Q: The German-Polish Chamber of Industry and Commerce was registered by 320 members in 1995. Ever since, it has supported economic relations between Poland and Germany while the membership increased to over 1,000. Why are businesses joining the chamber and what are the main forms of its activity?

A: Indeed, we are one of the oldest bilateral chambers of commerce in Poland and have a relatively large number of members. Some 80% of them are Polish and 20% German companies. We are regarded by the Polish and German governments as official representatives of business in economic relations between the two countries. And this effective assistance to business between Poland and Germany is one of the chamber’s greatest advantages. We have three offices – the head office in Warsaw and representative offices in Wrocław and Gliwice. We are in talks with the Polish Ministry of the Economy to open an office in Germany.
Our mission is to assist Polish and German companies in entering each other’s markets and establishing business relations. We also help them to settle disputes through an arbitration court, with the parties allowed to use their native language in proceedings. Additionally, we help Polish and German companies to recover VAT in the country where they conduct business operations and assist in starting up new businesses. Another area of our activity involves organising meetings, contests, picnics, golf competitions, New Year’s balls and various events which enable business people to establish more informal relationships. To a limited extent, we also lobby in Polish provinces, federal states of Germany and in the European Union on our members’ behalf. But under our statutes, we do not interfere in politics and deal exclusively with economic relations.

Q: What do you think is your greatest achievement in promoting the development of Polish-German economic cooperation?

A: It definitely is networking. I think the chamber’s greatest achievement is its success in building relations conducive to the development of business. We work in the B2B sphere on the one hand while the events we organise help to build closer relationships between individuals. A traditional Oktoberfest festival supported by Bavaria will soon be held in Wrocław and Poznań. In Warsaw we organise monthly Stammtisch meetings, a platform for business people, authorities, state institutions and experts in various fields to share information, experience, views and proposals.

Q: How will Polish-German business partnership be developing in the future?

A: Germany has been Poland’s most important trade partner ever since the collapse of the Iron Curtin. And still, there is a lot of potential for further cooperation. We put much effort to make this easier. Next year the German-Polish Chamber of Industry and Commerce will start a programme for Polish businessmen allowing them to visit potential partners and investment locations in Germany. For the Poleko Tradeshow in October, we have prepared some events to present new technologies and trends to entrepreneurs from both countries and encourage them to meet. And these are just two examples!

Q: Are there any services you offer that Polish and German businesses should use more extensively?

 A: It seems to me that Polish companies in particular are not sufficiently aware that if they do business in Germany they have easy access to very wide-ranging assistance offered in the Polish language. All matters related to doing business between Polish and German partners or conducting business operations can be taken care of in both countries.
Secondly, I wish to encourage companies to refer their disputes to the arbitration court at the chamber. Its greatest advantage is that parties have the right to decide about the place and language of proceedings. Additionally, the arbitration court can settle a dispute in no more than several months and its verdicts are as binding as those passed by state courts.
Another service offered by the chamber but rarely used by Polish businesses is assistance in recovering VAT paid in Germany and, through a network of international German chambers of commerce, recovering VAT paid in other European Union countries. As an institution approved by the governments of both countries, we can handle all related formalities and deliver documents on behalf of entrepreneurs. And I want to stress again that the Polish language can be used in the whole process. Of course, we provide a similar service to German businesses that want to recover VAT paid in Poland. And a large number of German businesses, in contrast to their Polish counterparts, use our assistance.

Q: Do Poland and Germany adhere to the principles of good neighbourly relations in practice?

A: They definitely do. For several years Germany has been Poland’s main trade partner and the chamber has contributed significantly to making contacts between Polish and German companies easier. We carry on a relatively large-scale campaign to promote Poland in Germany. Last year we presented Poland at 12 important business events. In the first half of this year we took part in 16 events of this kind. We want to be present at another six to eight by the end of the year. These activities produce very good results: 12 German companies interested in entering the Polish market approached me in Flensburg last month. Next week I am going to Hanover to promote the Euro 2012 football championship to be hosted by Poland. And two days later I will be visiting a small town near Hamburg to present opportunities available on the Polish market. In summer we organised a Polish Week in Bielefeld. None of these activities is funded from Polish taxpayers’ money: they are wholly financed by member companies.