Dutch investments in Poland, “better regulation” EU initiative, as well as public and private partnership were the main subjects of talks between the Deputy Minister of Economy, Adam Szejnfeld and Frank Heemskerk, the Minister of Foreign Trade, the Secretary of State at the Ministry of Economic Affairs of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. The meeting took place on 10 July 2008.
Mr Adam Szejnfeld stressed that Polish-Dutch relations were very good and developing. ”Trade exchange between our countries in 2007 amounted to nearly 8 billion Euros.It also needs to be reminded that the Netherlands comes first in terms of foreign investment in Poland”, he added.
The Deputy Minister pointed out that the government was running a large-scale action to introduce amendments into Polish law, primarily concerning the enterprises. ”In several areas, we are following the examples of solutions which function in the Netherlands“, he said. In his opinion, the challenge for the EU is not to improve only the national law, but most of all, to improve the European Union law. ”That is why we would like the Netherlands to be our partner in this respect”, – added the Mr Szejnfeld.
Frank Heemskerk emphasized that his country was planning to measure the administrative burden and reduce it by 25 percent. ”Not only do we want to limit bureaucracy, but also to create transparent regulations’, he said.
During the meeting, the Deputy Minister Szejnfeld pointed out that Poland was going to face two large challenges in the near future: ”The first one is to use the EU funds in the financial perspective 2007-2013, the second is to organise Euro 2012“, said the Deputy Minister. ”Multibillion investment in infrastructure, construction and transport will be needed in both cases“, he stressed. Mr Szejnfeld emphasised that the new Act on public and private partnership may prove useful in those undertakings. ”The Ministry of Economy has prepared the draft of the Act.I would like it to enter into force as soon as this year”, he said. ”I do hope this Act will make public and private partnership a widespread form of investment in Poland”, the Deputy Minister pointed out.
According to Frank Heemskerk, the preparations to the European Championship in 2012 will only accelerate the implementation of investments needed in Poland. ”The deadline will surely mobilise the organisers“, he added.
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In 2007, mutual turnover amounted to EUR 7.8 billion, including EUR 3.8 billion worth of Polish export and EUR 3.9 billion worth of import. By the end of 2006, the value of Dutch capital invested in Poland exceeded EUR 18.8 billion. The Netherlands is the first largest foreign investor in Poland (preceding Germany, France, Luxembourg and the US).