Polish companies are increasingly keen to do business abroad and are vigorously eyeing markets beyond Europe, according to a new survey by Poland, Go Global!, a Warsaw think tank that seeks to encourage Polish businesses and institutions to go international.
The survey findings are contained in a report entitled Polish Companies on the Global Scene, which was discussed at a conference in Warsaw in late November.
The report shows that most Polish businesses with a presence abroad export rather than import goods and services. There are three times more exporters among them than there are importers.
Polish exports grow every year. In 2015, they were 8 percent higher than in 2014. This year, a further 9- to 10-percent increase is expected. Customers abroad spent an estimated 152 billion euros on Polish goods and services last year, and Polish exporters additionally benefited from a depreciating zloty.
According to Paweł Borys, a director at PKO Bank Polski, the unstable financial situation of China, Brazil, Russia and the Middle East is a key factor that may affect the global economy this year. “What poses the main threat to Polish exporters is strong exchange rate fluctuations,” Borys said at the conference, which was held by Poland, Go Global! together with the Polish Press Agency (PAP).
Borys mentioned some new expansion opportunities opened by the recent lifting of international sanctions against Iran. For the time being, transactions with Iran are difficult, he said, because most major financial institutions in that country are still subject to U.S. restrictions, but eventually Iran could become an attractive new destination for Polish companies.
According to Borys, Polish enterprises should not hesitate to expand abroad. They should invest in innovation, merge and consolidate. “Polish businesses are quite small compared with their counterparts on global markets” and so they have less capital and fewer opportunities to invest, but “they should not be afraid to acquire other companies,” Borys said.
Arkadiusz Zabłoński of Bank Gospodarstwa Krajowego (BGK) said his bank was ready to support Polish businesses in their expansion abroad. This also applies to mergers and acquisitions, Zabłoński said.
Almost 90 percent of the Polish companies that have gone international do business in Europe, the survey shows. Polish products are sold mainly in central and southern Europe, while Polish services are especially popular in the western part of the continent.
Meanwhile, only 56 percent of the businesses surveyed by Poland, Go Global! this year said they were planning to expand within Europe. This is a third less than last year (89 percent). Asia is seen as an increasingly attractive destination: 23 percent of the companies surveyed, up from just 3 percent last year, mentioned plans to expand into Asia.
According to Lionbridge Poland’s Stryczyński, Poland has an “open business culture” that is a mixture of Western and Eastern European influences as well as those of the United States and the Far East. “This makes us naturally capable of winning over new markets.”
