3rd Malopolska Investment Forum
10.03.2010
At the King’s Castle in Niepołomice, representatives of self-governments, development-supporting institutions, central administration and entrepreneurs met for the third time to discuss actions taken in order to draw new investment to Malopolska.
Forum guests included Roman Ciepiela, Deputy Marshal of the Malopolska Voivodeship; Marek Sowa, Member of the Malopolska Voivodeship Board and Sławomir Majman, President of the Polish Information and Foreign Investment Agency. Actions taken in the Kraków Technology Park were presented by Jacek Bielawski, and the assumptions of the new “Human potential and the job market in Malopolska 2009” report by Marta Donhefner-Wojtkiewicz, a representative of AG TEST.
MARR was represented by Krzysztof Krzysztofiak (President of the Management Board) and Dawid Jarosz (director of the Department of Investor Service). The leading topic of the speeches was the challenges of new business conditions in the time of a global crisis in the investment market, the financing of business undertakings and new expansion decisions taken by entrepreneurs, which local self-governments, regional development institutions and organisations operating nationwide have to face. Speakers pointed to the possibility of taking advantage of EU funds, the interest in Public-Private Partnership projects, the necessity to support the development of investment of enterprises that are already active in the regions and the possibilities offered by cooperation of various entities responsible for supporting regional economy. The participants in the part of the Forum devoted to a panel discussion included Marcin Pawlak, the mayor of Dobczyce; Stanisław Kracik, the mayor of Niepołomice; Jacek Woźniak, director of Regional Policy Department of the Malopolska Voivodeship (Region) Marshal's Office, and Andrzej Dąbrowski, director of the NIDEC company and Piotr Hajdecki from KPMG.
Representatives of local self-governments pointed to issues important to entrepreneurs, such as good cooperation with local administration, performance of obligations and “availability” in terms of solving problems arising in the investment process. A representative of the NIDEC company (an investor in the Special Economic Zone in Niepołomice) confirmed the importance of professional and effective cooperation between an enterprise and administration. He emphasised the importance of building mutual trust and quick decision-making in key issues: approval for plans, and infrastructure development, current relations between the investor and the commune. Many of the speakers pointed to the importance of current land development plans, well-prepared investment offers (investment marketing) and fulfilling promises made to investors by local self-governments and development institutions.
J. Woźniak said that the possibility of using EU funds is not enough for increasing the amount of foreign investment. Some of the basic conclusions of the 3rd Malopolska Investment Forum include the necessity of strengthening the promotion of the region (building the business brand of Malopolska), preparing good investment offers (also for investors already operating in the region) and creating a cohesive system of investor services that would combine marketing, planning and administrative actions.