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As assessed by Krzysztof Krystowski, Deputy President of the Board of Leonardo Helicopters, the company which owns PZL-Świdnik, the Polish army and defence industry should undergo simultaneous modernisation. The participation of domestic entities in the army equipment tenders announced by the Ministry of National Defence (MON) is a huge opportunity. Given the scale and complexity of such contracts, their implementation will be based on strict cooperation between various Polish companies, with the potential cooperation between PZL-Świdnik and Polska Grupa Zbrojeniowa (Polish Armaments Group) in building a combat helicopter being an accurate example.

The Ministry of Entrepreneurship and Technology is planning to create a technological campus to cluster all Polish cybersecurity specialists in one place. This autumn, the project’s operator is going to be selected. The business accelerator is based on solutions applied in Israel and its role is to reinforce Poland's security and attract investors from the IT sector to our country.

“The activity of foreign investors on the Polish real property market is still growing. In their view, Polish cities stand for stability and guaranteed profit, especially when compared with Western Europe. On the Polish investment market, and more specifically in the commercial property sector, Q1 2018 ended with a record-breaking volume of transactions, reaching EUR 2 bn. The demand is, however, much greater than the supply of good-quality structures, which causes a price hike. When coupled with the increasing construction costs and the shortage of qualified staff, this can slow down investors’ activity,” said Beata Latoszek from Deutsche Hypo.

Business angels are increasingly active in Poland. According to the Startup Poland foundation, 33 percent of Polish start-ups took advantage of the services of domestic and foreign business angels. The EBAN data shows that the three most frequently chosen industries are technology, ICT and healthcare. The Vice-President of the largest European organisation of business angels believes that the next five years will be promising for the whole CEE region, and Poland will be the first choice among investment locations.

This year, Warsaw is planning to spend more than PLN 3.2 bn on investment. A portion of these funds will be allocated to patch up Warsaw’s shortcomings in transport. The efforts will focus on the extension of the municipal transport system, including Line 2 of the Metro. A substantial amount of funds will be allocated for the extension of the educational and social infrastructure, as well as culture – including in particular Sinfonia Varsovia’s concert hall, the Museum of Modern Art and the Teatr Rozmaitości theatre. Warsaw’s authorities will also prioritise the fight against high emissions, including by getting rid of “dirty” stoves.

High energy costs, heating and air conditioning charges are tangible problems for both enterprises and local governments. They often lack funds for investments to increase the energy efficiency of the buildings they use. An alternative solution is investments based on the ESCO formula, where the whole cost and risk are incurred by the company implementing the project. In Poland the value of the market is estimated at EUR 27 m and is constantly growing, as increasingly more emphasis is placed on the significance of energy efficiency for the development of the economy and the competitiveness of enterprises.

Modular construction is no longer associated with temporary buildings. This method can be used to build homes as well as hotels, public housing, and educational establishments. And, what is important, it is much cheaper and faster than traditional construction technologies. This growth in the popularity of modular construction in Poland can be driven by the recent increase in the prices of building materials and labour shortages, both of which have translated into generally higher prices in the construction industry.

Tax reliefs valid for up to 15 years, and the investment outlays requirement reduced by 98 percent – the act on supporting new investments entered the Senate a few days ago. Entities operating all over the country, not only in the special economic zone as it was done before, will be eligible for support. Experts stress that these are positive changes as they will make the country more attractive for investors. Benefits will be especially provided to micro- small and medium-sized businesses. The introduced changes are expected to result in as many as 500,000 additional jobs.

In several years Gdańsk may become the largest deep-water port on the Baltic Sea. In this year alone, PLN 170 m will be allocated for dredging, quay extension, road and rail system modernisation and new car park construction projects. All these projects will be completed by 2020. By that time investments will have reached one billion zlotys. The projects will make it possible to multiply the potential of the Port of Gdansk and its transhipment capacity. In 10 years the Port of Gdansk might be handling transhipments of 100 million tonnes annually.

According to Michał Stępniewski, this trend on the Polish stock exchange, which has been noticeable for at least two years, is a disturbing one. The difficult situation of the Warsaw Stock Exchange was caused by very low turnover, which has arisen from insufficient activity of investors in financial and commodity markets. Education is indispensable for boosting the Polish stock exchange, because, as experts say,Poles’ awareness of capital markets is still low.

Warsaw is catching up with other capital cities in Central and Eastern Europe, attracting a growing number of investors. The city’s advantages include extensive office space, access to qualified staff and the extrovert character of its residents. Warsaw’s authorities are announcing further projects which will help to attract investors, as well as to prevent the consequences of such problems as the insufficient number of flats available on the market.

The value of transactions on the investment land market has crossed the threshold of PLN 5 bn, making this the best result since 2006. Purchases with the highest value involved the housing segment. Investors were particularly interested in land in need of revitalisation, located on the outskirts of large cities and close to the city centres. In 2017 and during the first quarter of this year, we have also observed an increased demand in the hospitality segment. Despite concerns surrounding the new legislation, the current year may be even better than the last one, as assessed by Colliers International experts.

Support offered by business angels to young companies in Poland is still much smaller than in developed Western European countries, but it is continuously increasing. Several hundred people are dealing with such investments, while in Germany or the United Kingdom, there are several thousand such individuals. They not only help to acquire capital but also support companies with knowledge of corporate governance, information policy and investor relations. Such support will also be offered to the winners of the CEE-Released competition, which will select 15 best young companies at an early stage of development in Central and Eastern Europe.

Automation might have a good effect on the level of wages and salaries in the Polish economy. It may also solve the problem of labour shortages which impede the development of businesses. An industrial robot costs from several hundred thousand to million zlotys, but it is an investment with a short payback time – it pays back as quickly as within a year or two, thus increasing efficiency and giving the business a competitive edge. This, in turn, results in lower costs and extra revenues. In Poland, industrial robots are used primarily in the automotive, chemical and steel industries.

“The upgrade capabilities of military helicopters which have been in service since the 1960s are quite limited and we need a technological leap,” said Gen. Piotr Patalong, former commander of Special Forces. As part of a procedure carried out by the Ministry of National Defence, eight helicopters intended for anti-submarine warfare and sea search and rescue operations will be delivered to the Navy. Today, this function is performed by well-worn post-Soviet Mi-14 helicopters. New machines are necessary to ensure the military and civil security on the Baltic.