Meeting between PKPP Lewiatan and World Bank

Mr. Janamir Devan’s visit in Poland, who is the Vice President of the World Bank, was a great opportunity to organize such an event. Also representing the World Bank together with Mr. Devan, were Mr. Xavier Devictor, new head of World Bank’s Warsaw office and representative for Poland and the Baltics together with other experts from the organization’s Warsaw and Washington offices. 
Chairing the meeting on behalf of Lewiatan was Mr. Enrico Pavoni, Vice President of PKPP Lewiatan and President of Fiat Poland. Participating in the meeting were members of PKPP Lewiatan such as:  HSBC, PZU, TPSA, BIOTON, GE, Adamed, Sita Polska, Google and Polish Direct Marketing Association.
After Mr. Devan’s presentation on the nature of the Bank’s operations in the world and in our region of Europe, participants of the meeting touched on a number of issues relating to Poland. Representatives of the Bank were interested in the general climate of doing business in Poland and the influence of the financial crisis. The situation of the Polish financial sector was also discussed. With the Doing Business report in mind, general opinions were exchanged on the subject of tax burdens and importance of regulatory stability. Participants of the meeting jointly identified these two aspects as ones that require immediate improvement. Other obstacles in doing business mentioned were delays in payments and low rate of contract obligations execution.
Representatives of member companies expressed an opinion that the crisis had moderate impact on Poland although one that could be felt. Factors, which shielded the Polish economy from the turbulence on the global markets, were identified to be: robustness of Polish companies, relative isolation of the Polish financial sector and its good standing as well as the cushioning role of the currency.
Since Mr. Devan is responsible for development of the private sector and economic innovativeness, he wished to find out what are the conditions of development in innovative sectors of the economy in Poland and what is the level of cooperation between business and academia. Participants identified certain limitations in cooperation with scientific centers, however; positive examples were also given. A significant role in this area play European Union funds, according to member companies. 
The whole event progressed in a very good atmosphere. Both sides expressed interest in further cooperation and mutual support in the future. 

Source: PKPP Lewiatan