For the past 15 years, governments throughout Central Europe have dramatically reformed their economies by moving commercial enterprises from state control to private ownership. This has resulted in foreign direct investment of over $100bn throughout the region. A myriad of opportunities and pitfalls have arisen for local entrepreneurs and foreign multinationals, and traversing this new landscape can be difficult.

Foreign investors must realize that besides the benefits that investing in Poland brings, there are challenges that investors face. Dealing with these can often lead to wasting valuable time and inefficiencies in the initial investment stages. Although we cannot completely resolve these problems, we can help to alleviate them.

Key issues of investing in Poland

• Bureaucracy and corruption
  There are still issues with the countries of Central Europe with excessive administration, bureaucracy and corruption in spite of their EU membership.
• Recruiting and training people
  Despite the highly skilled workforce and the high unemployment which suggests availability of staff, there are still problems. There have been difficulties attracting sufficient staff and training them, as well as merging the cultures of the local country and of the investor and dealing with trade unions. Low levels of investment in the eastern border regions, despite an available workforce, indicate that this area should be avoided.
• Poor Infrastructure
  One of the weakest aspects of Poland’s infrastructure and a major handicap to business and economic development is its poor road network. The sharp rise in private car ownership has also helped to deteriorate the country's roads. There are only a few two lane roads that connect the major cities. Road improvement and motorway building are critical components of any newly elected Polish government. However, development has been obstructed due to existing problems which include difficulty in the purchase of land, corruption, and a lack of interest from investors.