American Investor November 2011

8/3/2019 American Investor November 2011

1/23

American

Investor

NOVEMBER-DECEMBER 2011Vol. XXI, No. 8 ISSN 1506-3240

American Chamber of Commerce in Poland 2011 www.amcham.pl

The future is here and nowA leading study plots Poland's position on the global innovation map,

but the coordinates are not quite where they could be

Image:Ideago/FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Company Profile:CEERESMarathon Oil Corporation

Monthly Meeting:Mark Allen, Witold Orowski andRyszard Petru in September;Krzysztof Bobiski, ukaszWarzecha and Tomasz Wrblewskiin October

Experts:Deloitte

Ernst & Youngaszczuk & Partners

SalansWardyski & Partners

Focus:Outsourcing in Silesia

AmCham Survey: Data SafetyWestin's Janusz Korzyski


2/23

MONTHLY MEETING in September

Facing the musicin an orchestrated fashion Poland is relatively well-positioned to withstand the negative effects of the global economic crisis,but only if the eurozone keeps its act together,p. 18

MONTHLY MEETING in October

A joker in the deckA prehash of the 2011 parliamentary elections raisedquestions about the political landscape in Poland for the years to come,as rabble-rouser Janusz Palikot adds leaven to the leftist loaf, p. 20

FOCUS

Back-office romance Silesia and the outsourcing industry have gota special thing going on, p. 22

Neglect is the order of the day An AmCham survey finds that Polish sub-sidiaries of global companies do not have proper procedures for erasingcomputer files, p. 23

Dishing up the avant-garde How a skinny kid under communism be-came a world-class foodie, p. 24

COMPANY PROFILE

An exciting new businessAmerican Investors Tomasz wiok talks withCarl Hubacher, Marathon Oil Corporations country manager for Poland,about the companys business prospects and challenges, p. 26

Reaching critical (bio)massAmerican Investors Tomasz wiok talks withRandy M. Mott, Managing Director of CEERS, a company that specializesin planning and implementing green energy projects across Poland, p. 27

EXPERTS

Nature bites back Managers may face criminal sanctions for violatingenvironmental laws, p. 28

Dont look back in anger Companies may get a refund of transaction taxon shareholder loans, p. 29

Let them live Incentives for investment in distressed areas have provedtheir worth and should continue past their legal sunset of 2020, p. 30

Seed money Poland has an interesting package to support R&D, p. 32

Gold in garbage New municipal waste management regulations createbusiness opportunities, p. 33

EVENTS

Oktoberfest 2011, p. 34 Monthly Meeting in September, p. 36 Outsourc-ing conference in Katowice, p.37 Monthly Meeting in October, p.38Am-Cham Conference in Muszyna, p.39

DEPARTMENTS

Newsline, p. 2,Agenda, p. 6, Guide to AmCham Committees, p. 12,Content summaries in Polish, p. 40.

NOVEMBER-DECEMBER 2011 AMERICAN INVESTOR 1

whats on

www.amcham.plYour online guide to AmCham activities

A leading study plots Poland's po-sition on the global innovationmap, but the coordinates are not

quite where they could be, page14.

Other useful sites

US Chamber of Commercehttp://www.uschamber.comAmerican Chamber of Commerceto the European Unionhttp://www.amchameu.beAmChams in Europe

http://www.amchamseurope.com

COVER STORY:American

InvestorNOVEMBER-DECEMBER 2011 Vol. XXI, No. 8

Calendar

By clicking on red links in the Calen-dar you may visit photo coverage ofour past events. Blue links will takeyou to the announcements of upcom-ing events.

Download this magazine!

American Investoris available in full asa pdf for download from the www.am-

cham.pl website. Go to "About Us" inthe horizontal menu, and chooseAmerican Investor Magazine fromthe pop-up menu. You can downloadpast issues ofAmerican Investordat-ing back to October 2010.

Policy Watch

Intelligence: For AmCham positionpapers, policy statements, official let-ters to government ministers and re-search papers, visit the Advocacy linkon the horizontal menu to downloadthe latest AmCham position papers.

Regions

AmCham may be closer than youthink. Apart from Warsaw, AmChamhas two regional branches which areactive all year long and offer many ex-citing opportunities to interface withregional business leaders and politi-cians. To find out more about our ac-tivities in Krakw and the region ofsouthern Poland, and Wrocaw, go toRegions in the horizontal menu bar,and pick your region of interest.

Events

AmCham Monthly Meetings are one ofthe flagship events organized by thechamber. WhileAmerican Investorcov-ers each Monthly Meeting exten-sively, including full-page pictorials,

you can search through picturearchives of past events that includenever previously printed material. Justgo to Events and Activities, pickMonthly Meetings and scroll down forlinks to archived events.

AmCham online

The future is here and now

We encourage companies to sponsor our Business Mixers, CEO Forums, 4th of July Picnic and other events.Business Mixers

You can sponsor AmCham Business Mixers throughout 2012. To find out more about sponsoring Business Mixers, visitwww.amcham.pl, click on the Events & Activities link on the horizontal menu bar, and choose Business Mixers.

CEO ForumsA high-level discussion panel followed by a cocktail reception, for AmCham CEOs only, held just 3 times a year. To find outmore about AmCham CEO Forums, visit www.amcham.com.pl, click on the Events & Activities link on the horizontal menu

bar, and choose CEO Forums.4th of July Picnic

To see pictures from last years picnic, go to www.amcham.com.pl, click on the Events & Activities link o n the horizontalmenu bar, and choose 4th of July Picnic.

Annual General Meeting & Christmas Reception in December

To see pictures from the last AGM & Christmas Reception, go to www.amcham.com.pl, click on the Events & Activities linkon the horizontal menu bar, and choose Annual General Meeting.

Regional eventsIn addition to Warsaw events, your company can also support AmCham activities in Krakw, Wrocaw and Katowice. We are

open for sponsorship of the following events:Our events in Krakw include two Business Mixers, IT Giants Conference, AmCham Academy Project;

in Katowice, one Business Mixer and the Manufacturers Forum.For more information, please contact Monika Pilarska at +48 608 027 172 or [email protected].

Our events in Wrocaw include AmCham Breakfast, two Business Mixers, Oktoberfest, and InternationalChristmas Mixer. For more information, please contactJoanna Bensz at +48 605 678 817 or [email protected].

For additional information contact Anita Kowalska at +48 22520 5994.

Do not miss the opportunityto sponsor AmCham events

in 2012!


3/23

Paula Wsowskafrom Cisco Poland and

Alexander King fromMonitor Group are co-chairsof the newly established Am-Cham Innovation Committee.

2 AMERICAN INVESTOR NOVEMBER-DECEMBER 2011

BOARD OFDIRECTORS

The American Chamber of Commerce in Poland

SPONSORS

Joseph Wancer DeloitteChairman

JudithY. Gliniecki Wierzbowski EvershedsVice Chair

richard lada TelestoVice Chairman

peterkaY KPMG PolskaSecretary

stan popoW FinacorpTreasurer

Tony HoushAPCO Worldwide

Paul FogoMiller Canfield

Piotr JuchaMcDonalds

Thomas KolajaAlvarez and Marsal

Robert L. KoskiKulczyk Investments

John LynchLynka

Mac RaczkiewiczEx off icio

Roman RewaldEx off icio

Anna SienkoIBM

AmCham Auditor:

YOUR AMCHAM

MEMBERS

NewslineNews from AmCham and its members

AmChamIn September, AmCham Krakw and USConsul General in Krakw Allen Green-berg hosted a lunch meeting with Hen-ryka Bochniarz, president of Boeing In-ternational Central & Eastern Europe andpresident of the Polish Confederation ofPrivate Employers Lewiatan. The meetingwas attended by representatives of Am-Cham member companies.

AmCham was also a supporting part-ner of the European Forum for New Ideas2011, held by Lewiatan in September inSopot to discuss issues related toPolands Presidency of the Council of theEuropean Union. AmCham ChairmanJoseph Wancer represented the bank-ing sector at the roundtable discussionentitled Energy Landscape of Poland20202030. AmCham member compa-nies Fluor and Westinghouse also partici-pated in the forum. At the forum, Am-Cham organized a meeting to discussthe business communitys views on Pol-ish-US relations, to fine-tune the agendafor the US-Poland Business Summit, ahigh-level roundtable meeting to be heldin spring 2012. Among the participantswere US Ambassador to Poland Lee Fe-instein, Deputy Minister of Foreign Af-fairs Beata Stelmach, President of theUS-Poland Business Council Eric Stew-

ard, and Lewiatan President HenrykaBochniarz.In cooperation with the City of Katow-

ice, the Association of Business ServiceLeaders in Poland, and the KatowiceSpecial Economic Zone, AmCham or-ganized a conference in October entitledClean, Green and Talent-DrivenSSC/BPO/ITO Hub in Central Europe atthe recently refurbished Monopol Hotel inKatowice. More about the event on page22.

Also in October, the chamber co-hosted a conference in Muszyna, south-ern Poland, highlighting the tourist attrac-tions of the Poprad Valley. The confer-ence was attended by local governmentofficials from Muszyna and the neighbor-ing town of Stara Lubovna, Slovakia. Oneof the brains behind the conference wasRyszard Kruk of Enterprise Investors,who prepared a tour of the region for at-

tendees.As of January 2012, AmCham will sus-pend its Business Visa Program with theUS Embassy, because the process of ob-taining US visas has improved so muchthat fast-tracking is no longer needed.Visa applicants must schedule a visa ap-pointment through the embassys callcenter (703 700 120) and bring all the re-quired documents. For more information,visit the embassy website atpoland.usembassy.gov.

For the fifth year since 2006, AmChamis holding the American Chamber ofCommerce Student Essay Contest, witha grand prize of USD 500 for the bestessay and 3 runner-up prizes of USD 150

each. The contest is open to all high school stu-dents affiliated with an AmCham member com-pany. Winners will be selected by the Boardand the Awards Committee. The winner will beinvited to our Annual General Meeting on De-cember 16, 2011, at the Westin Hotel, to readthe essay to the assembly. The deadline forsubmissions is November 14.

AmCham CommitteesThe Innovation Committee and the Travel &

Tourism Committee are the two new additionsto the AmCham network of committees.

The Innovation Committee, established tomonitor innovation initiatives within the Polishgovernment and across industries and com-mercial organizations, while advocating bestpractice across innovation approach, discipline,creativity, dimensions, and systems for membercompanies and local government and businessecosystems, is co-chaired by Paula Wsowskafrom Cisco and Alexander King from MonitorGroup.

The Travel & Tourism Committee, whose mis-sion is to provide a platform for discussing is-sues and problems related to travel, leisure andthe hospitality industry and to provide network-ing opportunities as well as to discuss trendsand standards in the industry, is co-chaired byStijn Oyen from the Sheraton Krakw andPamela Gmiter from Staffer Hospitality.

Magorzata Urbaska from CMS CameronMcKenna replaced Magorzata Surdek as co-

chair of the AmCham Consumer ProductsCommittee.

Meanwhile, the AmCham Health Committeehas been suspended.

Baker & McKenzieFor the third consecutive year, Baker & McKen-zie has been named the s trongest global lawfirm brand in the sharplegal Global Elite Brand

Index, a survey of more than 1,000 of theworlds largest law firm clients by Acritas, an in-dependent research firm. The law firm was re-cognized for its professional approach toclients as well as the way it handles court casesin multiple jurisdictions.

BoeingBoeing has unveiled the 737 MAX, a new rangeof the 737 aircraft equipped with new jet en-gines. The engines, codenamed CFM Interna-

tional LEAP-1B, improve fuel efficiency by 7%, adesired feature for airlines. According to NicolePiasecki, VP for Business Development andStrategic Integration at Boeing Commercial Air-planes, the 737 MAX offers the highest effi-ciency among all commercial aircraft in its classtoday.

CiscoOutsourcing and telecom infrastructure special-ist Cisco has announced plans to open a sup-port center in Krakw for Cisco clients in Eu-rope, the Middle East, Africa and Russia. Thenew center will be a part of the existing supportcenter network and will provide services forCiscos internal and external clients in serversand financial services. The new center will alsosupport Ciscos internal operations. TheKrakw center is scheduled to open in mid-2012.

In other news, the Nencki Institute of Experi-mental Biology, part of the Polish Academy ofSciences, has built an IT platform based onthe Cisco Unified Computing System technol-ogy which enables consolidation of the insti-tutes physical servers on a virtual platformand protection of the systems data. It uses anintegrated, high-performance, scalable datacenter infrastructure with centrally managedcomponents.

CB Richard EllisSecurity concerns remain the biggest obstacleto the further development of online shoppingin Europe, despite ever-increasing use of con-sumer technology products and advancesmade in the security of credit card paymentmethods, such as Chip and PIN, according tonew research by global property consultancyCBRE.

It was the first study of its kind, polling morethan 10,000 people to understand consumerattitudes to online shopping in 10 Europeancountries. CBRE asked consumers what pre-vented them from shopping online. Securityemerged as the top issuemore importantthan delivery cost and convenience or lack ofa credit card. For consumers who frequentlybuy products online, payment security re-mained a key issue. People in Spain (48%),Italy (36%), Germany (35%), the UK (32%),

CB Richard EllisMarcus Berger has beennamed Chief Operating Of-ficer of CBRE for Central &Eastern Europe. He hasover 12 years of interna-tional experience in com-mercial real estate, in bothasset management andgeneral company manage-ment.

Patrick Kurowski has beennamed to head the Industrial& Logistics Department atCBRE Poland. He joined theWarsaw team last year asSenior Property Negotiator,in which role he was respon-sible for leasing and market-ing strategies, property ac-quisitions and disposals,and consultancy for BREsinternational client base.

Members on the move

Cushman & WakefieldTom Listowski hasbeen appointed aspartner and director ofIndustrial in Poland &CEE Corporate Rela-tions. Listowski started

his professional careerin Sydney. He hasworked In Polandsince 2006. Listowski is a graduate of theUniversity of Technology in Sydney where hecompleted Property Economics degree. Heis also accredited by the Royal Institute ofChartered Surveyors.

Cushman & Wakefieldhas appointed capitalmarkets specialistSren Rodian Olsenas head of Office In-vestment in the PolishCapital Markets Group.He will be responsiblefor office develop-ments, establishingand managing relationships with foreign in-vestors in Poland. He was previously with Ab-erdeen Asset Management.

Members on the move

MagorzataUrbaska from CMS

Cameron McKenna is the newco-chair of the AmCham

Consumer Products Committee.


4/23

NOVEMBER-DECEMBER 2011 AMERICAN INVESTOR 5

American

Investor

American Chamber of Commerce in Poland 2011.All rights reserved.

American Investoris the official publication of the Ameri-can Chamber of Commerce in Poland. It is a voice for for-eign investors and the business community in Poland.The magazine strives to keep our members and otherreaders up to date by following chamber news and report-ing on the leading trends in business and policy.

l should be e-mailed [email protected]

AMCHAM STAFFDorota DabrowskiExecutive Director

[email protected]

Marzena DrelaDeputy Director

[email protected]

Anita KowalskaEvents & Media Manager

[email protected]

Robert KruszynaOffice Manager

[email protected]

Barbara Pocialik-MalinowskaMembership and Committees Coordinator

[email protected]

Marta PawlakResearch and Policy Coordinator

[email protected]

Robert ChomikProject Assistant and Committee Coordinator

[email protected]

AmCham in KrakwMonika [email protected]

AmCham in WrocawJoanna [email protected]

Published by the American Chamber of Commerce in Poland

YOUR AMCHAM


EDITOR-IN-CHIEF ART & DTPtomasz [email protected]

[email protected]

Printing

Q Invest Ltd+48 22 424 6600

To contact AmChamplease write or call:

ul. Emilii Plater 53, WFC00-113 Warsawtel: +48 22 520 5999

fax: +48 22 520 5998e-mail: [email protected]

NewslineNews from AmCham and its members

France (30%) and Sweden (29%) who weremost concerned about internet security identi-fied this as one of their top three issues.

In Poland, where only 15% of people regu-larly buy online (compared to 69% in Swedenand 66% in Germany), security concerns wereat the lowest level, the same as in Hungary(where 17% are regular online buyers) andRussia (5%).

Cushman & WakefieldAccording to commercial real estate agencyCushman & Wakefield, the first six months of2011 confirmed the interest in modern indus-trial properties among companies present inthe Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland and Slo-vakia. Strong demand and few new develop-ments have resulted in fairly limited alterna-tives for companies interested in leasing facili-ties. The average vacancy rate for industrialproperty in the region now stands at 11.8%,but in some locations it has dropped under5%. Vacancy rates of 1012% are consideredhealthy. This year, 198,000 sq m of new indus-trial stock has been developed for lease in theregion. Poland and the Czech Republic haverecorded an increase as against last year, butthe figures still remain very low as developerscontinue to build on the basis of pre-lettingand are reluctant to launch any speculativedevelopments due to limited access to financ-ing.

According to another report by Cushman &

Wakefield, while London, Paris and Frankfurtremain the top three European cities in whichto do business overall, Warsaw is the top loca-tion for value for money of office space. TheEuropean Cities Monitor report, based on in-terviews with managers at 501 of the largestcompanies in Europe, includes an overallranking of which city is considered to be bestfor business and the best city in which to lo-cate a business today. The ranking includes36 cities, measured against such criteria asquality of life, access to markets, availabilityand quality of staff, cost of office space,telecommunications and transport links.

GEThree wind turbines delivered by GeneralElectric were put into operation at a wind farmin esk, northwest Poland. The project is de-veloped by KSM Energia and Renpro. Each2.5 MW turbine has a fan with a diameter of100 m. They were produced at a GE factory inSalzbergen, Germany.

GE and FluorGE Hitachi Nuclear Energy has signed onFluor Corporation for engineering, procure-ment and construction in the anticipated deliv-ery of a nuclear reactor to PGE, which is build-ing Polands first nuclear power plant. PGE willaward the nuclear reactor construction busi-ness in the first half of 2013.

In September, GEH signed a letter of intentwith AGH University of Science and Technol-ogy for help training engineers and techni-cians to staff the nuclear power plant. GEH willsupport AGHs nuclear-related curricula withknowhow and certification sharing programs.

Hewlett-PackardHP is celebrating 20 years in Poland. Thecompany says it is proud to have contributedto Polands economic growth by providing ITsolutions to some of the most spectacularprojects in both public and private sectors. Inthe early 1990s HP was strong on medicalequipment and business solutions, but it usedacquisitions to expand its portfolio into out-sourcing. HPs largest investment in Poland sofar is the Global Business Center in Wrocaw,which now supports over 2,000 jobs deliveringservices to HP customers in Europe, the Mid-dle East and Africa.

InterContinentalThe InterContinental Warsaw has won titles forPolands Leading Hotel and Polands Lead-ing Business Hotel in the 2011 World TravelAwards. The awards, launched in 1993 to rec-ognize excellence in the worlds travel andtourism industry, are among the industrysmost established and prestigious.

KPMGPoland is one of the three top countries for fi-nancial investments in commercial real estate,according to a KPMG report entitled CEEProperty Lending Barometer 2011. Despitethe reluctance of commercial banks in Central& Eastern Europe to provide financing for in-vestments in real estate, there was growth infinancial transactions in real estate from Sep-tember 2010 to September 2011. The largestnumber of deals took place in Austria, theCzech Republic and Poland. In Poland officespace is the most popular with investors.KPMG polled over 50 banks in the region. Thestudy found that banks have very restrictivecriteria for issuing loans to real estate develop-ers, which impedes growth. In market trends,the greatest interest is in blue-chip projectsthat secure predictable returns. During the pe-riod, the percentage of bad debts did not in-crease, but banks are not certain whether thisis a stable trend or only a short-term situation.

In another study, Global Anti-Money Laun-

K&L GatesPiotr Sitarski has joinedK&L Gates to focus oncapital market transac-tions. He has extensive ex-perience advising on M&Aand private equity deals.

Filip Urbaniak has joinedK&L Gates in the law firmsM&A and capital marketspractice. He has over 10years of experience advis-ing on IPOs, private place-ments, debt issues andcorporate governance.

Members on the move

New MembersConsulting, technology and outsourcing specialist

Accenture (www.accenture.pl) has joined Am-

Cham. The company is represented in Poland by

Jarosaw Kroc, Country Managing Director.

Oil and gas exploration and production specialist

BNK Polska (www.bnkpetroleum.com) has joined

AmCham. It is represented in Poland by Jacek

Wrblewski, Country Manager.

Consulting, engineering and transportation com-

pany CDM (www.cdm.c om) has joined AmCham. It

is represented by program manager Magdalena

Pavlak-Chiaradia.

Real estate specialist Kulczyk Silverstein Proper-

ties (www.ksprop.com) has joined AmCham. The

company is represented by board member Piotr

Krawczyski.

Flexible packaging manufacturerPrintpack Poland

(www.printpack.com) has joined AmCham. It is rep-resented by Steve Snowden, site director in Kutno.

Accounting and auditing specialist Sony Pictures

Global Business Services Sp. z o.o. has joined

AmCham. It is represented by Micha Gryglewski,

Executive Director.

Pharmaceutical company Unipharm Sp. z o.o.

(www.unipharm.pl) has joined AmCham. It is repre-

sented by Tomasz Albinowski, CEO & Country

Manager.

The Polish branch of petroleum and gas company

Viking Petrol Sahasi Hizmetleri A

(www.viking-intl.com) has joined AmCham. It is rep-

resented by Rob Dunn, Country Manager

dering Survey 2011, KPMG found that pre-venting money laundering is no longer a prior-ity for commercial banks. The change comesas a result of the global financial crisis, whichmade bank managers refocus their attentionon more pressing issues. In 2011, only 62% ofbank managers said preventing money laun-dry was a top priority for them, down from71% in 2010. KPMG also found that the costsof implementing anti-money laundering poli-cies have risen by 45% since 2007, and are

expected to grow 28% within the next threeyears. Despite the growing costs, only 10% ofrespondents said they took measures to cutcosts by outsourcing part of the money laun-dering prevention process to third parties orby establishing shared services centers inlow-cost countries. Notably, 80% of the sam-ple said they never looked into cost-cuttingoptions.

Kulczyk InvestmentsKulczyk Oil Ventures, a subsidiary of KulczykHolding, has completed testing at the Olgov-skoye 18 well in Ukraine, owned by KUB-Gas,in which KOV holds a 70% ownership interest.It is the fifth new well drilled on the Olgov-skoye License since KOV acquired its interestin KUB-Gas in June 2010. Well 9 recentlycommenced commercial production at a rateof about 2 million cubic feet per day, resultingin an increase in total production from theUkrainian assets to more than 12 million cf/d.

Well 12 is expected to be tied in for commer-cial production later in 4Q 2011.

aszczuk & Partnersaszczuk & Partners skills and commitment toarbitration have been recognized by Corpo-

rate INTL Magazine, which awarded the firm its2011 Global Award for Arbitration Law Firm ofthe Year in Poland, based on a survey of ad-visers in over 100 countries specializing in60+ practice areas and sectors.

In September the law firm co-organized the3rd Annual Arbitration Seminar of the Interna-tional Association of Young Lawyers (AIJA) atthe University of Warsaw. The speakers in-cluded noted arbitration scholars and practi-tioners such as Stefano Azzali, W. LaurenceCraig, Bartosz Kruewski, Barton Legum,Prof. Filip de Ly, Wendy J. Miles, RafaMorek, Ilya Nikiforov, Wojciech Sadowski,Prof. Stanisaw Sotysiski and TomaszWardyski .

ManpowerHR specialist Manpower Polska has found that19% of companies in the logistics sector areoutsourcing their HR needs as they face in-creasing cost pressures and price competitionthat stem from market consolidation as well asa talent shortage on the market. There hasbeen an increase in outsourcing recruitmentprocedures, said Tomasz Walczak, regionaldirector for Manpower Polska. There is achange in the way companies approach pay-ing for the service, which is evolving from pay-ing for the time it takes to recruit to paying forthe effectiveness of the process, which is a feepaid per person hired. Logistics companiesfind it especially hard to find people to staff

positions in project management (a problemfor 39% of companies surveyed). The talentshortage hits small and medium-sized compa-nies especially hard. The study revealed that87% of larger logistics companies hire tempo-rary workers, compared to 40% for SMEs inthe sector.

PanattoniPanattoni Europe, a developer of industrialreal estate, has begun construction of its sec-

ond distribution center at wicice, in the War-saw area. The target space at Panattoni Parkwicice II is 20,000 sq m. The first building isbuilt-to-suit for a customer in the logistics sec-tor.

In southern Poland, Panattoni has ex-panded its Panattoni Park Mysowice with asixth building of 17,500 sq m, which is fully letby press distributor Ruch and fashion com-pany Adesso.

In northern Poland, the second building atPanattoni Park Gdask has been let to logis-tics operator Pekaes SA, which will occupymore than 3,000 sq m. Both of the existingbuildings there are now occupied.

Prologis

Logistics space developer and operator Prolo-gis has announced the winners of a talentcompetition the company has been runningfor six consecutive years for students at thePozna School of Logistics. Pictured: MarcinCzajczyk (winner of the award for best gradu-ate), Katarzyna Jesionkowska (best mastersthesis), Marta Tsiorowska (Prologis VP forMarketing & Communications in Central &Eastern Europe), and Mateusz Bronowicz(best bachelors thesis). Each winner tookhome PLN 4,000.

PwCThe global network of business consultinggiant PwC generated income of USD 29.2 bil-lion in the fiscal year ended June 30, 2011, up10% from the year before and a record for re-cent years. Audit services generated USD 14.1billion globally (up 7% year-on-year), consult-ing over USD 7.5 billion, and tax advisory USD7.6 billion (+8%).

PwC had growth in all global regions, led byAsia and Oceania at +38% and Central andSouth America +23%. CEE revenue was up7%.

In the new fiscal year PwC plans to trainand hire approximately 20,000 graduatesworldwide and offer 10,000 internships.

SalansSalans has won the title Law Firm of the Year:Central Europe in The Lawyer EuropeanAwards 2011 organized by the UK-based trademagazine The Lawyer. This year Salans wasalso shortlisted for European Law Firm of theYear, an award it won in 2010.

Sheraton WarsawAprochet Inboom, chef of the Oriental at the

Sheraton Warsaw, has added beef dishesfrom different parts of the world to the restau-rants menu. One of the new dishes includesKobe beef, made from a breed of cattle raisedin Japan under a special regimen t hat in-cludes beer and massage, which distributesthe fat evenly under the skin and enhancesthe flavor experience when the animal reachesthe table. The Oriental also offers more con-ventionally farmed beef from Australia, Brazil,New Zealand, Poland and the US.

In other news, the hotel has expanded thetraining programs at Warsaw Sheraton Fitnessto cater to skiers just before the opening of thenew season. Every Wednesday at 7:30 pmcoach Mariusz Szmagaa, head of the fitnessclub, oversees TRX training, which enhancesupper- and lower-body musculature.

Pamela Gmiter fromStaffer Hospitality and StijnOyen from Sheraton Krakw

co-chair the new AmChamTravel & Tourism Committee.


5/23

NOVEMBER-DECEMBER 2011 AMERICAN INVESTOR 76 AMERICAN INVESTOR NOVEMBER-DECEMBER 2011

AgendaIntelligence from AmCham and its committees

Energy & Environment Committee

Emissionsmust be taxed

The new Energy Taxation Directive nowbeing drafted by the European Commis-sion will have a major impact on the en-ergy marketor so the authors hope, accord-ing to Eric Pigal from the European Economicand Social Committee, a consultative body to

the European Commission. Pigal spoke at ameeting with the AmCham Energy & Environ-ment Committee in September.

Pigal, who conveys the EESCs opinion onthe new directive to the European Commis-sion, explained that the directive seeks to syn-chronize taxation on CO2 emissions acrossdifferent EU member states and to changebehavioral patterns regarding the consump-tion of energy. As a result, EU citizens shouldsave more energy, especially in such areas asthe use of cars.

The Energy Taxation Directive now underdevelopment is not a brand-new directive, buta revision of the 2003 directive that goes bythe same name (2003/96/EC). The new direc-tive will address EU 2020 targets, under whichthe EU seeks to cut CO2 emissions by 20%,have 20% of energy produced from renew-able sources, and increase energy efficiencyby 20%all by 2020.

In order to help achieve these goals, theEnergy Taxation Directive introduces a two-

fold system of taxes on energy. The first, ap-plicable to energy producers, is a tax on CO 2emissions. This type of taxation is quiteclear, Pigal said. CO2 is a pollutant. The min-imal taxation of CO2 emissions is EUR 20 pertonne of CO2 emitted. Member states wouldbe able to charge more, however.

The second type of taxation is on energycontent, which is a tax on energy but differsdepending on what the energy is actuallyused for. Energy content is about promotingefficient use of energy, Pigal said. The idea isthat energy used for cars should be taxedmore heavily than energy used for other activ-ities, such as heating homes. The same typeof energy, for instance diesel fuel, would betaxed differently when it is used for cars andfor home heating. The same energy will be

taxed differently depending on how con-sumers are going to use it, Pigal said. Thisregulation, he explained, promotes energy-ef-ficient car engines and, hopefully, will help re-duce the intensity of private car usage in theEU. This is about stimulating a behavioralchange when it comes to the use of energy,Pigal said.

Pigal noted that while the Energy TaxationDirective does not impose specific taxationquotas, it does set minimum levels of taxationfor each type of energy and its content. It is upto the EU member states to come up withtheir own taxes on coal, diesel fuel for homeheating and for cars, gasoline and other en-ergy types. However, while EU member statesare free to set up their own system for taxingthose types of energy, they will be required tomaintain the proportion of taxation betweenthe different types of fuels defined by the di-rective. Every type of energy will be taxedproportionally to the amount of CO2 emissionsit produces, Pigal explained. Coal, becauseit produces relatively high amounts of CO 2,will be taxed relatively highly as compared tonatural gas. Nuclear energy will not be taxedbecause it does not produce CO2. The exacttax numbers regarding each type of energyare included in the appendices to the pro-posed new directive.

Pigal noted that when the directive is imple-mented here, Poland will have to make surethat the taxation system for energy complieswith the proportions set forth in the directive:Poland might not increase the tax on coal, forexample, but to respect this proportion it willhave to increase the tax on diesel fuel.

Under the new directive, EU member stateswill have to focus their attention on sustain-able economic growth. The directive is sup-posed to encourage the development of thegreen economy and investment in green en-ergy innovation, Pigal said, and to boostcompetitiveness in the green energy sector.

Pigal explained further that the new direc-tive is meant to replace taxation on labor inEU countries, to stimulate economic growthand new job creation. The idea is to tax en-ergy instead of taxing labor, he said.

Yet another goal of the new Energy TaxationDirective is to harmonize taxation on energyacross different EU countries. This harmoniza-tion is best exemplified by how the directivewill complement the EUs Emission TradingSystem, which is not a tax system but a levysystem imposed on companies that produceCO2. There are some industries that are ex-empt from the Emission Trading System, but

now they will be subject to taxation under theEnergy Taxation Directive. These two sys-tems seem to be well-integrated, Pigal said.An energy producer cannot be taxed doublyby the ETD and ETS systems. If a companypays for CO2 emissions under ETS than it willbe exempted from ETD.

While the system looks good at a distance,there were a number of issues raised by Am-Cham members that Pigal could not answer.For instance, what type of taxation will the di-rective apply to energy purchased from pro-ducers outside of the EU who are not subjectto either the Energy Taxation Directive or theEmission Trading System? It seems that be-fore the directive becomes law it will be thesubject of heated debate among EU memberstates.

The Energy TaxationDirective promises tobe controversial

Innovation Committee

Gazing into the silicon ball

The second-ever meeting of AmChamsInnovation Committee focused on fourpossible scenarios for development ofthe Internet, based on phenomena we knoware already occurring on the World WideWeb. The meeting was chaired by PaulaWsowska of Cisco and Alex King of Moni-tor Group. In the discussion, these facts ofonline life were juxtaposed with theoretical

issues that may or may not affect theprocess. The touchstone for the discussionwas a study by Monitor Group and Cisco onpotential internet development scenariosthrough 2025.

One aspect Wsowska identified is thatemerging markets will be the driving forcefor development of the global network goingforward. Wsowska said that a third of theworlds population uses the Internet now,and a fifth do so intensively. This means thatin the future, new paid access models willhave to emerge. Flat-fee schemes are arelic of the past, Wsowska said. The re-searchers say and more and more content-based and user-based pricing schemes aregoing to be put in place.

Wsowska said that based on what weknow about the trends in interface applica-tions and what can be achieved technicallyto make them more user-friendly, in theWestern world the computer keyboard aswe know it will disappear. With new demo-

graphics in emerging markets, she ex-plained, we will have different ways of inter-acting with the web, such as touch moni-tors, bio-recognition, voice recognition andso on. The keyboard has already given wayon some devices.

There are more surprises ahead. Fore-casters from Monitor Group developed fourscenarios for how the Internet will evolve inthe next decade and a half, based on 14areas of uncertainty that they identified. Oneof them is the direction of network access.Development of the Internet will be radicallydifferent if network access is limited or if it isextensive. The potential for creation of pub-lic-private partnerships to build the Internetinfrastructure of the future will be critical. A

different path of Internet development willoccur if technological advancements arerapid, as was the case with the iPad andthe iPhone, or if they are linear and incre-mental.

Taking into consideration all of thesetechnical and technological aspects todraw a picture of the Internet circa AD2025, the researchers came to the conclu-

sion that one of the wildest of wild cards isuser behavior. We do not know now hownew users, especially those coming fromemerging markets, will act online: Will theybe restrained, or will they have unlimitedaccess to content? Will they prefer to limitthe range of personal data they make avail-able online, or will the Internet continue tochip away at privacy unchecked?

And what about the generation gap? An-other black hole. It is unknown what pro-portion generation-wide may impact ourworkforce in the way we interact and collab-orate, Wsowska said. The suspicion isthat the impact is going to be vastly beyondwhat we understand and how we tend towork today within our organizations andwith one another.

The future of cloud computing is yet an-other issue that will have a pivotal impacton how the whole Internet develops. Fac-tors at play here are the capacity of the in-frastructure to support as many computer

connections as it will take to make thecloud available to end users.Finally, online content and the way it de-

velops will have a critical impact on the en-vironment in which the entire global net-work evolves.

Wsowska concluded by saying that theresearch conducted by Monitor Group andCisco is an effort to contribute to the ongo-ing discussion about how the Internet fuelssocial and economic growth and inspirecompanies to embrace new business mod-els and innovate: It may inspire businessleaders and policy makers to look long-term at potential scenarios and act today.

The report is available for download atamcham.pl/innovation.

A Cisco/Monitor Group study mapsthe evolution of the Internet through 2025

The keyboard as we know it will be gone by 2025 Speaker Eric Pigal with committeeco-chair Adam de Sola Pool

Pho

to:

Tomasz

w

iok

Pho

to:

Tomasz

w

iok


Sensitive drillThe shale gas busi-ness must be kind tonature

In September, members of the Americanbusiness community had an opportunity

to meet with Micha Kiesznia, General Di-rector for Environmental Protection, whooversees development processes in Polandfor compliance with environmental regula-tions. Another expert from the General Di-rectorate for Environmental Protection atthe meeting was deputy director PiotrOtawski. The meeting was organized byAdam de Sola Pool, co-chair of the Energy& Environment Committee, to discuss theneeds of the emerging shale gas industry.Dariusz tka, HSE Manager at TalismanEnergy Polska, a company that has a con-cession for shale gas exploration in north-ern Poland, spoke for private business atthe meeting.

The directorate officials gave an overviewof how certain environmental laws are im-plemented in practice and how they affectthe development process. They also re-ferred to specific laws governing develop-ment in areas that have the status of naturalpreserves, natural parks and areas included

in the EUs Natura 2000 environmental pro-gram.

Otawski said that while more areas arestill being added to Natura 2000, theprocess will be finished next year and thesites that are on the waiting list for inclusionin the program are small and will not haveany significant impact on the total acreageof Natura 2000. Poland now has special en-vironmental protection laws governingnearly 20% of the countrys landmass.

Otawski also said that while special natu-ral preserves are under strict environmentalprotection, there may be instances wheredevelopment is allowed to take place withinprotected areas.

tka presented some practical issuesthat may affect the quality of environmentalcompliance of a company exploring forshale gas in Poland. Among many issuesranging from transportation to water andwaste management, he said shale gascompanies should pay special attention tothe environmental compliance level of theirsubcontractors. He advised auditingprospective subcontractors in this respect.He said that a company that holds a licensefor shale gas exploration is responsible forhow well its subcontractors adhere to theenvironmental regulatory regime, as theyare part of the entire development process.He also said that companies exploring forshale gas, and those that are eventuallygranted licenses for commercial use ofshale gas, will have to be transparent inevery aspect of their business, because,unlike in some other parts of the world, thisis what is required of the energy sector inEurope.

HOT DATEDec.16.11Conference: AmCham Annual General Meeting

& Christmas Reception

Place: Westin Warsaw

Time: 5:30 P.M.


6/23

The taxpayer successfully argued that oncethe tax was repealed, Poland had no right toreinstate it, as it did for 20072008. (It wassubsequently repealed again.)

A related issue discussed at the commit-tee meeting was that while companiesshould find it easy to reclaim the principalamount of the transaction tax on share-holder loans paid in 20072008, some of

them may find it difficult toclaim interest. Cicho saidthat according to the regula-tions governing tax refundsin Poland, companies wish-ing to claim interest on theamount had 30 days follow-ing the publication of theECJ judgment to do so. Thedeadline was September 5,2011. If companies apply fora refund after that date, theymay receive a refund of thetax, but without interest.

Branny said companieswho seek a refund after thatdeadline can make a goodargument that they are enti-tled to interest from the datethey paid the tax until Sep-tember 5, 2011, but there arecounterarguments and itmay be difficult to prevail onthis point against the Polish

tax authorities.The ECJ ruling is discussed in more de-

tail in the Expert article on page 29.

8 AMERICAN INVESTOR NOVEMBER-DECEMBER 2011 NOVEMBER-DECEMBER 2011 AMERICAN INVESTOR 9

Helping renewable energy growProducers of electricity from plant-waste biogas at last have aclearif imperfectset of regulations governing the state aid theyare entitled to


Small steps to a better lawA lasting code requires input from bothmanagement and labor

Employee & Labor Relations Committee


Poland has relatively few facilities thatproduce electricity from plant-wastebiogas, but at least, after years of up-

grading, investors in plant-waste biogas fa-cilities may rely on coherent regulationsgoverning the state aid they may take ad-vantage of, according to Zdzisaw Muras,director of the Department of Energy Enter-prises at the Energy Regulatory Office(www.ure.gov.pl), who met with the Am-Cham Energy & Environment Committee inSeptember.

Muras gave an overview of the regula-

At a meeting with the AmCham Em-ployee & Labor Relations Committee

in September, Deputy Minister ofLabor and Social Policy Radosaw Mleczkogave an overview of the ministrys legislativeinitiatives over the last four yearsincludinga set of regulations extending paid maternityleave to 20 weeks, and paid paternal leaveto one week in 2011 and two weeks nextyear, as well as a plan to enact paid leave by2014 for parents adopting children.

Other accomplishments of the ministryunderlined by Mleczko included cutting theperiod in which employers cover the salaryof staff on sick leave from 33 days to 14days in the case of employees who are over50 years of age. Another important changewas lowering the minimum age for hiring mi-nors from 16 to 15.

Mleczko also referred to regulations that

tions that govern the licensing process thatproducers of electricity from plant-wastebiogas undergo to obtain energy certifica-tion in Poland, as well as energy tradingsystems.

Muras said that while the system serveswell the purposes of producers who are ca-pable of generating more than onemegawatt of electricity, it does not take intoaccount the specifics of small producers,who can generate enough electricity to sat-isfy a relatively limited range of needs.Without a major overhaul of the system of

registration and concession of renewable

energy producers, there are no chances inPoland for the development of such a nicheof small energy producers, Muras admit-ted. He added that a reform of the existingsystem should seek to create two separatesystems for certifying renewable energyproducers: one for big producers for whomproducing electricity is their core business,and a separate system for small, niche pro-ducers of renewable energy that play asupporting role in the enterprises they arepart of.

Guests from the Ministry of Labor and Social Policy, Robert Lisicki, chief expert inthe labor law department, and Radosaw Mleczko, deputy minister.

in practice have not lived up to the expecta-tions of the proponents. One involves em-

ployee training, which now by the letter ofthe law has to be paid for by the employer infull, with no negotiation of the extent of fi-nancial coverage allowed between the em-ployer and the employee. With such a lackof flexibility in how they may finance em-ployee training, employers prefer not tosend their employees for training at all.Mleczko said the law is a dead letter, whichwas obviously not the intention, and that thisissue will have to be revisited.

Another regulation that does not work inpractice, as noted by the meeting partici-pants, is that governing prenatal care. Dueto red tape between doctors and the SocialInsurance Institution, in practice women arenot receiving paid leave before delivery.Mleczko said he would take a look at this.

Mleczko also discussed the Anti-CrisisAct, which allows companies who suffer asteep decline in business to change the ref-erence period for calculation of employeeswages to a maximum of 12 months.Mleczko said that by early September, therewere 1,169 companies in Poland who hadtaken advantage of this regulation. Of thisnumber, 105 companies employed 9 work-

ers or fewer, 300 companies employed be-tween 10 and 149 workers, 450 companiesemployed between 150 and 249 workersand 314 companies employed 250 workersor more.

Mleczko said that while these numbersmay suggest the regulation was not pivotal,because it seems that not very many com-panies resorted to it, companies in Polandgenerally dealt with the crisis well. The im-portant thing, according to Mleczko, is thatthe anti-crisis regulation is in place for com-panies, and it has been tested. Companiesknow what to expect and know how themechanism works, Mleczko said. Over a1,000 companies is a lot of jobs, after all.Mleczko added that after the Anti-Crisis Actexpires at the end of this year, it should be-come a permanent feature of employmentlaw in Poland. He said that there is a posi-tive outlook for agreement on this issue be-tween employers organizations and laborunions.

Discussing employment issues, Mleczkosaid that there is a need to popularize differ-ent types of work contracts other than full-time, open-end contracts. He said he regret-ted the fact that the public tends to refer toother types of employment as junk con-tractsas if the open-end contract is theonly real bargain for the employee. Accord-ing to Mleczko, a true junk contract is onein which either party does not live up to itsside of the bargain, and regular employ-ment contracts can fall into this group aswell. He said that when it comes to buildinga flexible workforce in Poland, more em-ployees should come to see that fixed-termwork contracts and other forms of employ-ment are just as valid as the full-time, open-end contracts that are now the most popular

and desirable among employees. Mleczkosaid that the ministry will continue to worktoward creating more flexible forms of em-ployment in the future.

Mleczko expressed concern about themany cases where employers simply abusethe law by offering fixed-term work con-tracts with provisions that should not be apart of such contracts because they createlegal pathologies. Due to the increasing

number of such instances, the ministry mayconsider applying special measures tocrack down on these practices.

The AmCham members at the meetingpointed out that the problem with such di-vergent perceptions of different types ofwork contracts among the general public isthat open-end work contracts give dispro-portionately greater protection to employ-ees than other types of contracts. This con-tributes to the universal feeling that once anindividual is hired on an open-end workcontract, he or she has a guarantee of con-tinued employment, no matter what, andthat is wrong. Mleczko said he will take thisposition into consideration when the min-istry drafts future legislative initiatives deal-ing with new types of employment con-tracts.

Plenty of moneyThe EU offers diverse fi-nancial aid programs atthe regional level

European Union Affairs Committee

Companies in the province of Mazoviamay obtain financial aid from EU fundsthrough programs carried out at the re-gional level, according to Pawe Sitek, deputydirector of the EU Programs ImplementationUnit in the province, who spoke at a meetingwith the AmCham EU Affairs Committee in Oc-tober.

The aid is available under two operationalprograms: Human Capital, for training pro-grams, and Infrastructure Development, forconstruction of transportation networks, re-newable energy generation, urban renewaland tourism infrastructure.

So far the agency has contracted over5,000 projects worth a total of more than PLN14 billion. The agencys total budget for 2013is PLN 2 billion.

Companies can now apply for aid underAction 1.5, which encourages development ofentrepreneurship. The aim of the program isto increase the competitiveness of micro en-terprises by helping them obtain access tonew technologies and certification and quality

systems. Companies from traditional sectorsas well as innovative firms can take part in thecompetition. Companies that seek to createnew jobs in low-employment areas will getbonus points in the final score. In the mix offunded projects, the agency also hopes to seea heavier concentration of projects involvingrenewable energy, innovation in products andservices, and improved corporate gover-nance, which are also given bonus points inthe selection process.

While the programs look very attractive,there are bumps along the road. Sitek saidthat the European Commission, which over-sees program execution, would not approveof financing expenditures that are not neces-sary to achieve the goals of the project. For in-stance, if an applicant plans to buy offices be-cause it needs more space to sustain its busi-ness operations, the Commission is likely toadvise renting an office instead of buying itand therefore would not approve funding forthe acquisition.

This is just one example that demonstratesthe complex considerations that lie behind asuccessful application for EU aid. Sitek ad-vised companies not to wait. He said that thatthe earlier companies apply for aid the better,because even if they do not win a grant theywill acquire some knowledge and experiencefor a successful application later.

More information at http://mazowia.eu/en

Tax & Financial Services CommitteeReclaiming capital duty

Companies that paidtransaction tax inPoland on loans fromshareholders (including par-ent companies) in 20072008may now seek a refund of thetax, according to AdrianBranny, manager at DeloitteTax Advisory. Branny and Hu-bert Cicho, senior managerat Deloitte Tax Advisory, con-ducted a presentation on thetopic at a meeting of the Am-Cham Tax & Financial Serv-ices Committee in September.

The European Court of Jus-tice has held that Poland hadno right to charge the tax(known in Polish as the taxon civil-law transactions) onshareholder loans because itwas an unlawful form of capi-tal duty (Logstor ROR Polskasp. z o.o. v. Director of the Ka-towice Tax Chamber, Case C-212/10, judg-ment of June 16, 2011).

The case involved a Polish company thathad received a loan from its parent com-pany and argued to the Polish tax authori-ties that Poland could not charge transac-tion tax on the loan. As the dispute contin-

ued with little chance of reaching a suc-cessful conclusion in Poland, the companydecided to take the matter to the ECJ. Al-though shareholder loans were subject tocapital duty before Poland joined the EU onMay 1, 2004, when Poland joined the EUthe tax on shareholder loans was repealed.

A judgment by the European Courtof Justice paves the way to a tax refundfor some companies

Deloittes Hubert Cicho and Adrian BrannyPhoto:Tomasz

wiok


7/23

A room for the nightEstimates put the organic growth of the hotel

market in Poland at 1,200 rooms per year

Innovation Committee

Make it happen!

P

eter Schwartz, a partner at MonitorGroup, and founder of the Global Busi-ness Network, met with the AmCham In-

novation Committee in October to talk aboutthe importance of liberal education and propermanagement in the output of innovative solu-tions that change the way people live,work and solve problems. Schwartz isperhaps best known as a developmenttheoretician, with professional involve-ments ranging from the Apollo space pro-gram to the Hollywood movie industry.

Schwartz told AmCham members thatfor the last 100 years, most inventionshave come from the United States be-cause the US was able to offer a criticallyimportant culture for boosting entrepre-neurshipa culture that not only advo-cates entrepreneurship, but does not dis-courage entrepreneurs when they failaswell as a diverse business environmentwith venture capital industries.

But the innovation potential of Amer-icas universities is equally important.The Shanghai list of the best universitiesin the world has six universities in Califor-

nia, he said, including three in the BayArea alone.

But there is a historical reason why theSan Francisco area stands out sostrongly on the map of innovation and ac-ademic excellence. In the early 1970sthere was no Silicon Valley as we know ittoday, but there was an ailing space in-dustry in California. Following a steepgrowth period in the space race betweenthe US and the Soviet Union, the regionhad to reinvent itself to serve a societythat no longer needed missions to themoon. Unemployment around Palo Altowas 40%. Thousands of engineers inspace-related industries lost their jobs ascompanies that worked on space-relatedprograms closed their operations.

But a side effect of the space boomwas cybernetics. Many of those unem-ployed engineers retrained and learnedhow to write computer programs. On theother end of the new business paradigm there

were entrepreneurial companies who decidedto build microchips, hoping that they wouldfind applications in consumer products.

They were right. Around 1976 the name Sili-con Valley began to take on its modern mean-ing. By 1980, Silicon Valley was in the middleof an unprecedented business boom.

Quality educationBut the entrepreneurial spirit was not the onlyimportant aspect of the Silicon Valley phenom-enon. Another was the supply of talentedyoung people eager to work for the emergingindustry.

Schwartz said that in 1979, California Gover-nor Jerry Brown asked Bob Noyce, one of thefounders of Intel, what help Noyce neededfrom the state to boost the development of the

new industry. Noyce said there were twothings he needed: excellent education, be-cause the industry wanted lots of smart peo-

ple, and for the government of California to getout of the way.

While it was easy enough for the state not

to interfere with the fledgling industry,

Schwartz said that California did a great jobbuilding an educational system that supplieslots of people with open minds who can graspconcepts nobody ever thought of before.Human capital is the most essential thing todeveloping innovations, Schwartz said.Today, US universities deliver education topeople from all around the world. Those peo-ple do not stay in the US after graduation, buttake their knowledge with them to other coun-tries, where new pockets of innovation startbooming.

The next Silicon ValleyThe Silicon Valley example is hard to replicate,but one country that has reinvented itself inthe last 10 years, from a sweatshop nation to aregional leader in innovation, is Singapore.

Schwartz is a member of the Research, Inno-vation and Enterprise Council of Singapore, acommittee chaired by the countrys prime

minister, with five cabinet ministers and a fewoutsiders, including IT heads of major technol-ogy companies. Singapore understood that it

had to capture the value of intellectualproperty if it were to move forward eco-nomically. While the country had goodtechnical schools and basic universities,it was not a source of major R&D and in-novation.

Following the establishment of RIEC,Singapore invested USD 13 billion in uni-versities. That program changed Singa-pores economic reality. Singapore nowhas a high economic output based onR&D, and it has become a regionalleader in the innovative economy. In2010, RIEC was granted a further USD16 billion to continue investing in univer-sities. Singapores RIEC is the best ex-ample of how a nation can successfullyundertake a major challenge in innova-tion, put the right resources behind itand see the fruits of it, Schwartz said.

Many countries have tried, but Singa-pore, it seems, is the only country thathas been successful so far.

Innovation frontiersWhile Singapore has done a good jobcreating an innovation-based economy,other countries are trying as well. Thereare places in the world that are trying todrive innovation on a regional level oreven a city level, Schwartz said. Mostof the efforts are not concentrated on thenational level.

The need for innovation and innova-tive thinking in solving problems is espe-cially hard currency in such countries asBrazil, India, China and Indonesia.When you look at housing you will seethat countries that have huge popula-tions do really innovative things in hous-ing construction, Schwartz said. Thesame goes for energy, infrastructure, and

other things that are necessary for people to

live and prosper in todays world. People inthose areas now have the money and accessto knowledge. However, the game of drivinginnovation has changed. What was once ourgame, because we were the ones who hadthe money, the knowledge and the motivation,is now the game of the new emergingeconomies that have these qualities. This ishow the world has changed.

According to Schwartz, the new frontiers ofinnovation will emerge around the big chal-lenges that our civilization faces, such as theaging population, climate change, renewableenergy, infectious diseases, and availability offresh water. On demographics, Schwartz said,Last year we passed the threshold with morethan 50% of humans living in cities instead ofvillages. Within the next 25 years the number

A good pro-innovation policy should target development ofhuman resources

Real Estate Committee



The development potential of the hotelmarket in Poland was the focus at theAmCham Real Estate Committee meet-ing in September. According to guestspeaker Adam Konieczny from DTZ, com-mercial real estate advisers, the market is infor some big events, such as the Euro 2012soccer championship and the events associ-ated with Wrocaws holding the title of Euro-pean Capital of Culture in 2016, that arelikely to boost the influx of tourists intoPoland. Konieczny said that Warsaw andWrocaw are taking advantage of the PolishPresidency of the Council of the EuropeanUnion, as both cities are hosting numerousPresidency events.

But even without those events, the hotelmarket in Poland has room for growth, pri-marily in the mid-price range. Poland hasone of the lowest rates of hotel beds per10,000 population: 50, said Konieczny.Compare it with Germany, 200, and France,300, and you will see the potential forgrowth.

Konieczny also said that because the eco-nomic crisis had a negative impact on officedevelopment in third-tier cities, hotel projectsare becoming an alternative for investors.

Among investors active in the markettoday, Konieczny mentioned the third-largestFrench chain of budget hotels, B&B, whichhas one hotel under construction in Warsaw

The Renaissance is the newest five-star hotel in Warsaw

Futurologist Peter Schwartz

will hit 70%. The biggest cities in the worldwill grow enormously, while they will have tohave access to energy, sewage treatment,and transportation. This is a huge area forinnovation.

Innovative crooksAll of these issues are forcing innovators tothink differently. But this applies not only toofficial centers of education, but also tocriminal masterminds, who also innovateand oftentimes outperform state-sponsored

innovators.Unfortunately, said Schwartz, what we

find is that bad guys out in the world aredoing a good job of innovating too. One ofthe biggest trials we had going in the US,with the war in Iraq, was to discover that

they can come at us in a way we never ex-pected. It can be remarkably effective: im-provised explosives. We have no answer forit. So they have a cheap solution, and wehave expensive responses that do not work.This is a very bad ratio. They spend onedollar for every million dollars we have tospend.

Meanwhile, in Colombia, criminal net-works interested in bringing cocaine intothe US produce their own submarines toachieve that goal. Although it is a very risky

enterprise, the premium they get for sellingcocaine in the US is so high that they tryanyway and as a result create a new classof innovators down the line.

For Schwartz these examples onlydemonstrate the nature of innovations:

They spring from the bottom up and evolveinto very interesting ideas.

Schwartz said that the best example ofthat was the invention of Napster, the peer-to-peer file exchange system. Napster wasessentially a criminal activity of stealing in-tellectual property, but it innovated a wholenew model of digital distribution. So it is notenough to visit universities. You need tohave a much wider feel for the sources of in-novation.

Schwartz added that for a country like

Poland, there is no reason it should not in-vest in its universities so they produceopen-minded graduates who can go workfor innovative industries. The sooner we doit, the better for all the stakeholders.

and another in the planning stage inWrocaw. B&B plans to operate at least 10hotels in Poland in 56 years, he said. Otherinvestors in the economy class who are en-tering Poland are the Luft Hotel Group, withthe Tulip, Luft and Campanile brands, thePuro Hotel chain, and the Polish groupFocus. Investors who are not present inPoland yet but Konieczny says are consider-ing it include citizenM hotels, Motel One, andAloft, a Starwood brand.

Konieczny mentioned some of the obsta-cles for investors, including banks disinclina-tion to finance hotel developments in the up-scale sector and the fact that construction

costs are almost as high as in the West.High prices of land are also an obstacle, es-pecially in the city centers, where hotelscompete with office developments,Konieczny said.

Another speaker, Alex Kloszewski fromColliers International, said that luxury brandscontinue to develop hotels in Poland, includ-ing the Hilton in Warsaw, which will offer 367rooms and 4,000 sq m of conference spaceupon completion and will be the largestbranded conference hotel center in Poland. AHilton with 260 rooms and over 2,000 sq mof conference space will also appear inKrakw, operated by PPL. A Hilton Gardenhas already opened in Szczecin, and dwill have a Hilton next year.

According to Kloszewski, Wrocaw is agood place for investors in hotels, becausethe city has a good administration, whichhelps facilitate investment projects, plusthere are a lot of business events going on inthe city.

On the other hand, Kloszewski expressedmoderate enthusiasm about the prospectsfor the four- and five-star hotel market inKrakw, because of the unavailability of s itesin the city center. Although Krakw will havesome opportunities, he said, they will beperipheral, outside the central area.

Kloszewski estimated the pace of organicgrowth of the hotel market in the next 35years at about 1,200 rooms a year, whichtranslates to approximately eight new hotelsper year. The demand is directly connectedto the countrys GDP growth, Kloszewskisaid. If we are going to have an average of3.5% GDP growth for the next few years, thatis what the demand is going to be.

Pho

tocourtesyo

fPort

Ho

telGroup

Pho

to:www.g

bn.c

om

Use

dbyperm

iss

ion


8/23


Guide to AmCham Committees

Agri & Food Mission: To provide a plat-form for discussing andsolving issues and identify-ing opportunities in the agri-cultural and food sector bycreating a base for dialogueand expertise. Co-Chairs :

Andrzej Pawelczak, Animex; Maciej ubieski,Universal Leaf Tobacco Poland.More at ww.amcham.pl/agri_food

Infrastructure Mission : To discuss is-sues of the developmentof infrastructure; to pro-mote infrastructure solu-tions for cooperation be-tween private and publicpartners. Co-Chairs :

Krzysztof Wierzbowski, Wierzbowski Eversheds; An-drew C. Kapusto, Raytheon Homeland Security.More at www.amcham.pl/infrastructure

Tax & Financial ServicesMission: To provide a plat-form for identifying tax andfinancial issues and createan educational forum tokeep AmCham members in-formed on current and up-coming legislation. Co-Chairs : Piotr Bartuzi, Bank

BPH; Andrew Hope. More at www.amcham.pl/tax

Political Discussion ForumMission: To build relation-ships with key players inPolish politics, regardlessof whether within the gov-ernment or not, in smallgroups and in private set-tings, to serve as a vehicle

into the world of Polish politics behind official cur-tains. Co-Chairs: Robert Koski, Kulczyk Holding;Marek Matraszek, CEC Government Relations.More at www.amcham.pl/pdf

Small & Medium-Sized EnterprisesMission: To provide a forumfor exchange of ideas/bestpractices to improve the per-formance of SMEs; to iden-tify and promote solutions tofacilitate and support themanagerial and operational

efforts of SMEs through educational, networking orlobbying efforts that leverage the resources andknowledge of AmCham and its membership. Co-Chairs: Alain Bobet; Cezary Krasodomski, CiscoSystems. More at www.amcham.pl/sme

Employee & Labor RelationsMission: To create an infor-mation exchange forum ofHR professionals to share,discuss and learn about thelatest trends in HR manage-ment and influence local pol-icy and decision-makers.

Co-Chairs: Jolanta Jaworska, IBM Poland; PeterStrupp, United Business Development.More at www.amcham.pl/labor

Travel & TourismMission: To provide a plat-form for discussing issuesand problems related totravel, leisure and the hospi-

tality industry and to providenetworking opportunitiesand to discuss trends andstandards in the industry that

will allow them to fully benefit from membership inAmCham.Co-Chairs: Stijn Oyen, Sheraton Krakw;Pamela Gmiter, Staffer Hospitality.More at www.amcham.pl/travel_tourism

Consumer ProductsMission: To provide aforum to share knowledgeand exchange experiencein all areas common andrelevant to manufacturersand distributors of goods.Co-Chairs: Magorzata Ur-

baska, CMS Cameron McKenna; AgnieszkaDzigielewska-Joczyk, HP Polska. More atwww.amcham.pl/consumer

Real EstateMission: To discuss issuesregarding the complexities

of the real estate market inPoland, and exchange in-formation. To be an educa-tional and networkingforum for members and tolobby and influence legisla-

tive departments of the Polish government. Co-Chairs: Halina Wickowska, K&L Gates; JohnBaka, Colliers International.More at www.amcham.pl/real_estate

Pharmaceutical Mission: To discuss andidentify common interestsand exchange informationregarding Polands pharma-ceutical market; to act as arepresentative body andcollective voice of pharma-

ceutical companies before governmental institutions.Co-Chairs: Jarosaw Oleszczuk, Abbott Laborato-ries; Roberto Servi, Eli Lilly Polska.More at www.amcham.pl/pharmaceutical

Outsourcing/High TechMission : To provide a plat-form for discussing, identify-ing and addressing commonSSC/BPO issues related tohigh-tech operations; tomaintain contact with localauthorities, educational and

governmental institutions to present a unified busi-ness perspective and to suggest ways of possible co-operation. Co-Chairs: Marek Suczyk, Kroll Ontrack;Jacek Stryczyski, Lionbridge.More at www.amcham.pl/outsourcing

Intellectual Property RightsMission: To advocate for IPRprotection and provide lead-ership that will bring to-gether interested partners;to share information with de-cision-makers and law en-forcement. The police, judi-

ciary, prosecutors, customs officials, legislators andjournalists are among the target groups, while thecurriculum of law schools should have more em-phasis on IPR. Co-Chairs : Agnieszka Wyszyska-Szulc, Philip Morris; Anna Lasocka, aszczuk & Part-ners. More at www.amcham.pl/ipr

Marketing & CommunicationsMission : To provide aforum for member firms toshare knowledge and ex-change experiences inmarketing, communica-tions and PR; provide edu-cational and networking

opportunities for member firms interested in theseareas; and serve as an advisory body for AmCham.

Co-Chairs : Anya Ogorkiewicz; Tadeusz Dulian, De-loitte. More at www.amcham.pl/marketing

InnovationMission: To monitor innova-tion initiatives within the Pol-ish government and acrossindustries and commercialorganizations, while advo-cating best practice acrossinnovation approach, disci-

pline, creativity, dimensions, and systems for mem-ber companies and the local government and busi-ness ecosystems. Co-Chairs: Alexander King, Moni-tor Group; Paula Wsowska, Cisco.More at www.amcham.pl/innovation

Defense & SecurityMission : To serve as a plat-form for defense industry is-sues and exchange relevantinformation. The committeecreates a networking forumand fosters a positive work-ing relationship with the gov-

ernment and people of Poland. Co-Chairs : Paul Za-lucky; Stan Prusiski, Sikorsky Europe.More at www.amcham.pl/defense

Energy & EnvironmentMission: To help membersdevelop their energy andenvironmental business inPoland. By helping mem-

bers work collectively toovercome any systemic diffi-culties encountered in their

business the committee aims to increase the level andquality of investment and activity in these sectors. Co-Chairs: Adam de Sola Pool; Jerzy Chlebowski, Mit-subishi. More at www.amcham.pl/environmental

European Union AffairsMission: To provide mem-bers with relevant informa-tion on EU-related issues,including EU funds, and torepresent American in-vestors before the Com-mission and the Polishgovernment. Co-Chairs:

Magdalena Burnat Mikosz, Deloitte; Jerzy Thieme.More at www.amcham.pl/eu

For the most recent information about the work ofAmCham Committees and upcoming events:

www.amcham.pl

AmCham Charity Drive 2011

For the 16th consecutive year, we are organizing the AmCham Charity Drive to help children from eight or-phanages across the country and one single mothers shelter in Somczyn. All gifts are welcome; however, asthese organizations struggle for everyday items, we encourage you to read the list below before making a deci-

sion on your donation. Please note that the single mothers shelter needs and appreciates basic articles, especiallyclothing and shoes for the winter. The items in bold are the most important.

In order to deliver the goods for Christmas we must have them by Friday, December 9, at the AmCham office,ul. Emilii Plater 53, 19th floor, 00-113 Warsaw. We are open from 9:00 am to 5:00 pm.

It is also possible to make cash donations to our Charity fund, which is used to purchase items on your behalf thatwe cannot deliver ourselves (e.g. coal and natural gas).

Our account number is:Fundacja Amerykaskiej Izby Handlowej w Polsce29 1030 1508 0000 0005 0093 8005

All companies that participate in this project will be listed on the AmCham web site (www.amcham.pl) andfeatured in the next issue of our magazine,American Investor.

Here is the list of needed items: Clothing (winter clothing, jeans, sweatpants, sweaters, coats, j ackets, skirts and dresses) Shoes (winter and sports) Coal and gas for winter heating Cosmetics for toddlers (baby oil, nursing cream, moist tissues and diapers)

Toiletries (deodorant for girls and boys, shampoo, body wash, toothpaste, etc.)and cleaning supplies (floor and bathroom cleaner, detergents, etc.)

Food and candy Educational items (books, computer programs, computers/laptops and backpacks) Beds and bedding, blankets, duvets and pillows Sports gear (sleeping bags, soccer balls, volleyballs and tourist equipment) Toys

If you want to help us make the holiday season a little brighter for those who need it most,please contact Anita Kowalska at +48 22520 5994 or e-mail [email protected]


9/23

light on the issue. The 2011 edition ofthe survey, delivered by StrategyOne, amarket research company, includedPoland for the first time. The study re-vealed that Polish businesspeople havediverse attitudes when it comes to therole of innovation as a part of the worldwe live in.

When it comes to a general belief in in-novation as a way of moving the economyforward, Polish executives do not differmuch from their peers in other countries.

Their faith in innovation is strong. Theysee innovation as a motor for draggingthe economy out of the crisis (88% of re-spondents in Poland said innovation isthe main tool to create a more competi-tive economy here), and they also per-ceive it as a tool for making commercialactivities more accessible to people (81%said innovation is one of the best ways tocreate new jobs) and greener (98% saidinnovation is the way to make the econ-omy more environment-friendly).

But when asked whether they believethat innovation will go beyond generatingprofit for innovative companies and con-tribute to the general welfare by solvingsocial and economic problems, the opin-ions were much less enthusiastic towardsinnovation. On the innovation optimismindex, one measure included in the In-novation Barometer 2011, Poland scored

70 out of 100 points, which placed thecountry in the same league as Germany.Antoine Harary, Director for Europe at

StrategyOne, who presented the report ata press conference in October, explainedthat the moderate enthusiasm about thepower of innovation to change life for thebetter revealed a belief among respon-dents that some social problems are toobig to be solved by innovation. Nonethe-less, Harary said, In Poland respondentsare very optimistic about improvingnearly all aspects of life, except healthconditions for citizens.

Paradoxically, while the sample inPoland pointed to energy and construc-tion as the sectors that could benefit themost from innovation, healthcare wasthird. When this finding is juxtaposedwith skepticism that innovation can solvehealthcare problems in Poland, it reveals

a perception that innovation may benefitthe particular business sector but notnecessarily benefit the society at large.

In most other branches of the econ-omy, Poles had limited faith in innova-tion. For instance, 9% of the samplepointed to media industries as being inthe position to benefit from innovation,6% distribution and retail, and 11%other.

One of the speakers at the press con-ference, Paula Wsowska, market devel-opment director at Cisco Polska, ex-plained that a large proportion of execu-tives in Poland do not see innovation be-

In 2007, TadWitkowicz, a US-based Polish en-gineer and scientistwho had founded asuccessful IT firm

and establishedOtago Capital, a ven-ture-capital fund forIT startups, con-ducted a competi-tion for businessplans to launch in-novative products onthe marketplace. In-novators from Polandsubmitted over 150entries, but none ofthem were feasible,according toWitkowicz. He toldyour reporter thatPolish innovatorswere rather imma-ture about the com-mercial potential oftheir inventions.

Witkowicz saidthat the typical mis-take these would-beinnovators make isthat they realizetheir innovativeideas first and thenlook for real prob-lems that their ideasmight perhaps solve.None of the proj-ects would pass theinitial, filtering-outphase in the US, hesaid. Those werenot ideas for start-

NOVEMBER-DECEMBER 2011 AMERICAN INVESTOR 1514 AMERICAN INVESTOR NOVEMBER-DECEMBER 2011

ups. They wereideas for incuba-tion.

Witkowicz alsosaid that the sub-missions did notdisplay an ade-

quate understand-ing of how venturecapital works. As aresult, none of theprojects submittedwould have sur-vived the first twoyears as startups.

o Four years on, thestory continues.This summer themedia in Polandheralded a break-through innovationin the internalcombustion en-gine by young Pol-ish academics atAGH University of

Science and Tech-nology, who haddesigned a systemthat redistributespart of the exhaustgas back to the car-buretor. Thanks tothe heat it deliv-ered, the systemdecreased fuelconsumption by anestimated 8%.

While there maybe easier ways ofdelivering heat tothe carburetor than

by bringing in exhaust gas from the en-gine, the bottom line is that the internalcombustion engine is dead in a fewdecades anyway because oil is runningout. A real breakthrough in the automo-tive business would be to invent a newgasoline. Meanwhile the industry hasplaced its bets on a completely new formof propulsionthe electric motorand isinventing around it, including new, morepowerful batteries and faster ways ofcharging them, as well as new forms of

power storage not based on batteries.Around the same time the media wereheralding the breakthrough inventionat AGH, at another polytechnic in Polanda team of programmers were slowly devel-oping new picture-analyzing software,which could be applied in surveillancecamera systems, among other uses. Theteam worked slowly because they hadbeen granted several million zloty in EUaid and had a comfortable timeframe tofinish the project. Their pioneering con-science was not bothered by the fact thatsuch picture-analyzing software was al-ready available from commercial vendors.

a bAlthough talk of innovation is itself noth-ing new, the phenomenon of innovation isstill hard to grasp. GEs InnovationBarometer, an annual survey of company

executives around the world on their atti-tudes toward innovation, sheds some

Source: GE Global Innovation Barometer 2011

Making the worlda better place

How optimistic respondents in eachcountry are that innovation couldsuccessfully improve citizens lives(Maximum: 100)

Source: GE Global Innovation Barometer 2011

No satisfaction?How satisfied respondents are aboutthe innovation framework in theircountry (Maximum: 100)

The future

is hereand now

A leading study plots Poland'sposition on the global innovationmap, but the coordinates are not

quite where they could be

yond the notion of an innovative prod-uct. As she explained, Most executivesdo not know that innovations can applynot only to products, but also to manage-ment and business models.

Another speaker at the conference,Magorzata Starczewska-Krzysztoszek,chief economist at the Polish Confedera-tion of Private Employers Lewiatan, citeda Lewiatan poll of small and medium-sized companies which revealed thatnearly 40% of SMEs in Poland under-

stand innovation exclusively in technolog-ical terms. They said they do not needinnovation in their business, she said.They do not believe, for instance, that ashoemaker can be innovative. They actu-ally said a shoemaker does not need to beinnovative.

ry While the belief among Polish executivesin innovation as a way to make the world abetter place is mediocre at best in theglobal picture, they scored well below theglobal average in another index: the over-all appreciation of the innovation con-textin other words, how executivesevaluate the conditions their country of-fers to companies for being innovative.

In this measure, Poland ranked fifthfrom the bottom. Somewhat surprisingly,the countries below it were Sweden,

Brazil, South Korea and Japan. Accordingto Harary, business executives in coun-tries as well-known for innovation as

Image:Ideago/FreeDigitalPhotos.net

COVER STORY: Innovation barometer


10/23


Tomasz wiok

COVER STORY: Innovation barometer

Sweden (think Tetra Pak and IKEA),South Korea and Japan (consumer elec-tronics and automotive), think theircountries do not do enough to support in-novativeness because they now see thelimits of their old innovation models,which were based on large companies andone-size-fits-all solutions. There is nodanger of Poland falling into this categoryof exhausted innovators. More likeBrazil, perhaps, the challenges in Polandappear overwhelming compared to the

conditions for encouraging innovation.The executives who appeared the mostoptimistic about conditions for stimulat-ing innovation come from countries thathave not seen much innovation yet, led bySaudi Arabia, the United Arab Emiratesand China. The two Arab nations are fac-ing the end of their wealth-generating re-sourcecrude oiland may feel theyhave no choice but to innovate to createother industries that will generate wealthfor them in the future. One thing that iscertain is that they have the money to dothat. China, on the other hand, is per-ceived as a global sweatshop but is des-perate to use innovation to move up theeconomic value chain.

pg w b...When looking in-depth at the areas evalu-ated for their pro-innovative potential,

Harary noted that globally most businessexecutives appreciate the chaining modelfor innovation, in which partnerships areimportant, because innovations can comefrom big companies as well as small onesor individuals. In Poland this model doesnot seem to be appreciated, however.

One factor that is very low in Polandand quite high in other markets is theissue of partners, said Harary. Only19% of the sample in Poland said theyneeded partners to bring innovation to

the market. In other countries, respon-dents identified this condition as criticalto successful innovation.

Lewiatans Starczewska-Krzysztoszeksaid this reflects the old-fashioned in-dustrial way of thinking about innovat-ing. It is not open-minded, she said,quoting from the findings of the Lewiatanpoll of 1,500 SMEs. Big companies donot think they need to cooperate withsmall companies, as this requires beinginnovative in new ways.

But this is all wrong thinking, accordingto Magdalena Nizik, managing director ofthe GE Engineering Design Center inWarsaw. She said a small organization anda global industrial giant can mutually ben-efit from cooperation. Our EngineeringDesign Center in Warsaw has been in apublic-private partnership with the PolishAviation Institute for 11 years, she said.Because of this partnership, we gainedaccess to the Polish scientific sector andcould access a lot of great talent at the be-ginning of our existence. On the otherhand, we help the institute understandthe global trends in innovation, productsand technology. We also give them accessto innovative and modern managementprocesses and practices, which is visiblein the way they cooperate with GE butalso in other areas. Nizik added thatwhen the partnership started, the insti-

tute employed around 100 engineers.Today the number is over 1,300a clearindicator of how fruitful the cooperationhas been.... While partnering between companies is aproblem, the GE Innovation Barometerrevealed that partnering between businessand academia is an even bigger problem.Only 44% of Polish respondents believeit is easy for companies to partner withuniversities for R&D, Harary said. That

is almost 40% lower than the global aver-age.

Harary noted that while it is importantfor universities to offer a quality educa-tion, being a partner to business is some-thing different. Here Poland is not doingthe greatest job of working for the benefitof business by educating future innova-tion leaders.

Nizik, who manages a company where95% of the engineers are products of thePolish technical education system, said

that Polish universities are regarded asproviding their graduates a good under-standing of basic sciences, which ishighly important in such industries asnuclear or aviation. However, we see thatthey do not teach risk-taking and collabo-ration skills, which are absolutely neces-sary in order to produce innovative engi-neers, Nizik said. Innovation does nothappen when you work alone. You need ateam globally, not only in one country, toinnovate in jet engines today.

Cooperation between business and aca-demia is a complex issue. According toTomasz Perkowski, vice president of theFoundation for Polish Science, who spokeat the conference, there are not too manycountries where such cooperation workswell: There are some good examples inthe US around big academic centers,such as Silicon Valley, but it is not wide-

spread.Perkowski said that in theory a lot isknown about how academia should coop-erate with business: We know about theties between academia and business, thatthe students should be trained how to co-operate with the private sector, that thereshould be brokers who sell innovationsmade by universities to business. Butthere is something elsean X factorwhich makes those models work in someplaces and not work in other places.

Perkowski said that in Poland all thosemissing elements will be in place in time.There is a special government agency,the National Center for Research and De-velopment, which will directly support se-lected research programs, he explained.Ther

Documents

American Investor November 2011