Italian direct investment in Poland

Value of Italian direct investment in Poland

Towards Development. Polish-Italian Economic and Business Cooperation

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Jacek Bajger, KPMG in Poland

Partner, Tax, Head of Transfer Pricing

KPMG in Poland

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Value of Italian direct investment in Poland exceeds PLN 38 billion

The latest KPMG report prepared in cooperation with the Embassy of Italy in Poland and under the honorary patronage of the Ministry of Economy “Towards Development. Polish-Italian Economic and Business Cooperation”. Italy is an important economic, trading and business partner for Poland. In our country, there are more than 1,300 companies with Italian capital, employing around 90,000 people. In 2013, Italy was the sixth largest direct investor in Poland, with investments exceeding PLN 38 billion. According to Italian investors, Poland is the most attractive investment country in the region, and in the future its attractiveness will increase. As many as 98% of surveyed businesses evaluate the last 20 years of Polish-Italian economic and business cooperation positively. 

 

Italian companies are an important foreign employer in Poland, especially in the automotive industry.

In 2013, 1,300 companies with Italian capital were operating in Poland. Together they employ around 90,000 people. Most companies (67% in 2013) are microenterprises, i.e. companies employing up to 9 staff. In this group we can also observe the largest increase in the number of companies with Italian capital in Poland (an increase of 6% on average per year).

The greatest involvement of Italian companies in Poland can be seen in the automotive industry. Nearly 20 companies from the automotive industry employ around 15,000 people, representing 17% of the total employment of companies with Italian capital operating in our country,

– says Alessandro De Pedys, Italian Ambassador in Poland.

Italian companies were among the first to see the potential of the Polish economy, back in the early Nineties, and in some cases they were investing here even before the transition to democracy and to a market economy. The results, detailed in the report, are very satisfactory. Today we are one of the largest investor, our companies and brands have a very strong position in the market for consumer, intermediate and investment goods and we actively participate in the many infrastructural projects approved by the Polish government. Both large companies and SMEs find here a good business environment,

– says Alessandro De Pedys, Italian Ambassador in Poland.

 

Italy is the sixth largest direct foreign investor in Poland

Since Poland’s accession to the European Union, Italian direct investment in Poland has increased significantly, exceeding PLN 38 billion in 2013. This puts Italy in 6th place in terms of the volume of direct investment in Poland, just behind Germany (PLN 114 billion), the Netherlands (PLN 107 billion), France (PLN 79 billion), Luxembourg (PLN 64 billion) and Spain (PLN 43 billion).

Most of the Italian investments have been in the financial and insurance sector (PLN 24 billion) and in manufacturing (PLN 11 billion).

Poland is an attractive and stable economic partner. We are creating good conditions for the development of entrepreneurship, thanks to which we are seeing an increase in exports and attracting new investment to the country. Foreign companies appreciate us, including Italian companies, which choose us as a location for their projects,

–says Janusz Piechociński, Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Economy.

 

Poland, in the eyes of Italian entrepreneurs, is number 1 in Central and Eastern Europe

On a 5-point scale (1 - very unattractive, 5 - very attractive), Italian investors assessed Polish investment attractiveness as 3.9. This was the best rating among selected countries in the region. The attractiveness of Poland’s southern neighbours is assessed slightly lower – the Czech Republic (3.6), Slovakia (3.2). The condition of the Polish economy was particularly well assessed – 71% of respondents assessed it positively or very positively.

The strong Polish economy and a solid foundation for its further development guarantee the profitability of investments in our country. In comparison to other European Union countries, our indicators are very good and place us among Europe's growth leaders. Therefore, global companies often choose Poland as a location for their new investments in Europe,

– says Janusz Piechociński, Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Economy.

“It is worth noting the mutual openness of Italians and Poles, which allows good business relations to be maintained and the scope of cooperation to be gradually increased. Undoubtedly, confirmation of successful business contacts is the declaration of as many as 94% of Italian respondents that they would recommend Poland to foreign companies that have not yet decided to start their business here as an attractive place for investment in the region,”

– says Andrea De Gaspari, manager of consulting services, Italian Desk at KPMG in Poland.

 

Italy is the fourth largest supplier of goods to the Polish and the fifth largest recipient of Polish products

After the first three years of Poland’s presence in the European Union, trade between Poland and Italy rose sharply. Also during the financial crisis in Europe, Poland reported stable demand for Italian products, remaining above PLN 30 billion since 2007.

Food products are an important part of Polish-Italian trade. In 2014, Poland purchased food products worth over PLN 2 billion from Italy. In this category, fruits and nuts (PLN 445 million) and alcoholic beverages, soft drinks and vinegar (PLN 262 million) had the largest shares. Interestingly, Poland exports more food to Italy than it imports. In 2014, Polish exports to Italy were worth PLN 3.6 billion, of which most were meat and offal (PLN 1.6 billion) and dairy products, eggs and honey (PLN 0.7 billion).

Italians are famous worldwide for their top quality luxury goods. Among the luxury brands present in Poland the highest proportion (22%) are Italian brands. Italian luxury cars are enjoying growing popularity in Poland – in 2014, 68% of luxury car registrations in Poland were Italian,

– says Andrea De Gaspari, manager of consulting services, Italian Desk at KPMG in Poland.

 

Italian investors are satisfied with the existing cooperation and are planning further investments

As many as 98% of the companies surveyed evaluate the last 20 years of Polish-Italian economic and business cooperation positively. What's more, as many as 60% of them intend to increase their capital commitment in Poland in the next three years. The majority (65%) of investment plans include increasing production capacity.

The five areas with the best prospects in which, according to Italian investors, Polish-Italian cooperation will develop in the next 10 years are: food (57% of responses), automotive (52%), luxury goods (44%), clothing and footwear (34%) and hospitality, tourism and recreation (25%).

“In the longer term, Italian investors do not intend to leave the Polish market. Each of the respondents declared that over the next 10 years they will be operating in Poland, and only 3% want to move an important element of their business way from Poland within 5 years. However, to effectively implement planned investments, companies expect more support from the public sector – primarily simplified access to public assistance and reduced red tape,”

– says Jacek Bajger, a partner in the tax advisory department, Italian Desk at KPMG in Poland.

“Italian companies assess very positively the Polish business environment but of course from time to time problems arise, often stemming from a different business culture or different legal and administrative procedures. In such cases the Embassy can be called to assist, usually with positive results. We maintain a large network of contacts with the different branches of public administration and institutional bodies. Italian companies can also count on the Italian Trade Agency and the Italian Chamber of Commerce to help them strengthen their presence on the market. ,”

– says Alessandro De Pedys, Italian Ambassador in Poland.

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