Poland on show
Richard Stephens is head of the commercial department at tabelaofert.pl, the largest private residential website in Poland. The company responsible for the website, redNet, is more than just a dotcom, however. As well as research and advice for foreign investors, it organizes a number of major property conferences in Poland's major cities, including Warsaw, Poznań, Wrocław, Szczecin and TriCity.
"Our company is a young company with an average age under 30, and is almost totally Polish. I'm the only foreigner there," points out Stephens. "We started five years ago, advertising on a website at a time when dotcoms were all going bust, so we didn't get any outside investors." This lack of foreign capital, and indeed foreign workers, makes it something of a rarity on the Polish real-estate market.
However, the event that has been occupying Stephens' mind of late is Central Europe Property and Investment Fair (CEPIF) 2005, the largest real-estate fair in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE), which he and redNet are organizing. It takes place in the Palace of Science and Culture on May 10-14, and with 120 exhibitors and several thousand participants expected, Stephens sees this event as competing with Europe's top property events.
"You go to ExpoReal and MIPIM [which CEPIF is partnered with]; that's the way we feel we can get and now we are putting on an event in Warsaw that has huge proportions," he says. "We have a massive property program featuring retail and residential, workshops, and architectural competitions. We can propel Warsaw into the international arena much more. At CEPIF, Prague is taking a large stand; who would have thought that Prague would come to Warsaw to exhibit to investors? CEPIF will bring a lot of people into this country and I hope companies and authorities react to this. This sort of event can be a driver in this market."
Stephens has every confidence in the market and thinks events such as CEPIF will only benefit it. "The more meetings there are of people, with the international mixing with the local [the better].
"A small minority of high-profile authorities see investors as not their friends. Poland is a strong country; it is not going to get walked over by investors. I think it's a question of Poland becoming more confident in itself, and catching up with its own growth."
Confidence is something that Poland appears to be lacking, however. "Warsaw still has that unfounded lack of confidence on the international stage. Poland, as with events recently in the Ukraine, seized the opportunity where the EU was not sure what to do. Poland's importance will rise and with it the status of Warsaw and the image of Poland is changing. It's not the cold, dreary place the people once thought it was, and this means that regional towns can blossom also."
Many will be coming to CEPIF 2005, but looking further east, with Russia attracting huge investor interest. But Stephens sees this as another opportunity for Poland to capitalize on.
"People are now looking at Poland in a newer light, as a springboard to the east, they are interested in Russia but they want to come here first. I don't think companies will make a jump so readily [into Russia] and miss out on CEE. If you go to Russia and it doesn't work, then you've gone to far. If you consolidate in CEE and then go to Russia, you can always nurse your wounds if you don't succeed there."
Laurence Mackin
"Our company is a young company with an average age under 30, and is almost totally Polish. I'm the only foreigner there," points out Stephens. "We started five years ago, advertising on a website at a time when dotcoms were all going bust, so we didn't get any outside investors." This lack of foreign capital, and indeed foreign workers, makes it something of a rarity on the Polish real-estate market.
However, the event that has been occupying Stephens' mind of late is Central Europe Property and Investment Fair (CEPIF) 2005, the largest real-estate fair in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE), which he and redNet are organizing. It takes place in the Palace of Science and Culture on May 10-14, and with 120 exhibitors and several thousand participants expected, Stephens sees this event as competing with Europe's top property events.
"You go to ExpoReal and MIPIM [which CEPIF is partnered with]; that's the way we feel we can get and now we are putting on an event in Warsaw that has huge proportions," he says. "We have a massive property program featuring retail and residential, workshops, and architectural competitions. We can propel Warsaw into the international arena much more. At CEPIF, Prague is taking a large stand; who would have thought that Prague would come to Warsaw to exhibit to investors? CEPIF will bring a lot of people into this country and I hope companies and authorities react to this. This sort of event can be a driver in this market."
Stephens has every confidence in the market and thinks events such as CEPIF will only benefit it. "The more meetings there are of people, with the international mixing with the local [the better].
"A small minority of high-profile authorities see investors as not their friends. Poland is a strong country; it is not going to get walked over by investors. I think it's a question of Poland becoming more confident in itself, and catching up with its own growth."
Confidence is something that Poland appears to be lacking, however. "Warsaw still has that unfounded lack of confidence on the international stage. Poland, as with events recently in the Ukraine, seized the opportunity where the EU was not sure what to do. Poland's importance will rise and with it the status of Warsaw and the image of Poland is changing. It's not the cold, dreary place the people once thought it was, and this means that regional towns can blossom also."
Many will be coming to CEPIF 2005, but looking further east, with Russia attracting huge investor interest. But Stephens sees this as another opportunity for Poland to capitalize on.
"People are now looking at Poland in a newer light, as a springboard to the east, they are interested in Russia but they want to come here first. I don't think companies will make a jump so readily [into Russia] and miss out on CEE. If you go to Russia and it doesn't work, then you've gone to far. If you consolidate in CEE and then go to Russia, you can always nurse your wounds if you don't succeed there."
Laurence Mackin
