Poland pushes investment

POLAND has offered preferential policies to attract Chinese investors to the eastern European nation's comparatively low labor costs and its proximity to huge Western consumer markets.

Companies that invest in Poland will enjoy corporate tax reductions, subsidies in employee training and government support in land purchases, Andrzej Kaczmarek, an undersecretary in Poland's economic ministry, told an economic forum in Shanghai yesterday.

"Poland's sound political and economic relationships with China have set the stage for future cooperation," Kaczmarek said. "We encourage Chinese firms to invest in Poland and hope the Chinese government will also support the moves."

About a dozen Chinese enterprises, including electronic products maker TCL Corp, have set up facilities in Poland, but the combined investment remains small, according to Jonathan Goo, director of the international cooperation department at the Shanghai Small Enterprises Trade Development Service Center.

The state-backed agency, which is in charge of helping Shanghai-based firms invest overseas, may organize a tour to Poland next year for local enterprises that have an interest in shifting manufacturing abroad, Goo said.

"The previous investment in Poland by Chinese firms was only several million US dollars per deal, which was not impressive," Goo said. "We hope bigger exporters can land in Poland."

Poland's labor costs, the lowest among all European Union nations, are similar to those in China's Jiangsu and Zhejiang provinces. The European country's 14 economic zones and 26 industrial parks have separate preferential measures for foreign investors apart from those at the state level.

"I believe Poland's low labor costs, abundant natural resources and rich talent base will bolster its attractiveness to Chinese investors," Goo said. "My department has already gained a good response from some Shanghai firms and is working with them to enter Poland."

China accounted for 4.8 percent, or 1.18 billion euros (US$1.51 billion), of Poland's imports in the first six months of the year, according to Kaczmarek. Poland exported 211 million euros worth of goods and services to China during the period, or 0.6 percent of its total exports.
Source:By Leo Zhang, shanghaidaily.com