Poland has fallen to third place this year from second last year. in the ranking of investment attractiveness of the countries of the Central and Eastern Europe region and the Baltic states, results from a survey of the economic situation conducted by the Polish-German Chamber of Industry and Commerce (AHK Poland) among member companies and associated chambers of the international IGCC network. 32.2% of the surveyed companies plan to increase their investment outlays this year.
Poland is in the forefront of the most attractive investment locations in the region, just behind Estonia and the Czech Republic (3rd place out of 20 locations). The vast majority of the surveyed companies – 96% – would choose Poland as an investment destination again. This is the highest percentage ever recorded by the Chamber, in the study, according the AHK Polska report.
Poland gains positive opinions from foreign investors mainly for EU membership – 93.3% of positive evaluations, employee qualifications, and thirdly, the quality and availability of local suppliers. .
“Although the overall economic situation was assessed worse than in previous years due to the coronavirus pandemic, according to their own declarations, most companies are in a stable situation and expect an increase in sales as well as an increase in investment, therefore it is still at the forefront in terms of attractiveness for international companies,” said managing director of AHK Polska, Dr. Lars Gutheil.
The survey shows that many more companies plan to increase employment than to reduce it. Similarly, every third investor would like to increase their capital expenditure in Poland.
More than four out of five surveyed companies predict that sales will increase or remain at the same level. The condition of the Polish economy is assessed positively by 68.8% of the surveyed companies. However, last year it was 87.7%.
The survey shows that the respondents rated the predictability of the economic policy and the political and social stability of the country the worst – 66% of negative statements, as well as the political and social stability of the country (55%). This year’s study shows a significant percentage of negative assessments for the tax system / fiscal administration and the tax burden.
More than half of the respondents indicated that if they moved their property to another country, the target region would be Central and Eastern Europe, while more than 2/5 of respondents would consider Germany – 41.1%. The respondents least often indicated Africa – 8.6%.
Almost half of the respondents claimed that the number of employees will not change compared to the previous year. However, in every third company an increase in the number of employees is expected – 36.7%. In 14.2% of the surveyed companies the number of employees will probably decrease.
As the survey showed, half of the respondents indicated that the greatest threat to their companies in the coming year will be the prices of energy and raw materials.
More than 2/5 of the respondents indicated legal security (45.6%), the exchange rate (42.2%) and the framework conditions of economic policy (41.8%).
The Polish-German Chamber of Industry and Commerce conducted on March 15 – April 16 this year. online survey among member companies of international chambers associated in the Network of International Chambers in Poland (IGCC). A total of 241 managers participated in the survey.
Source: AHK Polska and IBSnews
