The Republic of Poland, or simply Poland, is located in Central Europe and is part of the European Union. While the founding of the Polish state dates back to 966, Poland regained its independence and in 1989 made its way towards the advanced economy it is now. Poland is the eighth largest and is considered one of the most dynamic economies in the EU. It also has a leading school education system in Europe. Poland offers its citizens free university education, a universal healthcare system and state-funded social insurance. It is also a member of the Schengen Area, NATO, the OECD and the United Nations.
Poland is considered one of the most successful countries in the transition from communism to a market economy. The return of democracy was followed by the liberalization of the economy, the privatization of small and medium-sized state-owned companies and rapid growth in the private sector. Poland is the leading producer and exporter of apple concentrate and one of the leading producers of cabbage, berries and carrots. In addition to agriculture, Poland's most important economic sectors are coal mining, mechanical engineering and shipbuilding, glass, iron and steel production as well as food and beverage processing and the textile industry.
It is estimated that around 36% of foreign investment goes into manufacturing. Other attractive sectors for foreign investment in Poland are logistics and transport, financial services, and IT and data transmission. Also thanks to the growth of the Polish economy, the real estate market has attracted the attention of both domestic and foreign investors.
If you are considering starting a business in Poland and are looking for the most beneficial and profitable ideas, below are some of the most attractive sectors along with the advantages they can offer.
Polish IT and software development company The IT and software development sector in Poland is one of the most vital and robust industries with good fundamentals and further growth prospects. The Polish IT sector is considered to be the leader in the region, with the demand for qualified IT engineers constantly growing. The main reason and at the same time the advantage of starting an IT company in Poland is the huge human capital – highly qualified IT engineers.
Poland tends to excel when it comes to IT graduates – around 40,000 young people receive top-notch university education in IT and software development every year. The high quality of IT training is evidenced by numerous international programming competitions and rankings, such as B. Top coders. Polish IT specialists are in high demand not only locally but also abroad. Other advantages of starting an IT company in Poland are high product quality and low production and labor costs compared to other countries.
These are the main reasons why companies like Microsoft, Google, HP and IBM have opened their offices in Poland, and other foreign companies are located in all major cities of Poland. The two most popular cities for IT companies are currently Warsaw and Wroclaw. Although some of the world's largest technology companies have entered the Polish market, there are still many opportunities and prospects for IT and software development in Poland. One of the reasons why this sector is still very encouraging is the rapid development and new products such as mobile solutions, cloud computing and blockchain technologies. In addition, Poland offers certain state aids for investors, and special economic zones are being developed to provide investors with all the technology infrastructure.
Polish R&D company The R&D sector in Poland is considered one of the success stories among EU Member States. The main players in the R&D sector are the Polish Academy of Sciences together with other higher education institutions and individual R&D companies. The Polish government also encourages R&D activities by funding special programs through which numerous investment opportunities for R&D projects are available. Meanwhile, Polish universities educate highly skilled workers, which is relatively cheaper compared to other EU countries.
Research and development activities are progressing in all major sectors of the economy, especially in electronics, aeronautics, telecommunications and IT, biochemistry and biotechnology, pharmaceutical products and other innovative technologies. This sector is not only open to local entrepreneurs - national authorities also welcome and support foreign investment by opening numerous new science and technology parks specifically designed to facilitate the establishment of R&D units.
Polish automotive company The automotive industry is one of the most important industries in Poland and includes machine tools, petrochemicals, electrical machinery, automobile manufacturing and shipbuilding. There are several important factors why foreign entrepreneurs should be interested in this developed market. For example, the Polish automotive sector ranks second in the world in terms of manufacturing output. Similar to the previously mentioned industries, the automotive sector is also very attractive due to a large supply of highly skilled and relatively inexpensive labour. As a foreign entrepreneur, you have numerous opportunities to apply for subsidies from various EU programs and, under certain conditions, to be exempt from corporate income tax or to benefit from available government subsidy programs for foreign investors.