News
Warsaw, 14 December 2012
Press release
KPMG Report „Poland’s Position as a Business Partner for Japan”
Japanese entrepreneurs positively assess the investment climate in Poland – according to the latest KPMG research. Japanese investors value the highly qualified personnel as well as relatively low employment costs in Poland, paralleled by a solid political and economic situation as well as good co-operation with the Polish authorities. Moreover, a belief that Poland should more actively promote itself amongst potential investors in
Japan, is also quite common.
The increasing role of Japanese equity in Poland
According to the findings of the KPMG report, during the last decade Japanese investment stock in Poland rose more than tenfold to approximately USD 1.6 billion in 2010.
Furthermore, Poland has jumped to the forefront as one of the top destinations for Japanese manufacturing firms in Europe. While the number of affiliates in most of Europe was stagnant or declined between 2005 and 2010, we observe that this figure grew by 48% in Poland in the same period. Moreover, since 2010 there have been a number of major investments and acquisitions in Poland by Japanese businesses, also outside the traditional manufacturing sectors such as the automotive industry and electronics, in which Japanese investors were so far perceived to be specializing in.
With its accession to the EU in 2004, Poland’s economic relation with Japan has developed rapidly. A strong pro-Japan sentiment in this country for historical reasons has been inductive in attracting Japanese business here – says Makoto Yamanaka, the Ambassador
of Japan in Poland.
Positive assessment of the Polish work force and the tax system
The findings of KPMG prove that one of the key factors determining the attractiveness of
Poland in the eyes of the potential investors from Japan is constituted by the highly qualified
Polish personnel at relatively low costs of employment in comparison to the neighboring
European Union states. Polish employees are valued for their dedication, loyalty and craftsmanship, with the latter in the opinion of Japanese entrepreneurs being comparable to the qualifications of the German workforce. A further factor which attracts Japanese business to Poland is constituted by the financial and economic stability of the state; what is observed in Poland is steady economic growth paralleled by the increase of the Polish middle class along with the growing purchase power of the nation. The interviewed executives also point to the significant potential of Poland which stems from its location between the rich and
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News industrial states of the Western Europe and resource rich states of the former Soviet Union.
Japanese entrepreneurs furthermore positively assess co-operation with Polish institutions as well as the Polish tax system.
With a certain dose of surprise, we observe that the Polish law and tax regulations, which are the subject of the frequent criticism on behalf of Polish entrepreneurs, are not considered to be an insuperable obstacle by Japanese investors. Moreover, the tax rates are considered to be relatively low. Despite the fact that meeting the requirements of the Polish legal and tax system is perceived to be a time consuming process, they are also believed to be even-handed and investor friendly – states Marek Sosna, Partner and Head of the Transaction Services
department at KPMG Poland.
Investor concerns: complicated Labor law as well as significant bureaucracy
Based upon the findings of the KPMG report, the factors which diminish the positive image of Poland as an investment location include: complicated and strict provisions of the labor law as well as a still significant degree of bureaucracy paralleled excessive paperwork. The time consuming process of obtainment of permissions to operate within the special economic zones is often considered cumbersome. Japanese investors also point to the insufficient number of engineers in Poland with a fluent command of the English language. Nevertheless, the difficulties which stem from the poorly developed infrastructure, especially roads and ports, are not perceived by Japanese based investors as a barrier.
Poland should invest in promoting itself
The KPMG research proves that the Japanese expartiates living in Poland believe the country to be a friendly location and underline that Poles are welcoming and seem highly interested in
Japanese culture.
Japanese investors express a common opinion that Poland is not only an exceptional place to conduct business, but also to live - a place they would recommend to their fellow countrymen
– sums up André Schuurman, Director of the Strategy Group at KPMG in Poland.
Moreover, most of the Japanese executives believe Poland needs to be more proactively promoted in Japan as an important investment destination and that it needs to position itself more clearly as a uniquely attractive business partner for Japanese firms and as the EU state which, despite the worldwide economic slow down, still enjoys steady economic growth.
The complete version of the report is available from kpmg.pl
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News
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ABOUT THE REPORT:
The KPMG survey ”Poland’s Position as a Business Partner for Japan” was held among senior representatives of Japanese companies operating in Poland. Survey results were supported by analyses carried out by KPMG Poland on information obtained from among others the Japan External Trade Organisation (JETRO), the Polish Ministry of Economy, as well as the
Polish Information and Foreign Investment Agency (PAIiIZ).
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ABOUT KPMG:
KPMG is a global network of professional firms providing Audit, Tax and Advisory services. We operate in 156 countries and have more than 152,000 people working in member firms around the world. The independent member firms of the
KPMG network are affiliated with KPMG International Cooperative (“KPMG International”), a Swiss entity. Each KPMG firm is a legally distinct and separate entity and describes itself as such. KPMG in Poland was established in 1990. We employ more than 1,200 people in Warsaw, Kraków, Poznań, Wrocław, Gdańsk and Katowice.
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Media contact:
Katarzyna Tyszka, email: ktyszka@kpmg.pl, tel. (22) 528 37 62 lub 668 338 319
Marta Tyszer, email: mtyszer@kpmg.pl, tel. (22) 528 14 04 lub 664 718 613
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