Successful German-Polish Business Breakfast Hosted in Krakow
German-Polish economic relations in recent years are an impressive success story - that we can further build on.
The bilateral trade turnover between Poland and Germany has reached yet a new record in 2022. Poland has thus defended its fifth place among Germany's most important trade partners - ahead of Italy or Austria. The eastern German states have contributed significantly to this development. The value of foreign trade between Poland and Saxony has doubled since 2010.
These are just some of the reasons why Invest Region Leipzig (IRL) puts a specific focus on the Polish market and its expanding companies. Since 2018, IRL has been working with a representative in Poland to promote the economic region Leipzig and its advantages to companies through selected projects and activities. Leipzig Region is an ideal starting point for Polish companies to enter the German market and easily access all DACH-countries (Germany, Austria, Switzerland).
The activities implemented by IRL and its representative in the past years consisted of visiting or participating in trade fairs, congresses, or conferences, but also approaching companies directly. Additionally, a partner-network of multipliers has been established successfully throughout Poland’s major cities. In addition to institutional multipliers, groups of people who are active in the business development environment and support companies in their expansion and internationalisation efforts have been targeted.
In early June 2023, IRL was able to use its established network to host a joint event with the Krakow Chamber of Commerce and Industry. As one of Leipzig’s long-standing partner cities, the location Krakow is of particular importance for our region. Together with the Chamber, IRL hosted a “German-Polish Business Breakfast” in Krakow on June 6. The event particularly targeted entrepreneurs as well as managers responsible for the internationalisation of companies.
The program and speakers for the event were selected accordingly. The presentations included information on the economic diversification of the German market and of course on the investment advantages of the thriving Leipzig Region. Two external speakers from IRL’s network additionally shared information on specific topics that were considered to be of interest to companies looking to expand into Germany. We were happy to have welcomed Mr. Tomasz Baron, legal adviser from the Polish-German law firm TIGGES Rechtsanwälte, who presented formal and legal issues concerning doing business in Germany, and Ms. Magdalena M. Jurga, representing PEAC Solutions Europe, who shared insights on leasing as a financial support instrument for production companies.
The event was promoted by the Chamber via its member network as well as by IRL through its online and social media channels. The business breakfast attracted many potential investors who got to know the Leipzig economic region (even better). In the future, additional events of a similar nature are foreseen, to promote our region and the services of IRL to Polish companies.