Poland's car industry warns PM of possible crisis

Polish car makers have asked the prime minister to take steps to protect the domestic industry from a worldwide drop in demand, an industry representative said Tuesday.

Poland's Chamber of Automotive Industry head Roman Kantorski told The Associated Press that representatives of car dealerships and auto parts producers have written to Prime Minister Donald Tusk urging him to consider steps to cushion the sector against recession. They suggested government guarantees for bank credits and flexibility in saving specialized jobs.

Kantorski said the letter was a precautionary step, but acknowledged that some auto part makers are considering layoffs. He refused to say which firms might make cuts.

Some 97 percent of Poland's car production is exported to markets where demand is falling.
Source:The Associated Press

Visa waiver Program may exclude Romania and Poland

The American Congress is about to approve the law draft on the Visa Waiver Program, which will alow citizens of other countries to enter the US without needing a pre-obtained visa.
Still, Romania and Poland may excluded from the list of countries for which the program applies, because the average rate of rejected visa demands is ovre the allowed limit of 10%, reaching, in fact, some 25%, International Herald Tribune informs in its online edition.

"According to State Department statistics for the first six months of this year provided by the office of independent Sen. Joe Lieberman, who chaired the negotiations on the final bill, countries including Romania, Poland, Lithuania, Latvia, Slovakia and Hungary would not qualify.
Most of those countries come in close to the 10 percent requirement, but Poland and Romania had more than 25 percent of their applicants rejected", IHT reads.

On Thursday, Poland expressed disappointment that the legislation would not allow its immediate entry into the program
"We will continue our campaign to convince members of the U.S.

Congress that including Poland into the visa waiver program would strengthen security of the United States, would enhance the security of travelers and would strengthen political and cultural ties between the US and Central European countries," said the press attache in the Polish Embassy in Washington, Pawel Maciag, according to IHT.

Source: HotNews.ro