Foreign entrepreneurs positively assess Polish investment climate. They appreciate economic stability of the country, a developed and strong domestic market, an access to qualified and well educated employees and a system of investment incentives. On the other hand, they emphasize that in Poland, there is a number of negative factors which generate obstacles in running a business activity. Those listed most often include i.a. barriers in applying for investment incentives, uncompetitive Latour law and unclear taxation regulations. These factors may significantly influence the inflow of FDI (Foreign Direct Investment) In the future, as results from the report prepared by the Polish Information and Foreign Investment Agency (PAIiIZ), “Barriers in the Inflow of Foreign Direct Investment to Poland” („Bariery w napływie bezpośrednich inwestycji zagranicznych do Polski”). The document was created on the basis of entrepreneurs’ opinions collected by the Agency within the post-investment care.
As analysts from PAIiIZ point out, the key factor for ma king a decision about an investment location In a given country, is an Access to incentives. Poland’s strength lies in i.a. government grants from the Support Programme for Investments of the Key Importance for Polish Economy In the Years 2011-2020, structural funds and conveniences of SEZ. In the practical use of grants, investors noticed some difficulties: government subsidies cannot be combined with Any Rother incentives; the criteria for applying for the support are too demanding (especially for businesses in the R&D sector); procedures of granting re long lasting and at the same time the budget is too restricted. As Sławomir Majman, President of PAIiIZ claims, changes in the system of government grants (practicable in a relatively short period of time), would allow for enhancing the scope of co-funding, which would generate new workplaces (creating a workplace by a foreign investment may be even five times cheaper than by a job centre).
Weakness of the system of structural funds lies in i.a. a restricted access to information concerning contests, the exceeding of deadlines of assessment, bureaucratic approach to settling accounts of grants or problems related to environmental assessment. Łukasz Karpiesiuk from Baker&McKenzie points to the activities of the European Commission, which aims at restricting the amount of means in the following financial perspective. He emphasized that in this case, the extension of other forms of support will become necessary. We have an attractive business environment and a very favourable rate of the quality of workforce to its price, but without a good system of incentives, we won’t be able to attract investors, he said.
Other negative opinions listed by investors included limiting the SEZ activities to 2020, or difficulties related to the use of a 24-hour work cycle (it allows for hiring employees several times within one cycle, with reservations, e.g. regarding ensuring 11 hours of continuous rest). Foreign investors unfavourably assess the system of tax regulations (especially their multiplicity) as well as contradictory interpretations of tax bodies issued in similar cases. They also highlight long time of realization of investment and investment-related projects.
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