Ireland's celtic tiger fixes on Poland as an attractive country for investment

"Irish citizens consider Poland to be an ideal country to invest in," claims the biggest Irish daily newspaper The Irish Times. Irish citizens are attracted by a prospect of Poland entering the European Union (EU), historical, cultural relationship and attractive geographical location. They must however take under consideration competition from foreign companies. There are 250 Irish companies on the Polish market and another 41 are interested in entering the market. One of the main advantages of this market is the boom in the construction sector, which increased by 10% last year. "As the heated conditions in Ireland in this sector will be cooling, firms will look for possibilities to invest in foreign markets," said the chief of the Irish trade mission Declan Ryan. In total companies from this country invested about $1 billion in Poland and the best known is Allied Irish Bank (AIB) which is the strategic partner of Wielkopolski Bank Kredytowy (WBK). (Prawo i Gospodarka, May 27-28, page 5) M.M.