Investment hot spot

Poland has become the world's fifth most attractive country for FDI, says the latest FDI Confidence Index report published by consulting firm AT Kearney for the Global Business Policy Council. According to the report, only China, India, the US and UK are seen as more attractive by managers of some 1,000 large companies, representing 47 countries and 24 branches, generating around 70 percent of the world's direct investments.

"There is a correlation between real investments in the world and the FDI Confidence Index" says Aleksander Kwiatkowski, president of AT Kearney Poland. "The first five countries on the list attract 35 percent of the FDI."

The previous report ranked Poland in twelfth position, which is now taken by the Czech Republic, while Hungary takes eleventh place. The change in Poland's position was due to the higher interest of US investors, who ranked the country in sixth place. According to European investors, Poland is third, with a large number of prospective British and Dutch investors. After the UK and Germany, Poland is the third most attractive location for research and development centers.

Almost 25 percent of investors are enthusiastic about the chances for market development in Poland, only four percent see it negatively. The current political situation in Poland doesn't affect the value of investments. "Most businessmen look at politics in a different way and act independently. There are many countries on the list where the political risk is higher. First of all, the economic foundations are key to the level of attractiveness," says Jerzy Szymczak, director of AT Kearney.

Kwiatkowski adds that global investors see an increasing stabilization in Poland because of EU membership, increasing GDP and more people being able to afford loans. The political aspect seems to be in the background. "Allowing our well qualified young people to leave the country could become a more important problem here because they are our asset," he adds.