (up 36%).

BILATERAL INVESTMENT The combined value of Polish direct investment in the UAE at the end of 2016 was estimated at over USD165 million. Present on the UAE market are Polish companies operating in the oil and gas industry, construction (Librus), installation sector (Sergas), IT services (ComArch), surveying, airconditioning sector (VTS Clima), furniture industry (MDD, Nowy Styl), medical equipment (Famed Żywiec) and metal packaging - in 2005 the Kraków-based company Can-Pack built in the UEA a plant to manufacture metal cans (Arab Can Co.).

Among more spectacular undertakings are the establishment by Kulczyk Investment House of a company dealing with real estate development in Dubai and a Polish company’s stake in a fluor plant, Gulf Fluor, now under construction in Abu Dhabi. Additionally, several hundred Polish specialists, mainly engineers, architects and medical personnel, work in the UAE under individual contracts.

At the end of 2016, UAE investment in Poland, mainly in the form of portfolio investment, was worth around USD29 million. In 2007, the Limitless company based in Dubai bought in Poland land for development in the cities of Wrocław and Poznań and in the Mazuria Lake District. In 2008, the company signed an agreement with the municipal authorities of Chrzanów concerning the construction of a large housing estate. However, the company has not started to carry out any of its projects. The industrial group Al Massaood based in Abu Dhabi has bought a bearings plant and

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mechanical works in Wrocław. Representatives of Royal Group based in Abu Dhabi have paid a visit to the coastal city of Gdańsk to find out about investment opportunities in the city.

UAE banks and companies have invested mainly in Polish government bonds through their subsidiaries and agents operating across Europe.

MARKET ACCESS There are no special administrative barriers in access to the UAE market for Polish goods and services. There is a single 5% customs duty on imports and around 400 items, mainly basic food products and medicines, can be imported duty free. Imports to special economic zones are also exempt from customs duties.

The biggest non-tariff barrier and difficulty is the requirement to submit halal certificates for meat exports. However, it seems the problems will be solved soon because the Muslim Religious Association in Poland is to receive the right to issue halal certificates recognised in the Emirates.

Another barrier to exports to the UAE is the requirement to have an Emirati middleman/agent. But new regulations liberalising the rules governing intermediation by local agents are being introduced.

Strong competition from international firms is still a problem for Polish companies on the UAE market.

MEASURES SUPPORTING THE DEVELOPMENT OF BILATERAL ECONOMIC COOPERATION The diversity and prestige of fairs held in the Emirates create additional opportunities for the development of cooperation. Polish businesses take part in these trade fairs on a regular basis.

The Polish Business Group has been present in Abu Dhabi since 2006 to support the development of Polish-Emirati economic and trade relations.

The association, operating under the auspices of the Abu Dhabi Chamber of Commerce and Industry, brings together Polish business people employed by local firms, offices and foreign companies, Polish exporters and Emirati importers of goods from Poland.

In March 2007, a working visit to the UAE was paid by Minister of the Economy Piotr Woźniak. He met with then Emirati Minister of the Economy Sheikha Lubna Al-Qasimi. In late March and early April 2007, a trade mission of Polish entrepreneurs and a delegation of the Polish Chamber of Commerce (KIG) paid a visit to the UAE. They signed an agreement on cooperation with the Dubai Chamber of Commerce and Industry.

A Polish National Exhibition and Polish-Arab Economic Forum were held at the Dubai World Trade Center in November 2007 as part of Polish Business Days. The honorary patrons of the event were the Polish and UAE ministers of the economy.

Among the more important official meetings held in the following years were the visits to the UAE by the Polish minister of sport and tourism (February/March 2009), minister of the Treasury (March 2009 and June 2010) and deputy minister of the economy (January 2010 and April 2011), and a visit of the UAE minister of the economy to Poland (January 2010).

Representatives of the Polish financial, energy, construction and new technology sectors were on an investment and trade mission to Dubai and Abu Dhabi in November 2011. The programme of the visit included the presentation of what Poland had to offer to GCC countries in the area of investment.

A bilateral Agreement on Economic Cooperation was signed in Abu Dhabi on April 22, 2012 during a visit to the UAE by the Polish prime minister.

In February 2013, the Joint Committee for Economic Cooperation held in Warsaw its first meeting. The Emirati delegation was headed by Minister of the Economy Al Mansoori.

In December 2013, an official visit to the UAE was paid by the president of Poland with a business delegation from the defence, food, IT, yacht and construction sectors.

The Polish deputy prime minister and minister of the economy paid a visit to the UAE on April 28-30, 2015. The second session of the Committee for Economic Cooperation was also held.

POTENTIAL AREAS OF COOPERATION The absence of financial and administrative barriers restricting access to the UAE market and the ability to benefit from its long trading tradition and modern infrastructure mean that the country is a very attractive trade partner.

A wide range of consumers in the Emirates themselves and, in particular, the potential for many goods to be re-exported to other countries in the region create favourable conditions for the expansion of exports.

A major incentive is the fact that the country still generally has a 0% tax on corporate and personal income.

Apart from the oil and gas industry, which is of key importance for the UAE economy, the following sectors offer a potential for the development of trade and economic cooperation between the two countries: • foreign investment in Poland by firms and financial institutions managing investment funds of Gulf countries, • delivery of equipment and materials for the expansion of infrastructure (maritime, rail and road transport, water and sewage infrastructure, telecommunications), • agri-food processing and the delivery of food products, • defence industry, • healthcare services and rehabilitation (health spas), • education at Polish universities.

The numerous free trade zones operating in the UAE may be a chance for Polish companies. The UAE is the world’s third largest centre for reexports after Hong Kong and Singapore.

New opportunities for Polish firms, especially those operating in the construction and finishing sector, have emerged in connection with the world exhibition Expo 2020 to be held in Dubai between October 20, 2020 and April 10, 2021.

POLISH MISSIONS IN THE UNITED ARAB EMIRATES Embassy of the Republic of Poland in Abu Dhabi Corner of the Delma St. and Karama St. (13th and 24th St.) P.O. Box 2334, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates Tel: +971 2 446 5200, fax: +971 2 446 2967 e-mail: abudhabi.amb.sekretariat@msz.gov.pl; website: www.abuzabi.polemb.net Foreign Trade Office – Dubai, Polish Investment and Trade Office Central Park Towers (DIFC), Office 16-37, 16th Floor Dubai, United Arab Emirates Tel.: +971 48868455, mob.: +971 504 797 255, +971 506 927 255 e-mail: moneer.faour@paih.gov.pl, marta.biswas@paih.gov.pl; website: ww.uae.trade.gov.pl polish market

• 19

LEGAL CHANGES LETHAL FOR TEMPORARY WORK.

OUTSOURCING IS AN ANSWER Anna Wicha and Paweł Królikowski from Adecco Poland talk about law changes affecting the temporary employment market, outsourcing of business processes and candidate-centrism.

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IN ADECCO ALL OUR WORK IS BASED ON A “GOOD PRACTICE CODE” WHICH LISTS THE RIGHTS AND PRIVILEGES OF PEOPLE WE EMPLOY. In developed markets, recruitment process outsourcing (RPO) is an established way of securing the best of the best employees for your company, organisation or institution. In Poland it is also getting more and more popular, but outsourcing of other business processes is an area less known to Polish entrepreneurs and investors.

Anna Wicha: It is true that many people perceive outsourcing as shared service, BPOs which they associate mainly with IT and RPO. But outsourcing does not end there. For last four years Adecco has been developing tools to support customers from A to Z so that they can focus exclusively on their core business. Such approach is dynamically growing in popularity - not only because of its effectiveness, but also because of changes in the legal regulations concerning temporary work.

PM

How do these changes affect the development of outsourcing?

AW: Up to now, the existing law limited to 18 months the period during which an employee may be employed through an agency on the basis of temporary employment regulations. Some employers took advantage of this by rotating agencies - but not employees. The new legislation indicates that the period of 18 months will apply to the employee’s relations with the employer, which will prevent such an approach to human resources policy.

Paweł Królikowski: In practice, employers who have employed temporary workers for more than 18 months now have three options: to

employ workers at their companies, which is difficult and implies a loss of flexibility and increased costs; to exchange staff, which will, of course, drastically reduce efficiency and liquidity. The third option is to outsource business processes, going beyond traditional RPO. Agencies were associated with outsourcing the recruitment and payroll process. They provided a certain number of workers and that was the end of their role. This model is changing?

PK: It should change - to increase the effectiveness of the company and the profits of the agency. And now it can be said that it has to change - in the context of the legal changes that we are discussing. In these conditions, the experience we have gained since over the past 4 years, when we started to develop outsourcing, as a pioneer on the market, is very valuable.

PM

PM

Which competences and responsibilities should stay on the client side, and what can the client outsource without losing control over own company?

AW: Core business must be a customer responsibility. However, a frequent problem is the inability to distinguish between what core business is and what is not. What is always there is an idea for a product or service and building a “big idea” around it. Therefore, the RnD or key decisions about the directions of communication must be the domain of PM

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the client. What the company can outsource is production, logistics or sales.

Production and sales are areas where precise knowledge of the product is required.

PK: A company that has completed hundreds of outsourcing projects is already familiar with almost every product category. What is more, none of its specialists will say: “we do something this way because we have always done it this way”.

Experience from different industries, different projects and different customers allows us to go beyond the schemes, improve the process thanks to the use of very broad “know how”, derived from cooperation with the largest companies.

AW: It’s easy to compare it with HR outsourcing. A company that applies to an agency has the experience of one HR manager. Adecco has an experience of 700 HR managers.

PM

What are the practical benefits of using outsourcing services for a particular employer? What kind of savings can they expect?

PK: For companies the most important thing is a possibility to focus fully on their core business.

The company can concentrate on the development.

At the same time, it remains flexible in the ability to manage the scale of business. You can add savings arising from an “economy of scale” effect.

For example, our customer needs 40 cars, which costs him a certain amount. Adecco has a fleet of 1000 cars, so it’s much easier for us to negotiate prices. The funds saved are sufficient both for the outsourcer’s margin and for the client’s savings, who additionally ceases to worry about it. It is a win-win situation.

AW: Time and money savings are often accompanied by efficiency gains. The client gains access to the know-how built on many years of cooperation with hundreds of companies from various industries. A fresh look, combined with experience from other projects, almost always results in the optimisation of some processes.

Various risks, such as legal risks, also disappear.

We are dealing with them.

PM

So what is stopping the biggest players in the market from outsourcing?

PK: In companies that performed most of the tasks related to production or sales on their own, there is a fear that someone will do it worse, less effectively. Therefore, in addition to arguments concerning experience or knowhow, we also offer cooperation based on specific KPIs. In traditional RPO the only indicator of effectiveness is the recruitment of an appropriate number of employees. Adecco offers two other models of cooperation to its clients. So-called “light outsourcing”, where apart from HR processes, we are also responsible for planning and personnel management, is settled on an hourly basis. “Full PM

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outsourcing” assumes full responsibility also for business processes and related risks. In such case, our margin depends on the achievement of the agreed objectives, which may be the number of products produced, transported or sold.

AW: Concerns about outsourcing disappear very quickly, especially in companies that have based their business on temporary work. Now they have to adapt quickly to the new legal environment.

In order to maintain flexibility and effectiveness, they choose outsourcing.

Your high-profile clients in Poland include Amazon. What kinds of services do you provide for them? Could you also mention some of your other major clients?

AW: The main sectors we work for are automotive, transport & logistics, electronics, FMCG & retail, chemical & pharmaceuticals and IT & Telecom. Workforce management is becoming increasingly difficult. Therefore, more and more often we enter into higher levels of cooperation – outsourcing of HR processes are extended to light or full outsourcing models. In cooperation with one of the giants of FMCG market, we are responsible for all sales interests of the client – not only recruitment, but also providing working conditions to all employees, managing and planning their work, taking care of their effectiveness.

PM

with the representatives of the Polish government in issuing opinions on draft laws, advising and preparing recommendations based on our research. In Adecco all our work is based on a “good practice code” which lists the rights and privileges of people we employ.

Last year Adecco Poland assisted over 60,000 people in finding a job. You have come up with some ingenious campaigns addressed to young job-seekers such as Way to Work and CEO of the Month. What do they consist in?

AW: The record low unemployment makes us work in conditions with a candidate in the centre of attention. We have long-term programmes for candidates, largely focused on young people who are just entering the labour market. Very dynamic changes related to technological development and the mismatch of education systems to the new needs of the economy, make it difficult for young people to take the first step of their careers. That’s why we develop programmes such as Way To Work, when we organize an “open day”, during which we show how work in companies such like ours looks like or CEO for One Month, a programme in which we recruit a young person to manage a company. This year the Polish CEO for One Month is Mateusz Przysucha, who overcame almost 2000 other candidates.

PM

Your company is also active in the CSR area, for example you have launched the Win4Youth programme, which involves your team’s and clients’ support for children and young people in need through sports activities.

AW: Yes, we have been running and riding bikes together for several years for a honourable purpose. Kilometres are converted into money that goes to the accounts of children’s organisations. I am glad that we can help and integrate at the same time. June’s Sports Inclusion Day gathered several dozen people from all Polish offices of Adecco and Spring. The atmosphere was excellent.

As the leader of the global HR market, we must set trends in numerous areas. Pioneering solutions in business should be followed by pioneering solutions in CSR or influencing the shape of the labour markets. Adecco takes responsibility not only for the client, but also for the candidates (Way to Work and CEO of the Month), their environment (Win for Youth) and all business and legal issues affecting a labour market through cooperation with governmental and nongovernmental organizations, research, reports and recommendations. A great example of this is the annual GTCI report. We always share proposals about countries’ ability to attract and retain talent with governments to find the best ways to address local market challenges. This is how we see the • responsibility of the leader.

PM

You are the world’s tenth largest employer.

How much of a challenge is it for you to recruit top level Polish personnel and managers for foreign companies, organisations and institutions abroad in extremely competitive markets such as the United Arab Emirates?

How much demand is there for Polish specialists?

AW: Of course, brain drain processes are still strong, despite the rapid increase of salaries in Poland. The Adecco International Mobility department offers a full range of services related to the recruitment of employees from Poland - from talent check, references to all candidate services such as transport, further accommodation, information about taxes, school systems etc. Polish candidates are highly mobile. Most of people who found work abroad with our help chose Netherlands, Norway, Finland, Switzerland and Iceland.

PM

Adecco Poland is part of the Polish HR Forum, of which you are President. It is active in the Global Reporting Initiative promoting ethical standards in business. Can you talk about your involvement in these initiatives in greater detail?

AW: As the President of the Polish HR Forum, I am active within the Lewiatan Confederation and a member of the World Employment Confederation - Europe. We constantly cooperate PM

special edition

WHO STANDS BEHIND BMS? Adam Półgrabia, President of the Board, Global Control 5, and Jakub Ćwiek, Sales Manager, talk to “Polish Market,” about contemporary building management systems (BMS).

Let’s begin with the basic question: what is the task of a BMS? JĆ: The task of a BMS is to create a common environment for user’s comfort and savings.

Every building manager wants comfort to come at the lowest possible price. Our system has been well-thought-out in every detail and our latest iSMA-B-MAC36NL controller is well in keeping with our approach. Every building management system includes many controllers, each responsible for a specific part of the building. It can be a single floor, or a subsystem, like for example an air handling unit. Until recently investors often focused on how much they will have to pay for the controllers and the construction of the system. At present, they think more about maintenance costs throughout the building’s lifecycle. Unfortunately, we have to do with a deluge of cheap equipment, which means that purchase costs are low but then problems arise.

We have designed our iSMA (Intelligent Solution Management Automation) system so that, apart from having a competitive price, it can also provide long-term savings. And this is what our customers appreciate. Thanks to this, we develop ties between us and our partners or distributors and they transfer this idea further to their customers. When you buy other controllers everything starts to break after 10 or 15 years of operation or an upgrade is needed, which means you have to replace the controllers.

Every controller is a combination of hardware and software. Producing them involves costs and contributes to the final price of the device. In the case of the iSMA-B-MAC36NL controller, the software is portable and stored on an SD card. As a result, it can be transferred to another piece of hardware. Even if the hardware gets damaged, for example as a result of overvoltage, the cost of its recovery will only amount to one third of the initial cost while in the case of devices offered by other producers the replacement cost is 100%.

In this respect, we markedly reduce maintenance costs. As a result, our system and iSMA products are making inroads into Western markets because very much attention is paid on these markets to maintenance costs.

AP: Global Control 5 delivers all these elements, which means we offer end-to-end solutions – from the management layer to peripheral devices.

PM

Is this the key to success? Your products operate on all continents. What are you proud of the most?

AP: I think our success is a combination of several very important components. Although we are a relatively young company and have been expanding organically and very rapidly, our biggest asset is the know-how and intellectual property contained in our iSMA products. We try to set aside as much money as possible for this purpose. Around 40% of our company’s resources are now employed in our R&D department, which enables us to launch several new products and upgrades for existing devices every year. The development work spans product development in terms of functionality, the hardware and software design phase and the phase of testing and preparing technical documentation which is submitted to the production department.

To illustrate our success in numbers: we started off in 2015 from scratch and have expanded by 100% every year since. The number of our employees is on the rise, we generate a profit and our profitability in percentage is a two-digit figure. The number of our devices operating across the world has already reached near 100,000. We have customers in more than 50 countries.

We have achieved this step by step starting with Europe and then expanding onto the Middle Eastern, South African, Australian and New Zealand markets. Our most recent success is the entrance onto the North American market. We have signed distribution agreements in Canada in April this year and in the United States at the end of May. These are major distributors who serve hundreds of customers in Canada and the United States.

PM

The United Arab Emirates is potentially one of the most attractive markets for you. The market is particularly demanding in terms of security, comfort and modern solutions.

JĆ: We already have sales experience in this region. We have three partners on this market. At present, contracts worth several hundred thousand dollars come into play, but of course the market is much broader. In the near future, we will be signing two new contracts. One is already being finalised, the other is to be concluded in this quarter. Having PM

got a better insight into this market at Dubai’s IOTx fair, in which we have taken part, we have decided to diversify our sales channels. We will have a direct distributor in the Emirates, but we will also be working with an office of a global IT corporation, one of the world’s top five blue chips, which is now at the beginning of its road towards the Internet of Things. The corporation wants to adapt our solutions for this purpose. This channel will enable our cooperation with around 600 vendors in the Gulf region, Iran, Iraq and North Africa. We will have a sales machine where new products will account for 40-50% of the total sales. The United Arab Emirates is the best market for this kind of solutions because it is high-budget, receptive and is an outlet for top quality products. Speaking figuratively, of a skyscraper is built there it has to be the highest and the technologies applied there need to be the best and most innovative.

Does Global Control 5 already have to its credit a project equally impressive as the highest buildings in Dubai?

AP: A good example is the use of our devices in a distribution chain of one of the largest American conventional and online retailers: in Manchester, Luxembourg and two sites in Italy.

Unfortunately, because of our distributors and the secrecy agreements we have signed, we are unable to disclose the name of the company. But believe me, everyone knows it. All of the sales is through local distributors and their partners who have proven that our devices are of high quality and that using them on these sites makes sense.

Of course, given a globally operating company, we had to meet extra requirements in terms of device specification and openness as well as device lifespan and maintenance costs. We are very glad to have an opportunity to boast about it, although it may sound too mysteriously, perhaps. Mall of Africa is another good example of our references. South Africa’s largest shopping mall ever built in a single phase. Over 220 thous. sqm with 130 thous. sqm of retail space.

Another very prestigious example is Porsche. iSMA products operate in their showrooms throughout Switzerland. Porsche, Switzerland – no need to say more.

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Global Control 5 implements the project “Promotion of Global Control 5 products in US and UAE markets” co-financed from European Union funds within the Smart Growth Operational Programme 2014-2020 – POIR 3.3.3/2018, more: www.gc5.pl

THE BIGGEST BANKS BANK ON

EFIGENCE

Andrzej Szewczyk, Vice President & Managing Director of Efigence, a company which offers advanced solutions to banks in Poland and other countries, talks to “Polish Market” about some of the firm’s latest innovations.

You cooperate with many banks in Poland, such as Alior Bank, mBank, BGZ BNP Paribas and their specialized operations such as CDM Pekao SA Securites. What is the most important thing in your cooperation with clients in this area?

Efigence offers a unique combination of competences in User Experience and technology implementation. Thanks to this, we can take sole responsibility for designing and implementing projects in which the participation of a larger number of suppliers is usually required. Our cooperation demands modern, agile methodologies, enabling us to minimize implementation times and quickly respond to new requirements resulting from regulatory issues, or from competition, which happens to be very strong on this market.

PM

More and more banks, including your clients Alior Bank and Raiffeisen, are launching advanced mobile apps. Does this mean that banks are currently focusing primarily on mobile banking?

In general, the Internet is now accessed more through mobile devices than through traditional desktop devices. Modern banking applications allow users to perform activities related to their financial life. At Efigence, we design and implement banking applications so as to make managing finances and banking processes as easy and convenient as possible. Mobile banking PM

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applications are not only used to manage bills and cards, or check balances or transfers. Mobile apps are increasingly the go-to mechanism for making payments, thus making them one of the most frequently used applications.

Every bank that wants to properly take care of its clients must provide them with proper service in the mobile channel. Will this be the most important channel? Let’s leave this decision to the users.

belonging to the bank, which makes it impossible to use any external tools. EFI4 Analytics is a tool specially prepared for financial institutions. It supports the analysis of data on the behaviour of users of all channels, like web and mobile. Thanks to this, it is possible, for example, to optimize the user experience of services, when we discover that a form is unnecessarily complicated and discourages customers.

Your clients – Alior Bank, Emirates NBD, mBank and BGZOptima – have received awards for banking projects in which Effgence had a significant involvement.

What are the key elements when designing solutions for banks?

When designing and implementing solutions for banks, you need to take into account the characteristics of the local market, the bank’s products and the existing client base. On banking platforms, usability and innovation are very important, as is providing modern solutions and mechanisms that are well-known from other Internet and mobile solutions. For example, small transfers can be made using social platforms, and authorization can use fingerprint or face recognition. Some time ago banking was a diffcult area brimming with incomprehensible jargon. Today, we are striving to make using a bank a cool adventure. Banks should help us with finance, and banking should be frictionless.

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Your EFI4 Analytics tool is a world-beater in the area of integrating data trails of customers interacting with banking sites and mobile applications, with external data sources. How does it work and why is it so trail-blazing?

Thanks to advanced technologies, it is possible to constantly analyse user behaviour and monitor their needs. As a result of such analysis, the customer journey can be constantly optimized so that any experience with the products or services offered is as good as it can be. We can see it, for example, in the world of e-commerce or video--on-demand services, which adapt to our needs and tastes. And growing user satisfaction is accompanied by more effective sales and upselling processes. Due to security requirements and regulatory reasons, banks cannot use the tools e-commerce does. For example, all data about the bank’s clients must be stored on the servers PM

Lubelskie Region - one of the most dynamically developing regions in Eastern Poland INFRASTRUCTURE

5 national roads

2 important railway lines

7road border crossings

4 rail border crossings

2h to Warsaw

2 points providing railway &

running through the region: No: 12, 17, 19, 2, E30

3 with Belarus and 4 with Ukraine

approximate travel time

No 2 (to the border with Ukraine) No 7 (to the border with Belarus)

1 with Belarus and 3 with Ukraine

road transport services:

Koroszczyn - car terminal for customs clearance & Małaszewicze - railway cargo transshipment port, container terminal

13 destinations:

Burgas, Doncaster, Dublin, Eindhoven, Kiev, Liverpool, London (Luton, Stansted), Milan, Munich, Oslo, Stockholm, Tel Awiw

1st place in Poland in terms of

passenger growth dynamics

1600 operations

realised in the sector of general aviation

BUSINESS SERVICES

47 modern office buildings in

Lublin

ca

180 000 m2

of existing office space

ca

27 000 m2

of office space for rent

28 000 m2

of office stock under construction

8 - 12 € /m2 /month prime asking rent

300 000 m2

office space in the city in 2020

59

of BPO/SSC, IT, R&D

centres in Lublin

5 700

employed in

Business Service centres in Lublin

Lublin as a

winner

of “Emerging city of the Year Poland” (1 February 2018)

3rd place in the “Polish Cities

of the Future 2017/18” ranking (fDi Intelligence, Financial Times)

2017 Europe Prize award given each year by the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE)

ECONOMIC POTENTIAL

HUMAN RESOURCES

6 key sectors

18 institutions of higher education

4 intelligent specialisations: bioeconomy,

Competitive labour costs

machinery, automotive and aviation industries, BPO/ IT/SSC, furniture and food processing industry

medicine and health, low-emission power generation, IT and automatics Lublin awarded in the category

Smart City

of 2015 with a population of between 100,000

in the Lubelskie Region

and low staff retention rate

914 EUR gross

the average renumeration in the business sector

and 350,000

FRIENDLY TO INVESTORS

18 subzones of 4 Special Economic

Zones in the region, including office buildings with SEZ status

105 R&D units

15

over cluster iniciatives

4 industrial and science and technology

parks

Do you want to find out more about our region?

Contact The Biznes Lubelskie Team

MEDICINE

57 hospitals 2 health resorts 123 members of Lublin Medicine -

Medical and Wellness Cluster

Other medical companies: laboratories, clinics, producers of diet supplements, producers of equipment (surgery equipment, dentist’s equipment, blood tests), herbal medicines Marshal Office of the Lubelskie Region Department of Economy and International Cooperation Trade and Investment Promotion Section Artura Grottgera 4 St., 20-029 Lublin

Investors and Exporters Assistance Centre +48 81 537 16 15 +48 81 537 16 21 coie@lubelskie.pl

Find us on:

invest.lubelskie.pl/en fb.com/investinlubelskie linkedin.com/company/invest-in-lubelskie @investlubelskie

POLISH

DEFYING GRAVITY

JERZY “JOTKA” KĘDZIORA

(b. 1947, Częstochowa) – sculptor, painter, designer, teacher, a graduate of the Academy of Fine Arts in Gdańsk. Participant in around 500 exhibitions in Poland and abroad.

Author of monuments and sculptural accents for public spaces (including monuments to John Paul II, Louis Armstrong, Jan Długosz, Idący przez Rzekę – Walking Through the River, Zmartwychwstały – The Resurrected), a winner of numerous

awards, and multiple holder of scholarships of the Ministry of Culture and Art. Since the beginning of his artistic journey Kędziora has shown an interest in kinetic arts and sculpting experiments. The volatility of time, choices, and existence in contemporary times has become the basis of his artistic explorations, which have led him to start working on balancing sculptures, thanks to which he has become recognised around the world.

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Three figures suspended in mid-air, United Arab Emirates by Jerzy Kędziora.

Pictures by Bartek Kędziora

ARTISTS IN UAE

STRIKING SCULPTURES IN PUBLIC SPACES www.struzik-art.com

MIREK STRUZIK’S specialty is sculpture.

He designs and creates works for public areas. His favourite materials are metal, wood, stone and synthetics. Among his most exciting works is the Dandelions sculpture in front of the Burj Khalifa building in Dubai.

Other works include a series of sculptures for the Municipal Botanical Garden of Wrocław University, the Spanish shopping centre Factory in Poland and a piece of sculpture entitled “Adam and Eve” for the Skokie Northshore Sculpture Park in Chicago, Illinois.

Among the many prizes won by the artist are the 2018 Honorable Mention Award, Circle Foundation for the Arts, and Special Commendation in the 2013 Nanjing International Sports Sculpture Competition For Youth Olympic Games. In the same year “Dandelion” was selected to the Top 100 of CoD+A Awards in Public Art category. His works have recently gone on show at the Medialia Gallery in New York, USA, the Istanbul Light Festival, the 6th International Art Biennale in Beijing and the 25th International sculpture Biennale, Ube, Japan.

Struzik was born in 1956 in Żarów, Poland. In 1989, he graduated from the Academy of Fine Arts in Wroclaw, in the department of graphics, painting and sculpture, acquiring the title of Master of Fine • Arts.

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FURNITURE 4.0

M

KDesign was set up by the founder of Mebelplast and Livingroom on the basis of over 25 years of experience in the furniture industry. The company broke into the UAE market as early as in 2008.

Marek Kolakowski’s newest project in furniture manufacturing was launched last year in the town of Nidzica, since May 2018 with a licence to operate in the Warmia and Mazury Special Economic Zone. This is precisely where one of the most technologically advanced furniture plants will soon be erected. The company is specialized in manufacturing highly personalized upholstered furniture in accordance with customer’s detailed needs.

The plant concept employs the Industry 4.0 cutting-edge innovations, reinventing the line design - sales - manufacturing - delivery in order to meet one of the most important goals in the sales - cutting delivery time of highly personalized products wherever in the world the place of destination is. That will be possible through a solution connecting an online configurator with a production line and an autonomous stock management system. Resources and experience in product creation, coupled with sophisticated innovations in functionality, design, materials, and supported by mobile and VR/AR solutions in sales, provide a decisive competitive edge required by the market.

At present, the company exports its products to the Benelux countries, Switzerland and the US. IN Poland aims to rapidly expand in the B2B contract market.

A multimedia showroom in Warsaw is to be opened soon. We hope to add the United Arab Emirates to our map of export markets in the near future.

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Marek Kołakowski, the man behind the Mebelplast and Livingroom brand, owner of MKDesign

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MK Design Sp. z o.o.

Olsztyńska St. 38, 13-100 Nidzica, Poland marek.kolakowski@mkdesign.org.pl

Five o’clock WITH LOYD TEA

Sylwia Mokrysz, Mokate SA Proxy.

Mokate is a Polish family firm which is bestknown for its cappuccino. But the company’s product range is much broader than that, including some exquisite teas.

We’ve always dealt with tea, in fact since 1900 when my ancestor Josef Mokryš set up a delicatessen in the village of Dobra, now in the Czech Republic. Among the products sold was tea and coffee. In 1927 his younger brother Alois opened a similar shop in Goleszów. Its shelves brimmed with top-range teas and coffee beans.

We picked up on this tradition more than a decade ago. Having successfully entered the coffee market, I decided that we’d try our hand at teas. It wasn’t easy. The tea market has its own rules.

I took advantage of the knowhow offered by UK specialists, the London Tea House which has a 200year- old tradition. I discovered that tea offers an endless range of possibilities of blending flavours.

Now Mokate is among the Polish tea market leaders. We still draw on British tradition. That’s why black teas, which are so popular in the British Isles, figure prominently among our products which include LOYD Classic and LOYD Earl Grey.

The best tea leaves from plantations in Kenya are used, in line with the rule that the LOYD brand only includes teas which were given top marks by sommeliers. Our teas also bear the Rainforest Alliance Certified (RAC) certificate awarded to food whose production doesn’t negatively impact on people and the environment.

PM

What’s the tea market like in Poland?

It’s now worth some PLN 1.4 billion. Premium teas are growing in importance. Our LOYD brand is a good case in point. Black tea is still the most popular, it accounts for about 47% of overall sales.

It is followed in succession by fruit and herbal teas, Earl Grey and green teas. Not only are the sales of herbal teas growing but functional, fruit, green and white teas are doing well, too. They

are driven by the health food consumer trend.

The growing popularity of healthy lifestyles is causing innovative products to emerge such as immunity-boosting, anti-obesity and energy drinks, which have become market hits. LOYD functional teas for insomnia, digestion and sore throat fit in very well in this trend. They are top quality products recommended by pharmacists.

Available in pyramid tea bags, they directly meet consumers’ expectations.

Are tea sales seasonal? Is more tea sold in the autumn and winter and less in the summer?

Poles are used to serving tea all year round.

Naturally, a cup of hot tea is not the drink of choice in sweltering heat, although according to scientists hot beverages are great to quench your thirst. Having said that, tea sales are a seasonal phenomenon. Mokate manages to offset the ups and downs by making its offer diversified and specialised.

In the winter LOYD mulled teas are very popular. These are top-quality teas which contain spices and fruit juices. LOYD Warming Tea in pyramid bags combine fruity flavours and aromatic spices.

Summer favourites are black and green LOYD teas in pyramid bags, often with refreshing flavours such as mint and apple, strawberry and rhubarb, raspberry and strawberry, blackberry and blueberry, rosehip and apple. They are also popular when cooled.

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What criteria do consumers use buying tea?

What has changed of late?

The present generation of consumers isn’t just as loyal to brands as their parents were. They often like to try something new. They respond well to promotions and the availability of given brands in the shops they visit. There are a number of factors. One thing is clear, consumers are PM

Josef Mokryš’s shop in Dobra, 1900.

quality-conscious. That’s why each our product undergoes thorough testing to make sure it meets expectations.

The Mokate logo includes the phrase “A Family Business.” What does it mean for your firm?

Family firms should be managed in such a way that business goals are balanced against traditional, family values. It doesn’t just concern the owner’s family but the entire Mokate Group team. The fact that we are a family firm is the reason why we pay special attention to nourishing the creativity of the younger generation and supporting each other.

Just like in a family, all the time our employees can count on support from the board and owners.

A family firm should last for generations, for the sake of future generations. Respect for continuity and lasting values are behind the exceptional immunity of family firms to economic turbulences. In such firms you plan like in a family - on a scale of generations and not a financial year.

Decisions are made with a view to the well-being of the family - your own family as well as the families of employees, with a sense of the responsibility it entails.

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SWEET TOOTH

Krzysztof Koszela, Colian Board Member talks to “Polish Market” about the company’s offer.

Your products reach more than 70 countries, including the Middle East. In what way do you adjust your export offer to consumer preferences in individual regions?

Our products stand for quality and exquisite taste. They are born out of synergy between tradition and modernity. These are the pillars we build our global position on. They remain unchanged. In foreign markets we are present with the firm’s flagship products, their foreign counterparts under brands of a global nature. Each of the markets has its individual characteristics, which we take into account as we build our offer.

We keep it in mind that tastes and preferences are dependent on tradition, culture and latitude. Not all products which are in demand on the Polish market find buyers in Asian or Arab countries.

That is why we do not just export our leading products and their international counterparts – we come up with products dedicated to specific markets. Among these are boxes of chocolates sold in Brazil and Mexico. A good example of how we try to adjust to consumers’ expectations in a given country or region are mixes of spices tailored to the preferences of, say, a Mongolian shopper.

markets and experts who deal with marketing activities in foreign markets. We do our best to diversify our exports and adjust to changing circumstances. One of our most important goals is to ensure that sales points are well supplied with our products. That is why we work both directly with major retail chains, as well as in partnership with selected distributors. Diverse operations in this sphere of activities bring expected results.

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business partners and consumers. At the same time, we take into account the time and mode of transport. Of no small importance are also highquality packaging materials which Colian Group products are known for. We approach the entire export process with utmost attention to detail – from the product itself to packaging design to the supply method and choice of distributor. All those factors combined, our export products are fresh and meet the expectations of foreign clients who are keen to purchase them.

Export on such a scale must be a formidable logistical challenge. What is your distribution network like? Do you do it yourselves or do you use local partners?

Export sales have been an important distribution channel virtually since the company’s very beginnings. We build it gradually and consistently, but above all we rely on building long-term business relations and mutual confidence. Growing export sales have prompted the company to expand its sales structures. The sales department has specialists responsible for particular sales regions and administrative support staff, representatives who work in target

How do you keep products fresh and in top quality as they are exported half way across the world?

Each country has its particular challenges, also in terms of food packaging and transport.

As we get ready to enter a market, we must go through time-consuming procedures to have individual food products certified to be sold there. The freshness of our products is primarily determined by their quality, which results from the way they are produced, the kind of recipes that are used and top-quality ingredients.

During the production process we make sure that the final product meets the expectations of

Is there a market you are now particularly keen to expand into? Can we expect you to broaden the range of the Colian Group export offer?

One of the priorities of our operations is steady development. We invest consistently, we enter new foreign markets and we seek opportunities for foreign expansion. We currently place emphasis on stepping up our activities in mature and competitive developed markets, as well as countries of the Middle and Far East, Africa and the Americas. We want to be active in present markets but we also aim to seek new ones. Our aim is to build the company’s strong position in the international arena, proof of which is the purchase of Lily O’Brien’s Holding Ltd. This transaction has boosted our potential in the development of export-oriented activities. We have gained new distribution channels and we have expanded our penetration of the Irish, UK, US and Australian markets. This latest purchase is proof of our interest in strong international brands, which started with the takeover in 2016 of the UK company Elizabeth Shaw Limited with brands such as Elizabeth Shaw and Famous Names. We envisage steady sales growth in foreign markets and a further development of our export activities.

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Which products are in the biggest demand in Middle East markets? What flavour is Poland associated there with?

Colian products find buyers and win the hearts of consumers the world over. It is hard to mention a single top export product popular throughout the highly diversified Middle East region. Consumers there have access to a whole range of our products and they can pick and choose according to their liking. In each country of the Middle East we can pinpoint products which are particular favourites. Consumers in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia have grown to like our cream fudge, while Israelis appreciate Mella jellies and Alibi bars.

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FROM WASTE TO PRODUCTS INNOVATION FOR ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION

Sulstar® sulphur binder

Looking for solutions to the problem of industrial waste and alternatives to traditional building materials many manufacturers take an interest in the use of waste. They focus in particular on recycling hazardous waste and waste which cannot be used in traditional technologies. In doing so they rely on materials engineering and many environmental problems are solved by technologies based on waste sulphur from oil and gas refining processes.

T

he concept to use sulphur to make building materials is not new. Its excellent binding properties were used by the ancient Greeks. Interest in this kind of materials has been growing since the 1980s. The technological progress achieved in the past several years enabled the industrial application of the sulphur modification concept and the use of the materials’ potential in various sectors of construction and environmental protection.

The Polish company Marbet Wil, a leader of this new and rapidly developing industry, has developed and implemented an environmentfriendly and efficient process for the production of Sulstar®, a highquality polymer binder. It is a perfect material for the manufacture of chemical and water resistant construction materials, and asphalt concrete for road building. The technology has been implemented and used on an industrial scale at the company’s plant in the city of Gliwice. The company has developed methods for using the sulphur polymer in asphalt and sulphur concrete, and for the stabilisation of industrial waste. Marbet Wil has made and sold sulphur concrete products in Poland since 2002. The technologies it has developed have received patent protection in many countries, including the United States, Canada, Iran, Russia, Kazakhstan, countries of the Persian Gulf region, Malaysia and Singapore.

The Sulstar® polymer binder offers a new quality and a wide range of applications in construction. Thanks to its key parameters – corrosion resistance in sea water, liquid wastes, acids and oils, very low water absorption, high freeze-thaw resistance and high compressive strength - sulphur concrete can be used to make prefabricated components and directly on a construction site. In the latter case, it can be used, for example to build a road base of much better parameters than when traditional technologies are used. Of no small importance is the fact that sulphur concrete, like asphalt concrete, is a thermoplastic material. This

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means that the two layers are better bound with each other and the road has better performance parameters: a longer lifespan, higher resistance to corrosion and weather conditions, also providing material savings.

The materials are responsible for low carbon dioxide emissions, are fully recyclable and, importantly, no water is used in the production process. The sulphur polymer is so stable and safe that it has been certified by the National Institute of Hygiene as suitable for the production of containers for water storage and transport.

The Sulstar® polymer enables turning waste into products. It is particularly useful and effective in stabilising solid industrial waste, like for example ash from plants incinerating waste containing heavy metals (mercury, cadmium, chromium, zinc, copper, iron, nickel, arsenic, manganese, lead, magnesium, barium salts), waste from the flotation of non-ferrous metals, and saline desert sand. A product manufactured in this process can be launched on the market as a useful and safe product when threats to the environment are excluded.

Replacing some road asphalt with Sulstar® as a binder, with the addition of an anti-inhalation mineral medium (Sulstar®DA), results in a road with a higher bearing capacity, higher resistance to rutting and better pavement friction while at the same time reducing construction costs. The anti-inhalation admixture prevents the emission of hydrogen sulphide and makes it possible to raise to 160 degrees Celsius the temperature in which the product can be used fully safely. The works can be conducted with the use of standard road-building equipment.

A number of laboratory tests have been conducted and test road stretches have been built in the process of putting the technology into practice in Poland.

The Sulstar® sulphur polymer technology provides tangible benefits to the user due to the character of the process, the properties of the materials obtained and thanks to solving environmental problems. •

PROVEN TECHNOLOGIES, PROTECTED BY INTERNATIONAL PATENTS

We have our own innovative Sulstar® technology for the conversion of waste sulfur into a modern polymeric binder - used as: • Addition to the production of cheaper asphalt mixtures with increased resistance to rutting and increased adhesion, • Binder for the production of chemo and waterproof materials for road, railway and hydro-technical construction, • Binder for the stabilization and solidification of hazardous waste containing heavy metals

WE OFFER LICENSE, KNOW-HOW AND TECHNOLOGICAL CONSULTING

MARBET WIL Spółka z o.o.

28 Chochołowska St., 43-346 Bielsko-Biała Poland

Production Plant 9 Towarowa St. 44-100 Gliwice Poland

www.marbetwil.pl

phone: +48 32/338-19-40, fax: +48 32 270-39-96 email: info@marbetwil.pl, www.marbetwil.pl