On November 24, 2016 the V International Forum “POLISH BUSINESS DAY” took place in Kyiv. In recent years the forum has become the largest communication platform for Polish-Ukrainian businesses and established itself as an effective way to share experiences,
find new opportunities for investment projects, establish new contacts with investors, state and local governments, financial institutions, recruitment and consulting companies.
Organizers:
- Trade and Investment Promotion Office of the Embassy of the Republic of Poland in Ukraine;
- International Legal Center EUCON;
- International Audit Union;
- Ukrainian Business Association in Poland;
- International Society of Polish Entrepreneurs in Ukraine.
Developer Partner – Murapol S.A.
The forum was held under the patronage of the Embassy of the Republic of Poland in Ukraine and supported by the Ministry of Economic Development and Trade of Ukraine. More than 300 participants interested in accessing the EU markets through Poland attended the event. 38 speakers made presentations during the following sessions.
Sessions:
- Polish-Ukrainian economic cooperation: “Will 2017 become the year of trade and investment boom?”
- Investment attractiveness of Poland, governmental support for investors and exporters
- Poland through the prism of business attractiveness of its cities and regions
- Practical aspects of doing business in Poland
- Support for start-ups and innovative economy
Opening the forum, Bartosz Musyalovych, Head of Trade and Investment Promotion office of the Embassy of Poland in Ukraine noted that the two-year recession of turnover between the countries had changed in the first half of 2016. He hopes for establishment of even closer economic relations and increase of trade and investment assets in both countries.
Yaroslav Romanchuk, managing partner of International Legal Center EUCON, president of the Ukrainian Business Association in Poland, stressed that the potential of economic and investment cooperation between Ukraine and Poland had not been fully realized yet. During the first panel discussion he suggested discussing prospects for growth in trade between these two countries in 2017.
First Deputy Minister of Economic Development and Trade of Ukraine Maxim Nefyodov drew attention to the fact that today we have good opportunities for deepening the relations between Ukraine and Poland and expressed his hope for an increase in foreign trade operations next year.
Deputy Minister of the Republic of Poland Mariusz Haladyj said that the 10% increase in turnover between Poland and Ukraine in March 2016 indicated positive changes in economic relations between the states. At the same time he noted that stability and predictability of cooperation terms and conditions is still the most important question for any business.
Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Poland to Ukraine Ian Piekło emphasized the role of civil society development and drew a parallel between the Solidarity Revolution in Poland and Ukraine.
On the occasion of the event, Yaroslav Romanchuk presented the first copy of the Polish-Ukrainian business terminology dictionary.
President of the International Society of Polish Entrepreneurs in Ukraine Piotr Tsiarkovski drew attention to the fact that last year there were positive changes in government regulation of business in Ukraine. In particular, he spoke about the practical benefits of the public procurement reform in Ukraine and implementation of public electronic procurement system Prozorro.
The first session of the forum was devoted to discussion of investment attractiveness of Poland and measures taken by the government of Poland to support investors and exporters. Special attention was focused on public procurement in Poland and legal aspects of participation of Ukrainian businesses in tenders. Among the speakers there were the Head of Public Procurement Office Malgorzata Stręciwilk, Director of the Polish Agency for Enterprise Development Michal Polanski, Plenipotentiary of the Management Board on Strategy at Polish Information and Foreign Investment Agency Marcin Bulinski, Advisor of the Polish Minister of Regional Development Krzysztof Siwek.
During the second session of the forum “Poland through the prism of business attractiveness of its cities and regions” the speakers analyzed the specific infrastructure and investment promotion programs in different regions of Poland. In particular, representatives of development agencies, industrial and technological parks and city halls presented the features of investment opportunities in Wroclaw, Gdansk, Plock, Tarnow and Kielce.
The practical aspects of doing business in Poland were discussed during the third session of the forum. In particular, the representative of the Polish development company MURAPOL Katarzyna Golchik spoke about the features of immovable property acquisition. Managing partner of International Legal Center EUCON Yaroslav Romanchuk focused on specific features of accounting and taxation, as well as the mechanism of using the EU financial instruments. New rules on migration policy through the prism of employment, work visas, work permits and residence were explained by Grzegorz Wilkosz, Chairman of the Board at GLOBAL JOB GATE, International recruitment group.
The final fourth session of the forum was devoted to startups. Poland pays great attention to promotion of innovative economic development. There are industrial and technology parks, special programs implemented by the government to support innovative projects, more than 40 R&D centers and 460 universities, which allowed Poland to reach a leading position in Central Europe in the number of research projects.
At the end of the forum Yaroslav Romanchuk thanked all the participants, asked everyone to provide their feedbacks and reminded that the next forum will be held in Warsaw in May 2017.
PROGRAM
PHOTOREPORT
Media about the Forum:
