Deputy Prime Minister Jarosław Gowin, together with Deputy Minister of Economic Development, Labour and Technology, Robert Tomanek, presented at the Wednesday press conference the results of the consultations that are to be the basis for the White Paper on Industrial Development. Ministry received over 300 reports on the various barriers the industry is currently facing. Representatives of sectoral chambers, entrepreneurs and NGOs also proposed specific solutions that could improve the situation of industry. The conclusions drawn from the demands collected as a result of the dialogue with entrepreneurs will be the basis for the development of the Industrial Policy of Poland.

Deputy Prime Minister Gowin emphasised that his priority in as a minister is to act in dialogue with employers and workers, which is why the new Industrial Policy of Poland – one of the flagship programmes of his ministry – is being developed in dialogue with industry representatives.

Implementing this idea in practice in January this year, I invited industry, sectoral and non-governmental organisations and scientific bodies to participate in broad consultations. I asked them to define the most serious barriers and to propose the most effective solutions by which the various branches of the Polish industry would meet the challenges of the modern market,

said Minister of Economic Development, Labour and Technology, Jarosław Gowin.

He assured that the proposals collected for the White Paper would be implemented, among others, through legislative and deregulation changes in the framework of the Legal Shield for Polish entrepreneurs, which is already being worked on in the ministry.

I assure you forcefully that the conclusions and recommendations contained in the White Paper on Industrial Development will be reflected in the new Industrial Policy of Poland programme,

said Jarosław Gowin.

Minister announced that the result of the ongoing dialogue related to the development of Poland's industrial policy will be a trade contract setting out commitments jointly defined by both parties – business and administration.

The package of proposals and comments contained in the White Paper is a very rich material not only for working on new industrial policy; it is also a kind of image of the Polish industry with its problems, indicating what is disturbing it, rather than proposing solutions. In preparing the new industrial policy, we need to take consider both these areas,

emphasised in turn Deputy Minister of Economic Development, Labour and Technology Robert Tomanek.

White Paper on Industrial Development – seven key barriers

In the White Paper on Industrial Development, entrepreneurs presented horizontal and sectoral barriers and proposals on how to remove them.

Proposals contained in the document will be used to develop the concept of intervention and action in the new Industrial Policy. They will also be the basis for launching the necessary legislative changes and will contribute to creating a catalogue of support instruments targeted at specific industries. We plan the completion of works on the draft Industrial Policy for Q2 2021.

The analysis based on the business indications shows that the industrial development continues to be challenged by: 

• education system not adapted to the needs of individual industries,
• staff deficit,
• difficulties in accessing preferential forms of financing, including R&D financing,
• problems related to environmental regulations, including waste management,
• lengthy and complex administrative procedures, including legislative inflation and a high level of legal complexity,
• provisions of labour law,
• costs of carrying out economic activities related to energy prices.

Industrial development based on specialised staff

The analysis of the consultation regarding the White Paper showed that currently, the biggest barrier in improving the situation of the Polish industry is access to workers, adapting the skills of workers to the changing needs of industry, including in the new emerging professions.

In order to counter this phenomenon, entrepreneurs raised in the document the demands of creating instruments to support them in changing the skills of workers, ordering educational outcomes and industrial cooperation with schools and universities, in order to adapt the skills profile of the graduate to the needs of the individual sectors.

Financing of innovation activities

Another barrier reported is the question of extending the possibilities of obtaining funding in the form of grants and low interest/dead repayable funds, including supporting investment and R&D. Entrepreneurs have also repeatedly referred to problems in obtaining preferential financing for companies outside the SME sector.

Simple law, simple procedures, stable business conditions

Another major challenge faced by Polish companies is to meet the requirements of the circular economy and related to excessive regulatory burdens and obligations on waste management.  Entrepreneurs also reported the problem of increasing costs of business in the context of rising energy prices.

Other diagnosed barriers include long and complex administrative procedures, as well as large variations and legal uncertainty which negatively affect the stability of running a business.

Further needs of companies were related to the revision of the Labour Code, and changes in the employment of foreigners.

Industrial Policy of Poland – a priority in the development of the Polish economy

The creation of a new industrial policy supporting the construction of a competitive and resilient industry is a priority of the Ministry of Economic Development, Labour and Technology under the direction of Deputy Prime Minister Jarosław Gowin. The Industrial Policy of Poland is to be one of the main pillars for the development impulse of the Polish economy developed within the framework of the Plan for Labour and Development prepared by the ministry.

To this day, state policy has focused on addressing issues such as smart and clean mobility, sustainable economy and energy, digital transformation, economic security, using such solutions based on, among others, developing key technologies that are applied across many industries.

As part of the new industrial policy, we want to complement this approach and focus on solving specific, well-defined problems in particular industries. We want to obtain it by using of legislative and programme instruments tailored to their needs.

The tools for implementing the Industrial Policy of Poland are to include the deregulation of certain provisions (e.g. in the framework of the legal shield), industry contracts (principles and rules for cooperation between individual industries and the state concluded on a multi-annual basis), purchasing policy (instrument defining possibilities of using public procurement to support economic development), research agendas and sectoral R&D programmes.

The aim of the Industrial Policy of Poland is also to strengthen Polish exports and to effectively position Polish companies on global markets.

Following the conference presenting the results of the consultation on the White Paper, a webinar was held on opportunities and challenges faced by the Polish industrial policy. It was attended by Deputy Prime Minister Jarosław Gowin, Vice-Chairman of the Management Board of Export Credit Insurance Corporation, Katarzyna Kowalska, member of the Social Dialogue Council and one of the founders of Business Centre Club, Grażyna Magdziak, member of the Entrepreneurship Council at the Polish President's Office, Małgorzata Podrecka, and President of Polish Confederation Lewiatan, Maciej Witucki.