Market pros see toughened SMEs as EU-ready
A majority of SMEs, which are considered to be the treasure of the country's economy, have been able to weather the two-year pressure of the dawdling economy. These enterprises are, therefore, in fighting trim to battle it out in the more scrutinizing environment of the EU.
The assumption counters earlier claims that the country would, at least initially, descend into 'accession recession'. "We don't see any recession," says Krzysztof Rybiński, chief economist at Bank Przemysłowo-Handlowy PBK. "Of course, there will be some sectors that are exposed to some risk, but most have made the transition."
Some contemporary thought has it that many smaller companies that have stayed in the dark about EU regulations and other potential results of joining the union will be in for a rude awakening in May. Current Polish business practices, which have side stepped several beneficial business regulations, will not pass muster in the EU. Economists point out that this is most prevalent in the milk and meat industries where a large chunk of the companies fail to comply with imperative EU sanitary measures. Many will thus have to be shut down.
Further, depending on the scale of these negative developments, ignorance among SMEs could create an economic 'hiccup' in the country, according to Michał Olszewski, an economist at the Polish Confederation of Private Employers (PKPP).
Olszewski points to a PKPP poll in which it was discovered that half of the private businesses asked said that they were not sure if they were ready for EU accession.
"Some companies," he says, "have difficulty in reaching the higher standards, such as in the meat processing and the milk industries. Probably they will not be able to sell their products when we enter the EU. This is going to be a problem." This is why he says it is rational to expect some economic change after May. "One could expect a hiccup, a short recession," he notes.
But Olszewski says that he sees the knowledge levels about EU regulation among SMEs to be vastly increasing, based on more recent surveys. Now he expects that the proportion of companies ill-informed about the EU to be at about 20 percent.
Part of SME awareness, and the general toughening up of the Polish corporate world, came as a benefit of the poor economy in 2002. "The key theme is that all the fat from the economy was reduced during the recession," BPH-PBK's Rybiński says. He explains that companies both large and small reduced staff, streamlined operations and bought new machinery, all in the interests of an EU-ready corporation.
Companies are even keeping this vigilant eye on the bottom line today, after last year's economic upturn. Gross domestic product growth was 3.7 percent last year, compared to 1.4 percent the year before. Agora, the publisher of daily Gazeta Wyborcza, announced that it will lay off 16 percent of its staff over the next two months to cut costs by zł.25 million (€5.22 million) this year.
While the publicly listed Agora hardly seems at risk for failing to be ready for the EU, other smaller companies have undertaken similar austerity measures. "It means that we are prepared for the EU," Rybiński adds. The dire need to be ready for growing competition in the EU "was a very tough lesson learned in the recession."
Sylvia Schwaag Serger is currently studying the country's enterprise development to publish a report later this year on behalf of the International Organisation For Knowledge Economy And Enterprise Development, a Sweden-based think tank. She sees concern for SMEs even at the government level.
"The governments were concerned," she says, commenting on her fact-finding tour of Baltic countries for her study. "(Politicians) ask: 'What's going to happen to SMEs?'" But, she says, the jury is still out on just which companies will survive.
On a positive note, however, economists point out that most companies will be able to thrive in the EU, with growth expected in exports and overall product and service demand in Poland and abroad. Moreover, though some still do expect an economic dip in the years following accession, the vast majority of businesspeople are in agreement that the long-term benefits for Poland are innumerable.
The assumption counters earlier claims that the country would, at least initially, descend into 'accession recession'. "We don't see any recession," says Krzysztof Rybiński, chief economist at Bank Przemysłowo-Handlowy PBK. "Of course, there will be some sectors that are exposed to some risk, but most have made the transition."
Some contemporary thought has it that many smaller companies that have stayed in the dark about EU regulations and other potential results of joining the union will be in for a rude awakening in May. Current Polish business practices, which have side stepped several beneficial business regulations, will not pass muster in the EU. Economists point out that this is most prevalent in the milk and meat industries where a large chunk of the companies fail to comply with imperative EU sanitary measures. Many will thus have to be shut down.
Further, depending on the scale of these negative developments, ignorance among SMEs could create an economic 'hiccup' in the country, according to Michał Olszewski, an economist at the Polish Confederation of Private Employers (PKPP).
Olszewski points to a PKPP poll in which it was discovered that half of the private businesses asked said that they were not sure if they were ready for EU accession.
"Some companies," he says, "have difficulty in reaching the higher standards, such as in the meat processing and the milk industries. Probably they will not be able to sell their products when we enter the EU. This is going to be a problem." This is why he says it is rational to expect some economic change after May. "One could expect a hiccup, a short recession," he notes.
But Olszewski says that he sees the knowledge levels about EU regulation among SMEs to be vastly increasing, based on more recent surveys. Now he expects that the proportion of companies ill-informed about the EU to be at about 20 percent.
Part of SME awareness, and the general toughening up of the Polish corporate world, came as a benefit of the poor economy in 2002. "The key theme is that all the fat from the economy was reduced during the recession," BPH-PBK's Rybiński says. He explains that companies both large and small reduced staff, streamlined operations and bought new machinery, all in the interests of an EU-ready corporation.
Companies are even keeping this vigilant eye on the bottom line today, after last year's economic upturn. Gross domestic product growth was 3.7 percent last year, compared to 1.4 percent the year before. Agora, the publisher of daily Gazeta Wyborcza, announced that it will lay off 16 percent of its staff over the next two months to cut costs by zł.25 million (€5.22 million) this year.
While the publicly listed Agora hardly seems at risk for failing to be ready for the EU, other smaller companies have undertaken similar austerity measures. "It means that we are prepared for the EU," Rybiński adds. The dire need to be ready for growing competition in the EU "was a very tough lesson learned in the recession."
Sylvia Schwaag Serger is currently studying the country's enterprise development to publish a report later this year on behalf of the International Organisation For Knowledge Economy And Enterprise Development, a Sweden-based think tank. She sees concern for SMEs even at the government level.
"The governments were concerned," she says, commenting on her fact-finding tour of Baltic countries for her study. "(Politicians) ask: 'What's going to happen to SMEs?'" But, she says, the jury is still out on just which companies will survive.
On a positive note, however, economists point out that most companies will be able to thrive in the EU, with growth expected in exports and overall product and service demand in Poland and abroad. Moreover, though some still do expect an economic dip in the years following accession, the vast majority of businesspeople are in agreement that the long-term benefits for Poland are innumerable.
