The Polish-American Forum discusses economy

The event is being held for the first time and Jesionka near the city of Rzeszów has been chosen for a perfect place to host the forum. There are over 100 participants, mainly businessmen from the USA, but also from other countries. Other delegates include Poles from the UK, Switzerland, Canada, Lithuania, Norway or France.

The main topic of discussion is facilitating cooperation between the USA and Poland, seen as crucial to improving Polish economy even further. This relation is supposed to be twofold – there are a lot of American companies investing in Poland, but recently there have been more and more examples of Polish entrepreneurs taking chances in America. The forum members have noticed that the latter group usually chooses to invest in places where Polish diaspora has been present for a long period of time. Another favourable factor for Polish companies testing American waters is entering such business areas that are completely new even to the US market. In this way, Poles can compete with Americans more efficiently.

Government representatives stress that when it comes to American investment in Poland, it is time for opening a new chapter. So far, a lot of US companies have enjoyed hiring Polish workforce, whereas now they should also seek Polish innovation and technology development. Jadwiga Emilewicz of Polish Ministry of Development claims that it is time Americans introduced Research & Development strategies in Poland. In her opinion status quo can be changed by inviting more Poles into management boards of American organisations located in Poland.

The total yearly revenue of Polish-American business amounts to 10 billion dollars, but according to the forum delegates, the figure can be at least four times bigger. During the conference it has been established that the potential remains unused because of the lack of coherent strategy. Hopefully, the first Polish-American Forum, which ends this Saturday, will change the situation for better.
Do you think that Poles living abroad have good ideas about Polish business?

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