The world view

The WTO says Central and Eastern European countries export more to the EU market than the U.S. ($222 billion against $202 billion). Russia is largely responsible for this, selling $48.6 billion worth of goods to the EU in 2003. However, Poland also had a significant share of the action, exporting $35.3 billion last year. Poland also proved to be the fastest growing exporter from all EU countries, with a 26% growth rate so far this year. The dynamic of Polish export growth can be attributed mostly to the ample foreign investments that transformed the Polish economy and brought production direct from other countries to Poland and the expansion of Polish firms. J.T.