Lord Livingston’s Central European Diary – Day 2

GREAT to start the day off in Warsaw yesterday. A marathon of a day promoting GREAT British Polish opportunity. I launched a brand new ‘Business is GREAT – come to the UK – You’re Welcome!’ campaign. The UK is the leading inward investment destination in Europe. Polish companies you’re invited!

Lord Livingston enjoyed a number of interesting discussions with Poland’s Deputy Prime Minister Bieńkowska and Rail Minister Klepacki:

The modernisation of Poland’s energy infrastructure creates the most important immediate opportunity for British businesses”, explained Lord Livingston. “There are several billion Euros worth of investments already in the pipeline, and the expertise of British companies could have a major impact in maximising their value”.

Transport infrastructure is another priority sector. The European Union plans to allocate almost €40 billion to Poland in the period up to 2020, over €24 billion of which will be spent on infrastructure and environmental development. A significant allocation will contribute to the modernisation of Poland’s railway system.

“Thanks to EU funds, Poland is about to make a major step forward in terms of rail infrastructure. This will include track maintenance, the introduction of new trains and locomotives, and management systems. We understand this process because we have been through it ourselves in Britain. We therefore expect British expertise to be in high demand”, Lord Livingston said.

The Minister and his party took time to meet up with the new British Polish trade Team at the recently launched British Polish Business Centre. What a GREAT, full integrated business development platform for UK companies in this exciting market. See for yourself.

Landing in Krakow the Ministerial party was met by Malopolska Regional Governor Jerzy Miller and me. After a quick welcome at Krakow’s new airport we headed off for a tour of Rolls Royce and a meeting to discussion INNOVATION and British Polish Partnerships.

The day culminated with a superb dinner for 200 people in Krakow’s historical main square in the city’s art museum in the famous Cloth Hall – a well known trading place for centuries.

A quick chat to camera with Jerzy Miller summarised the day really well:

“I am very pleased to see interest in our country and region from the British Government and Entrepreneurs. The participants of Monday’s debates, representing both Poland and Britain, are partners which help us look forward with optimism about growing business relations between our two countries. I hope that this meeting is only the first step in our co-operation, mutual exchange of experience and investments, benefitting the many graduates of Malopolska region universities”, commented Jerzy Miller, Governor of the Malopolska Region.