Direct line between Friulian industrialists and Poland

Over the past thirty years , Italy has established itself as Poland's second largest trading partner within the EU . In 2023, our country was Warsaw's third largest supplier – preceded only by Germany and China – and the fifth largest importer of Polish products , after Germany, the Czech Republic, France and the United Kingdom.

The trade between the two countries is highly balanced : Italian exports to Poland are concentrated on food, chemicals, metals, rubber and plastic products, motor vehicles, machinery and electrical equipment. On the other hand, imports mainly concern metals and metallurgical products, food, beverages, tobacco and electrical equipment.

Poland is the seventh trading partner of Friuli Venezia Giulia in terms of export value and the twelfth in terms of import. According to the elaborations of the Confindustria Udine Research Office based on Istat data, regional exports to Poland in 2024 grew by 12.4% compared to 2023 (from 628 to 706 million euros), driven by the metallurgical products sector (from 191 million euros in 2023 to 251 in 2024, +31%). Imports from Poland increased in 2024 compared to 2023 by 6.6% (from 272 to 290 million euros).

In light of these numbers, it is clear how Poland represents an important market also for the Friulian industry. A concrete sign of this interest came with the visit to Palazzo Torriani of a Polish delegation led by the honorary consul for Friuli Venezia Giulia-Veneto, Marco Ferruzzi Balbi , accompanied by the vice president of Confindustria Polonia, Alessandro Saglio .

They were received by the deputy vice president of Confindustria Udine, Chiara Valduga , together with the general director Michele Nencioni and the head of the Internationalization Area Alessandro Tonetti . “This visit – Valduga declared – represents a further, precious opportunity to consolidate the dialogue already started between our production systems . The potential for collaboration between Friuli Venezia Giulia and Poland is concrete and constantly growing. Meetings like this confirm the shared interest in building solid and lasting industrial partnerships, leveraging the strengths of the respective territories”.

The meeting was also attended by three representatives of the Kostrzyńsko-Słubicka (KS) special economic zone , located in western Poland on the border with Germany: Vice President Magdalen Hilszer , Deputy Director for Information and Promotion Iwona Sztuka and Project Manager Agnieszka Matula-Dziduch , who illustrated the main competitive advantages offered by the KS ZES to Italian companies: tax incentives with exemption from income tax, greenfield investment areas already equipped with infrastructure, institutional support guaranteed by the State – which holds the majority shareholding (57.65%) of the zone – and close cooperation with local authorities. To date, the zone hosts around 500 investors, with 27,500 new jobs created and over PLN 19.5 billion in investments already made.

During the meeting, Vice President Saglio then presented the activity of Confindustria Polonia , born in 2019 within Confindustria Est Europa and officially recognized in the foreign Confindustria system since 2020. The association is part of a network that also includes the "territorial" ones of Slovenia, Serbia, North Macedonia, Romania, Bulgaria, Hungary, Albania, Belarus, Montenegro and Bosnia Herzegovina. The president of the organization is Marco Gambini. Confindustria Udine is among the founding members of the Polish representation and is still an active member.

Lara Di Vicenz , head of Marketing and Communications at Finest, also took part in the meeting.