Last year saw only a temporary slowdown in foreign investments. Frostbite has been observed since the third quarter. In 2020, the Polish Investment and Trade Agency (PAIH) handled almost 200 investment projects, the value of which was 10 percent higher than in 2019.

"There are new circumstances that favor investments because the moment has come to reorganize the business, shorten the supply chains. This has had a very positive effect on the investment attractiveness of Poland," Monika Grzelak from PAIH Investment Center said.

However, investors are concerned about access to human resources in the long term.

"The pandemic positively influenced the interest of foreign investors in Poland. After the initial slowdown, which we observed in the second quarter of 2020 when companies had to focus on their current operations and change the reality, in fact, in the third and fourth quarter, all investment projects unfroze," Monika Grzelak explained.

This can be seen in the number of projects handled by the Polish Investment and Trade Agency. Their level in 2020 and this year is at a similarly high level. In a pandemic year, PAIH handled nearly 200 foreign investments, the total value of which reached over €8.5 billion. In terms of the value of investments, South Korea and the United States were the leaders. In turn, the largest number of projects concerned the sectors of modern business services (44), electromobility (18), and the automotive industry and R&D (15 each).

"The forecasts for the development of the investment are optimistic. At the end of April this year, we had about 30 completed investment projects. At the moment, 38 investment projects have already ended with a positive location decision, and throughout 2020 we had 58 of them. So we have already exceeded 50 percent of the result we achieved last year," the manager of the Investment Center at PAIH added.

(Newseria)