Poland has been the European number one here for years. This could change soon.

• Poland still has great potential to attract foreign investment, and the business climate here is assessed as cautiously positive.
• In the first quarter of this year, foreign investors declared their willingness to implement 115 investments in our country with a total value of approximately EUR 10 billion.
• The foundation of the development of the Polish economy is the generation of 40-50 year olds. The question remains whether we have enough leaders today.
• The investment attractiveness of Poland was discussed during the "Foreign Investments" panel, which took place during the 17th European Economic Congress in Katowice .

In 2024, the total value of foreign investments in our country amounted to approximately PLN 55 billion. This means a very large drop compared to the result achieved a year earlier, when it was PLN 119.9 billion. For comparison, in 2022, i.e. after the end of the COVID-19 pandemic, investments were at the level of PLN 158 billion.

The lack of new foreign investments is becoming an increasingly serious problem.

Unfortunately, the initial estimates of the Polish Investment and Trade Agency are not very optimistic, as in the first quarter of this year the value of confirmed investments amounted to approximately PLN 3 billion.

Poland is an attractive place for investment. In terms of competence, in terms of the feature of Poles that is absolutely unique - that is, entrepreneurship. We are open to innovation, we are open to searching for solutions, we can make something out of nothing - says Przemysław Pokorski, market director for Poland and the Baltic States at Velux Polska.

For several years now, Poland has been Europe's number 1 in business service center locations . In this area, we are unrivaled and it seems that even the recent waves of layoffs - resulting from global players looking for savings - will only temporarily slow down the development and creation of new centers.

- Poland is currently number one in Europe in terms of locating business centers and shared service centers. Today, we no longer compete on low labor costs , but what counts more are the competences and experience of employees - said partner, head of the shared service centers and outsourcing team at KPMG Radosław Jankie.

Rafał Ogrodnik, board member, CFO and COO, TVN Warner Bros. Discovery, says it directly: - The TVN project is the second largest American investment in Poland. Within our structures, we have a service center for the entire group. What is important today are regulatory barriers and this must be treated as a kind of leadership crisis. However, this crisis should wake us up . There is a willingness to invest within the group - the best example is the new TVN24+ project. The new Polish service required multi-million investments, but it was successfully implemented.

Poland, despite certain conditions that foreign investors draw attention to, still has great potential to attract investments.

- The global situation influences the interest in investments. On the one hand, there are uncertainties related to global geopolitical conditions, but on the other hand, we must remember that in our country we also have inflation, high interest rates, and the war on our eastern border is still ongoing - comments Justyna Bokajło, a researcher, analyst and lecturer at the Department of International Economic Relations and European Integration at the University of Wrocław.

- What I see as positive is related, for example, to the repayment of loans by subsidiaries operating in Poland, granted to them by foreign companies. Now is the time of capital accumulation and it is possible that they will soon start new investments in our country. I assess the climate for such decisions as "cautiously positive" - ​​he states.

A new investment support strategy must be prepared quickly

Hard data available to the Polish Investment and Trade Agency (PAIiH) show that it is necessary to develop a new, updated strategy that will allow for acquiring further foreign investments necessary for economic development.

- The situation we are currently dealing with is very uncertain. The actions of the United States are limiting investments worldwide. Investors are holding back on making decisions, and no one knows how long this waiting period will last. The general situation regarding China and the United States is conducive to locating investments, and our competitiveness is at a good level - says Łukasz Gwiazdowski, vice-president of the board of the Polish Investment and Trade Agency.

- Currently, investors have declared their willingness to undertake projects for a total of EUR 10 billion, or PLN 43 billion. However, in the first quarter, confirmed investments amounted to EUR 700 million, or approximately PLN 3 billion - he adds.

Philip Morris is one of the largest foreign investors in our country. A few weeks ago, it put into operation a modernized factory, for which it allocated almost PLN 1 billion.

- The Krakow Philip Morris factory is one of the three largest in the entire group . Right next to it is the Shared Services Center, where people speak fifty languages ​​work. Poland is a strategic center and will remain so, which is best evidenced by the multi-billion investments made by our group - says Joanna Hrycaniuk, Director of GBS Strategy, Leader of the Krakow Shared Services Center, Philip Morris Polska.

- We have to find ourselves again. Poland competes in the services industry with India and the Philippines. However , it is necessary to improve relations within the framework of public-private partnership at the ministerial, local government or university level . This is how it should be in Poland . It is worth remembering that the foundation of the Polish economy is currently the generation of 40-50-year-olds. Therefore, the question is whether we have an adequate number of leaders who will replace them in some time - wondered the vice president at Global Business Services, Pandora, Jarosław Wojnarowski.

The new phenomenon was pointed out by the president of the Katowice Special Economic Zone, Rafał Żelazny: - Legal regulations are crucial for the zone to function properly. We receive inquiries from potential investors about locations for so-called green projects . In many locations, there are no longer large, free areas. Energy infrastructure and the availability of other media are important. It is now a bit easier to develop former post-industrial areas. All this has an impact on attracting new investors.

Poland must quickly work on a new strategy for attracting foreign investments, because without them it will be very difficult to increase our GDP.

See the report from the "Foreign Investments" debate: