Poland, being one of the largest countries in Central Europe, has an ambition to become a hub for business, communication and energy - said President Andrzej Duda on Monday in Menlo Park at the Polish-American Forum for New Technologies.
Organised by the Polish Investment and Trade Agency, the forum aims to present the potential of the technology sector, as well as facilitating Polish companies to make business contacts with the biggest IT firms in the world, venture capital funds, as well as with potential partners from the Silicon Valley. Attending are representatives of such companies like Microsoft, Booksy and DataWalk.
When opening the forum, the president underlined that in the last four years, Poland began to develop very dynamically - the economic growth goes beyond 5 percent of the GDP, while the forecasts in that regard are still very optimistic.
"Certainly - a moment ago we talked with the representatives of companies operating in Poland about the increasing costs. Well, they are increasing because the financial expectations are also rising, and it's only natural that Poles expect to reach the average (pay) similar to that in the West," said the president.
He also expressed his belief that all investments carried out in Poland, also in the human capital, "will bring excellent profits". "Poland has plenty of capital, that we've always had plenty of and I hope, we'll never get short of, namely very skillful people, well-trained, excellent academic staff who are training employees for IT new technology sector who, in turn, can easily compete all around the world," said the president.
He also reminded that a few years ago, Poland and Croatia initiated an infrastructural cooperation between countries situated between the three seas: Baltic, Adriatic and Black - the Three Seas Initiative.
"In the Central Europe, there are fine connections between the East and the West, but not between the North and the South. And that's something we want to create. We want to connect the Baltic states with Bulgaria, greece and Croatia; this is our huge ambition and I think this is a chance also for your companies," the president addressed the representatives of companies taking part in the forum.
"In the Three Seas Initiative, as one of the biggest countries in this part of Europe, we have a huge ambition to become a hub offering business, communication and energy possibilities. I encourage you to see Poland this way," Andrzej Duda said.
The president informed that during his meeting with the firms operating in the Silicon Valley, they also talked about energy security of this part of Europe, including diversification of gas supplies. As he said, they discussed the perspective of connecting the Polish gas terminal in Świnoujście with the one the Croatians are building on the Krk island. "And in this way, to provide energy security not only for both our countries, but for the whole part of Europe," Polish president added.
Autor: gf / Źródło: TVN24 News in English, PAP