WARSAW: Poland’s exports will have grown by more than a third by 2020, and Polish entrepreneurs will be more boldly entering new, previously unexplored markets, according to experts from audit and advisory firm Grant Thornton.
Economic expansion abroad is one of Poland’s greatest achievements since communism fell in this country in 1989, said Grant Thornton in its Foreign Expansion of Polish Companies: Achievements, Ambitions, Prospects report. Polish companies have taken advantage of the opportunity offered by the introduction of a free market and the country’s opening to the global economy. Even though Polish industry and private enterprise were in a difficult situation 25 years ago, they have since gained strength and evolved into a powerhouse in terms of exports.
Over the past quarter of a century Poland’s exports have increased 21-fold (to be specific by 2,069 percent), according to the report. The role of raw materials in the country’s exports has decreased significantly, while the proportion of components and finished goods has increased. At the moment, 60,000 companies in Poland generate revenue from exports, and in 2014 Polish goods were sold in 218 countries worldwide, including far-flung markets such as Equatorial Guinea, the Cocos Islands and Kiribati, according to statistics from Poland’s Central Statistical Office (GUS).
