Members of the Public Private Partnership policy group gathered in Warsaw office to discuss the possibilities of private sector investment in Poland’s rail sector. Guest speakers were Paweł Dziwisz, investment director and board member of PLK S.A., the state-owned rail infrastructure company, and Adam Rorata, the director of PKP S.A.’s office of investment and marketing projects.

20th Polish Business Oscars were presented on May 28 at a Gala celebrating the 20th anniversary of the Polish Business Club, the oldest business organisation in Poland. The special distinction was awarded to Günter Verheugen, Deputy Chairman of the European Commission and Prof. Henryk Skarżyński, Director of The Institute of Physiology and Pathology of Hearing. Maciek Proliński reports.

The Real Vienna International Real Estate and Investment Fair was held on May 18-20 with the participation of 191 exhibitors from 17 countries. Poland was represented by 19 exhibitors. The subject matter of the fair focused on real estate markets and investments, as well as the current situation in this sector in various Central Eastern European markets.

The City of Lublin in mid-eastern Poland has won Forbes’ ranking: Cities Attractive for Doing Business in the category of cities with more than 300, 000 citizens.

300 new jobs were created in a new glassworks which was opened on May 20 in Ujazd, central Poland. The glassworks, constructed by Euroglas, is equipped with a most modern line for flat glass production in Europe. The project is worth PLN 723 million.

The value of Scandinavian investments in Poland increased from EUR 143.5 million in 2002 to EUR 1613.9 billion in 2008, a report by the Scandinavian-Polish Chamber of Commerce (SPCC) shows. Total foreign direct investments from Denmark, Finland, Norway and Sweden surpassed the value of French, Dutch and American FDIs in 2008.

Atos Origin IT Services of France will invest EUR 1.5 mln in the northern Polish city of Bydgoszcz where the company plans to develop an existing IT processes support centre to offer advanced IT services to corporate and institutional clients. The project will generate 250 new jobs for Bydgoszcz specialists from the BPO sector.

The Industrial Development Agency (ARP) invites small and medium-sized enterprises which operate in regions most threatened by the effects of crisis to apply for support in financing investment contracts or projects. Enterprises entitled to receive the support should recruit from the defence, innovative, coke and the railway sector.