Why Poland is optimistic?
The sixth country of the European Community for territorial extension, located strategically, young and educated population, strict tax policies but favorable for the economy, Poland appears to set a good example to an Europe strained in times of crisis.
A collection of primacies in economic and social fields has led this country to become the first beneficiary of EU funds for about 80 million euros in 2007-2013 period.
Good economic growth is the main pride of this country; in the difficult year 2009, Poland was the unique european country that has not scored a recession but a GDP growth of 1.7% with a rise of 3.9% in 2010 and 4.3% in the just ended 2011.
Another Polish record is about the ability to attract foreign investors: low tax burden, public investments, good use of EU funds, contained labor costs, prepared workforce, presence of specialized micro-industry, are some reasons that make Poland an attractive and competitive country. Moreover Poland isn’t a country where to search cheap labor (among the most expensive of Eastern Europe) but investments returns and high productivity. Very important for this aspect is the good education of Poles, school system is in line with the most virtuous European countries that adopt controls on the institutes. Compulsory education is till 18 years old (as in DE, BE, IT, HU, PT, NL), students’ performance contributes to evaluate individual schools, teachers have an high degree of specialization and teach only in their field. About the 40% of the population under 29 years own a third level qualification. Although public investment in research are not high, we can gather that there’re human resources to conduct researches and get results (as in Italy, there is the phenomenon of “brain drain”).
Durable goods still rapresent a greater part of productivity in Poland, in particular the automotive and shipbuilding industry, however the tertiary sector is gaining more points to the country’s GDP creation; a very important role is covered by telecommunications and software development.
EU closes T4 of 2011 with a GDP decline but with a slight increase of industrial new orders in December, 1.3% more than the previous month; Poland ends the year with substantial growth, an increase of industrial new orders, +5.5% compared to December 2010, but especially with EU and government directives aimed at sustaining growth and improving infrastructures.
Sources: Eurostat data – Euro area and EU27 GDP down by 0.3% – Industrial new orders up by 1.9% in euro area – Key Data on Education in Europe – 2009 edition
General infos Wikipedia – Economy of Poland