An ‘under-the-radar-economic-star’ is how one international analyst has described Poland but what is driving this countries successful development?
Poland’s new minister for entrepreneurship and technology, Jadwiga Emilewicz’ Chris Burns explained: “People in Poland started to think innovative. That is very optimistic, and I’m very excited about taking part in this process. “Of course in this first period, one of the most important things was to encourage foreign investment and foreign investors to come to Poland and organise the new labour market. Today, when we’ve got some of the lowest unemployment in Europe, this is not a problem anymore."
An example of early foreign investment that occurred in Poland was Nicolas Lapp’s family. His father travelled from France to the northern port of Gdansk, where dockworkers had fought against Soviet-era communism. It was in this location, 35 years ago, that they launched a company building luxury catamarans, Sunreef Yachts. “We are French and of course when my father went to Poland for the first time, all the people were saying, ‘What are you doing there?’”, recounted Lapp. “But in the end I think that he made a good choice, because he had a vision that Poland would develop, and I think he felt it in a good way.”
For Nicolas Lapp, the head of the construction company, Poland offered some unique opportunities for the business: “The shipyard of Gdansk is a very historical place, but as well you can find a lot of skilled people here to build a boat – in all fields. If it’s stainless steel, it can be for the woodwork, for the composite, for the sailing people who will know about the sails, the engineer about the engine.”
Jadwiga Emilewicz admits that Poland’s economy still looks more imitative rather than innovative but states it has changed tremendously - not just its developing cities with impressive skyscrapers but in the facilities they offer: “We are famous for IT, for biotech, and that is why the global biotech companies decided to locate here. R&D sectors, but also the Polish companies are catching up. Smart geeks are developing innovative solutions for the banking sector, for the fintech sector. And IT is something which is doing very well in Poland.”
As this entrepreneurial innovation in Poland grows, significantly more local start-ups are taking their ideas to a global audience. One of those companies is NUADU, an educational platform for children that uses positive enforcement to engage learning. “We’re using AI and very advanced data algorithms to be able to adjust the path each student is taking through their learner progression,” said NUADU Vice-President, Pawel Czech. The company, which began as a small business in Poland, now works with schools across three continents: Europe, Asia and South Africa.
Another Polish success story is that of Dr Irena Eris, a cosmetics company named after its founder. Irena Eris and her husband began the company. Starting from just them two, it has now grown to more than 1000 employees. What was once a small range of tubes of face creams has turned into a network of spas and hotels. The company has even become a member of Comite Colbert, the exclusive French club of luxury products. Their ambition does not end there, “In the future we want to double our production,” says Irena Eris. “We want to expand in the world and to have success there. And it’s my dream and I believe we will do it.”