The 14th Congress of Polish Chamber of Steelwork (PIKS) was held on 11-12 October in Józefów. The event, focusing on international expansion of Polish steelwork businesses, was also attended by representatives of the Polish Cluster of Construction Exporters.
In the first segment of the Congress, Mr. Tomasz Szuba, Chairman of the Exporters Board of the Polish Cluster of Construction Exporters and President of the Board of TINES Capital Group SA, presented the idea behind the organisation and the possible directions of international expansions of Polish businesses. In his presentation, Mr. Szuba referred to the history of Polish construction, highlighting the fact that at the end of the 1980s, nearly 125 thousand Polish citizens worked on constructions conducted by Polish companies all around the world. He also emphasised that Polish construction brand is backed by potential and experience that allow Polish businesses to successfully compete for contracts on international markets. “The Cluster is ready to compete against the largest businesses for construction contracts around the world. However, we need tangible support from our government,” said Tomasz Szuba during his presentation..
Among the invited speakers were also Mr. Grzegorz Mickiewicz, Advisor to the Secretary of State, Member of the Council of Ministers, Prime Minister’s Representative for European Funds and Regional Development (presentation on the goals and plans of the Ministry of Development for reinforcing Polish economy), Mr. Michał Trojanowski, Strategy Practice Leader at ICAN Institute (presentation discussing the outcome of reports on exports of Polish businesses, i.a. motivations, goals and capabilities), Mr. Jacek Stryczyński, President of the Board of LionBridge Poland & Slovakia, and Ms. Anna Domagała President of the Board of NOMAX Trading Sp. z o.o. (presentation on custom marketing activities for campaigns on foreign markets).
The second segment of the event included two panel discussions. The first panel referred to building business development strategy on foreign markets; one of the invited experts was Rafał Lipiński, Vice-Chairman of the Polish Cluster of Construction Exporters, President of the Board of SEEN Holding Sp. z o.o. In his opinion on the motivations of Polish businessmen to take up exports, he said: “On the one hand, we begin considering exports when we succeed in our country. On the other, however, in the construction industry the decision to expand to foreign markets is often driven by the threateningly shrinking domestic market.”
The panel was also attended by Mr. Andrzej Byt, Poland’s former Ambassador to Germany and France, and representative of Międzynarodowe Targi Poznańskie Sp. z o.o.; Mr. Andrzej Kiercz, Director for Congress Centre at Targi Kielce SA; Mr. Jacek Stryczyński, President of the Board of LionBridge Poland & Slovakia Sp. z o.o.; Ms. Anna Domagała, President of the Board of NOMAX Trading Sp. z o.o.; Mr. Michał Trojanowski, Strategy Practice Leader at ICAN Institute; and Mr. Michał Woźniczka, Vice-President of the Board of ENERGOPROJEKT-KATOWICE SA.
The final event of the Congress was a discussion on best practices in foreign expansion. The discussion was attended by Mr. Krzysztof Burek, Vice-President of the Board of RAFAKO SA; Mr. Leszek Marek Gołąbiecki, President of the Board of UNIBEP SA; Mr. Marcin Lewandowski, Vice-President of the Board of PORR INFRASTRUCTURE POLSKA SA; Mr. Bartłomiej Pawlak, Member of the Supervisory Board of Polish Information and Foreign Investment Agency (PAIiIZ); Ms. Magdalena Rokosz, Managing Director of PKO BP SA; Mr. Robert Ruszkowski, Vice-President of the Board of VISTAL GDYNIA SA; Mr. Piotr Stolarczyk, Vice-President of the Board of KUKE; and Mr. Jacek Szugajew, Vice-President of the Board of BGK
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