Making a POInt to help investors

For years, the Polish Information and Foreign Investment Agency (PAIiIZ) has been the main organization to which foreign companies have gone in order to receive advice on operating in Poland. Now a group comprising Baker & McKenzie, Cushman & Wakefield, Hewlett-Packard and Russell Reynolds Associates has created a new organization - the Polish Outsourcing Initiative (POInt) - to help companies establish their businesses here. The agency's offer includes legal and real-estate advice, as well as head-hunting and IT services.

In Poland, assistance can provide a significant advantage, especially in terms of outsourcing. "[It] is a complicated process, in which the issues of taxes, personnel, real estate and IT solutions are dependent on one another," says Marek Rosiński from Baker & McKenzie. "We want to use the synergy of the four companies and provide investors with necessary solutions. We use the motto of the camera inventor: 'Just click and we'll do the rest,'" he says.

The four companies want to lower the cost of investment in Poland and shorten the maximum time it takes. They believe they will gain many customers, since a great number of companies want to enter the Polish market.

According to the latest estimates by the National Bank of Poland (NBP), in 2006 foreign direct investment equaled a record $14.7 (zł.43.6) billion. Analysts and economists say that Poland could duplicate last year's results in 2007.

"Many foreign companies want to move their operations to the new EU member states. Some 20 percent of them have already made the decision, another 20 percent are considering it," says Richard Petersen, a managing partner at Cushman & Wakefield.