Among other things, Tadeusz Iwanowski from the Polish-Swedish Chamber of Commerce was there to speak. He made several important points about the developments in Poland.

- Poland has so far done relatively well through the crisis. As the only European country, Poland has shown positive growth during the first half of 2009. The financial crisis did not affect the Polish banking system particularly hard because the country's surveillance authority had acted conservatively in their regulation of banks.

- Poland has a strong entrepreneurial spirit and the private companies are very dynamic and flexible in adapting to changed economic conditions. The Polish currency is not tied to the Euro, which has meant that the zloty´s devaluation has improved the competitiveness of Polish exporters.

- The Polish industry is very diversified. Although the automotive sector is strong, it does not dominate the economy. In practice, this means that the crisis did not hit Fiat's production of small and cheap cars in the south pole in any significant way. We now even work three shifts at the factory.

- The Polish consumers are optimistic and have increased their consumption during the first half of 2009.

- Tax differences between Sweden and Poland are not the most important in the competition for investment. There is tax competition between countries like Poland, Czech Republic, Slovakia and Hungary, but also there is the most important considerations of costs, availability of skilled manpower, logistics and infrastructure.

The fact that taxes in Europe are generally much lower than in Sweden is important because it allows large private consumption, despite lower revenue.

- Developments in Poland have made it possible for Swedish companies to grow on a market with 38.5 million customers. The trade between Sweden and Poland has risen until last year, with about 15-25 percent annually. But there is great potential for an even greater exchange between the countries.

Besides Tadeusz Iwanowski and Skattebetalarnas (Taxpayers') CEO Robert Gidehag, Nima Sanandaji who authored a new report to taxpayers on developments in Eastern Europe spoke as well. He was commented upon by the Confederation of Swedish Enterprise's chief economist Stefan Fölster and the Swedish Federation of Business Owners chief economist Lars Jagrén.


                                                                                         Cecilia Helland