Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk is confident that Warsaw's new airport will be “the most modern in all of Europe”. The giant project, which must be completed by 2032, demonstrates Poland's new economic self-confidence, Dominik Feldges wrote in an extensive publication in the Swiss Neue Zürcher Zeitung. (NCC).
Infrastructure modernization
In the implementation of the large-scale undertaking, the country can use the experience gained in recent years with other large infrastructure projects. Mainly with European funds, the road and railway network were significantly modernized. Only a few years ago, the transit car traffic in this country was mainly on inter-city and inter-rural roads, but now it has been put on a modern highway network, the gaps of which are constantly being filled. Many things also happened in railway transport. Unlike Germany, Polish high-speed trains usually run on time and are surprisingly clean, we read in the post.
Improving transport infrastructure is a blessing for the Polish economy, the publication continues. Attracted by Poland's membership in the EU, its central geographical location and well-qualified workforce, many foreign companies have set up operations in the country. Their new, mostly highly automated factories rely on fast shipping to customers around the world by land, air and sea.
Poland is developing both industry and services
While Germany is deindustrializing, the opposite is happening in its once poor neighbor. Not only international multinationals such as Mercedes-Benz, ABB, Intel and Nestlé have discovered Poland as a good place to manufacture and provide services, especially in the information technology sector, but also more and more local entrepreneurs are investing in the economy. These are mainly suppliers of large corporations from abroad, who have established themselves as leaders in a certain industry. Thus, Poland seems to be repeating the success of countries such as Germany and Switzerland in the years of the economic boom of the last century, when large-scale investments by companies from the respective country ensured the rise of many medium-sized enterprises there, NCC recalls.
This is evident not only in the many new factories and office buildings. Ambitious local entrepreneurs also furnish luxurious showrooms, afford expensive homes and extravagant goods - such as works of art, vintage cars and even private jets. And the increased consumption allows the numerous stores to support themselves.
Prosperity for broad strata
Unlike developments in some parts of Germany, France or the United Kingdom, prosperity in Poland is not concentrated only in areas with large metropolitan areas. The ongoing upswing of the Polish economy is characterized by the fact that it also extends to large parts of rural areas. Wider sections of the country's population feel that things are going well. The rapid growth of wages in the face of acute labor shortages ensures that the purchasing power of workers increases rapidly.
Poland is quickly catching up with other countries in Europe. A comparative analysis by Eurostat last year showed that the purchasing power of the Polish population reached 86% of the European average, which puts Poland ahead of Spain (85%) and slightly behind Ireland (87%).
Still, residents of countries like Luxembourg, Germany and Austria can afford significantly more. But the differences in well-being, even compared to Germany, have become too small, which is why Poles no longer seek jobs en masse as seasonal workers, drivers or caregivers in Western Europe. And those who, despite everything, continue to emigrate are now more often managers who want to gain international management experience in countries such as Germany or Switzerland, explains “Neue Zürcher Zeitung”.
The longer this development continues, the more Poland will turn from a country of emigration into a country of immigration, the publication also says.
Correct reforms
On the same topic, the economic edition “Business Insider” adds that Poland's current economic boom is also due to the reformist policy of Prime Minister Donald Tusk, who wants to improve the situation with the rule of law. As the publication recalls, the previous conservative government of “Law and Justice“ (PiS) had pushed through many controversial judicial reforms, to which the EU responded by suspending part of its payments to Poland.
Now the new reforms of the Tusk government can bring the country 137 billion euros, recently predicted “Tagesschau“. The actions of the new Polish government are also approved by foreign companies – over 87% of them evaluate the economic policy of the government positively or at least neutrally. Administrative and energy policies, as well as infrastructure development efforts, are also highly rated among foreign investors, Business Insider also emphasizes.