Among 14 SEZs operating in Poland, the Japanese companies are present in 12 of them with 3 major ones.Outside SEZ the Japanese investments are concentrated mainly in Warsaw. Manufacturing is the most common activity model of the Japanese located in SEZs (more than 60% of investments). The activities of the remaining Japanese companies are focused on wholesale and retail sales (almost 20%), followed by construction and transport/storage (more than 10%). Only four companies are focused on services. The detailed knowledge of Japanese companies’ operations could be crucial to encourage other businesses from a similar industry to invest in Poland, especially in the case of the no-deal Brexit, which creates an opportunity, that could be exploited could by the board members of SEZs, and by the “SEZ Poland”. Read More …

On September 25 Universal Postal Union (UPU) agreed to reform its fee structure under a proposal by the United States and averted the United States leaving the organization. The agreement was clinched in negotiations among 34 countries including China. From January 2021 US would be allowed to begin imposing “self-declared rates” for distributing foreign mail in the US territory regardless of the general UPU rates. Chinese online platforms e.g. AliExpress offer extremely cheap or even free of charge shipments of products to many countries while shipments to China are much more expensive. The difference is in fess paid by different countries for mail or parcel delivery within the territory of another UPU member. The higher cost of sending items to China puts foreign sellers mainly from the SME sector at great disadvantage comparing to their Chinese peers. In Europe Nordic countries are among the sharpest critics of the current rate system Business associations from various European countries have recently again requested actions from the EU officials to reform the UPU system due to its distortive impact on competition. Read More …

On 17 July 2018, the European Union and Japan signed an Economic Partnership Agreement (EUJEPA), which entered into force on February 1st, 2019. EUJEPA (which covers more than 600mln citizens) could play a major role for a private sector and governments. In Poland Special Economic Zones (SEZs) could become one of the most beneficial participants if management boards use specific advantages of EUJEPA regulations. There are 14 operating SEZs in Poland. in all 14 SEZs there are 72 Japanese enterprises operating and Japan was (data from 2016) the 5th country in terms of the amount of capital invested in the SEZs. Polish export to Japan ranks 13th among all EU countries (including UK). However, among countries, that joined the EU after 2004 Poland ranks 2nd – with slightly lower export value than Hungary (circa 1bln USD on 2017). Read More …

Chinese National Development and Reform Commission announced this week new set of regulations supporting the further development of the Boao Lecheng International Medical Tourism Pilot Zone. They support the development of the medical services targeting affluent domestic and foreign customers and also facilitate the import of required equipment and pharmaceuticals. For foreign companies exporting to the zone provides the easier way to enter the Chinese market. Streamlined registration procedures take a couple of months instead of 3-5 years and allow for use of foreign documentation in the registration process. Time and money consuming registration procedures discourage Polish drug companies from entering Chinese markets. Export to the zone could provide good export testing opportunity. Gaining customers in the zone could be a valuable step in entering the Chinese market. Read More …

The Polish Chamber of Commerce and Industry in Japan (PCCIJ) has been established in 2007 . Its operations cover wide range of activities, such as promotion, education, analysis and information. Japan External Trade Organization is a semi-governmental organization with 73 foreign offices in 55 countries (includes 13 European states). Number of entrepreneurial activities published on the official sites of PCCIJ and JETRO Poland declines. It makes impression, that both government-related chambers have not only hosted, supported or participated in fewer events, but also have decided to change their business profiles. Wisely and efficiently managed governmental or semi-governmental organizations could became a flywheel for trade and investments development. Especially for SME sector, which could find a lot of obstacles related to the cultural differences while entering distant markets. The role of PCCIJ is well-defined, and its support could be invaluable help for Polish SME sector in the complex Japanese market, where cultural factors play a major role in business. Read More …

On 3 September Yifan Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd announced its intent to indirectly acquire 31,7% shares in the Polish recombinant human insulin maker Bioton S.A. Bioton is the pharmacetical company listed on the Warsaw Stock Exchange and specialized in insulin and hormone based drugs. Yifan is the Chinese pharmaceutical company specialized in macromolecule biological drugs and listed on the Shenzhen SE. Yifan seeks growth opportunities both in China and abroad by targeting diabetes drugs as the key segment. In 2018 it acquired the drug developer Summitbioteck and its three insulin analogues. Chinese company needed the facility to have the drugs developed and manufactured. Bioton seemed to be a perfect match. Acquisition of Bioton shares will significantly strenghten Yifan’s control over supply chain. Bioton has recently lost its insuline distributor in China and needs stable orders, funding and access to markets. Yifan is one of the several industry investors seeking recently the manufacturing base and market opportunities in Poland. Cooperation with Yifan is an opportunity for recovery of Polish insulin exports to China. Read More …

On Jun 14th 2019 Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) and The European Space Agency (ESA) signed a cooperation agreement on the X-Ray Imaging and Spectroscopy Mission (XRISM). This is the first contract signed between JAXA and an European partner since 2015. JAXA was established in 2003 and has an operational budget of 1.4bln USD. It is one of the most influential space organizations in Asia. ESA manages the second world’s biggest space budget of 6.1bln USD and has 22 member states. Poland became an ESA member in 2012 and contributes 30 mln EUR annually. POLSA is a young agency in comparison to the European counterparts. Due to insufficient funding, the agency should mainly focus on selected areas such as monitoring ongoing international projects and projecting the future shape and size of the Polish market. POLSA doesn’t have (so far) closer relations with JAXA but several factors could create a suitable ground for future backstage contacts and could become driver of the stronger cooperation: 1) growing market combined with newly announced JAXA’s projects, 2) availability of the excellent Polish engineers Read More …

On August 29 European Commission imposed the definitive anti-dumping duties on imports of bicycles originating in the PRC. General duty rate is 48,5% with several companies granted lower or 0% rates. In spite of the previous duties imposed in 2013, the Chinese imports to EU have increased around 50% comparing to 2014. China has huge spare manufacturing capacity of 36 mln bicycles annually, that can be directed at the EU market. EU industry is still fragile and faces major challenges such as falling profitability and productivity, worsening cash flows, utilization of the recent investments. Unimpeded and unchecked inflow of the dumped Chinese imports would be harmful for industry stability and development. There are around 90 manufacturers with 4 500 employee in Poland producing annual output over 1,2 mln pcs of various types and applications. The majority of bicycles manufactured in Poland is exported. Allowing the free access of unfair Chinese competition to the EU would have serious impact not only on the domestic sales but mainly on the Polish exports. It could also hamper the growth of the foreign investments. Read More …

„No-deal” Brexit is the worst scenario for the UK based Japanese companies. Even though a few of them were already preparing to leave UK , the “hard Brexit” could create a snowball effect – mainly for the automobile industry. Japanese auto-industry in UK employs more than 60,000 people (manufacturing and sales jobs). The automobile industry fears several crucial factors connected to the no-deal Brexit such as: higher tariffs on vehicles, delays related to the new
status of the UK and increased bureaucracy. All those issues will disappear when a production cycle is moved to European Union. The question is if Poland could capitalize on the retreat of Japanese companies from automotive or other industries due to Brexit? Poland plays a significant role among East European countries for the Japanese enterprises, whose number present in Poland is constantly increasing (especially in Special Economic Zones). What’s more important, currently in Poland several Japanese auto-industry companies are present and they steadily invests. Read More …

Vossloh AG sold its Locomotives business unit to CRRC Zhuzhou Locomotive Co., Ltd., a subsidiary of the China Railway Rolling Stock Corporation Ltd. (CRRC). Upon the successful completion of the transaction Chinese company will become the owner of the largest supplier of diesel locomotives in Europe with 25 proc. market share.CRRC is one of the China’s national champions strongly supported by the Chinese state and the Communist Party of China. Stronger engagement in Europe will likely increase the competition with leading European manufacturers. CRRC expansion in Europe will increase competitive pressure on the Polish domestic enterprises and subsidiaries of foreign companies located in Poland. Read More …