For many years Poland and France have had strong relations not only on the socio-cultural level, but also on the economic one. France is one of our most important business partners. That is why I am all the more pleased about the recent willingness of France to further develop and to strengthen cooperation with the countries of Central and Eastern Europe, including Poland. Today's meeting is another proof of the interest of French business representatives in investing their capital in projects launched in our country, said Jarosław Gowin, Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Economic Development, Labour and Technology.

We are also looking forward to working with our French partners on joint innovative projects – for example with the support under the IPCEI mechanism – within the framework of EU industrial policy, EU competition policy and energy transformation, added Robert Tomanek, Deputy Head of the ministry.

Today’s meeting of the representatives of the Polish ministry with the delegation of the Association of French Entrepreneurs is the prelude to the visit of Prime Minister Jarosław Gowin to Paris planned for 11 March. Head of the Minister of Economic Development, Labour and Technology will meet there with, among others, the French Minister for the Economy and Finance, Bruno Le Maire, and the head of the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), José Ángel Gurría.

Polish-French economic relations

According to preliminary data of the CSO for 2020, France remains Poland’s 4th largest trading partner in terms of trade value (share in total Polish trade turnover – 4.6%). France has also for years been at the 4th position among our export markets (5.6% share in total Polish exports in 2020). In terms of the main directions of Polish imports, however, it was once again placed at the 6th place (share of 3.4%).

Bilateral trade grew year-on-year by 2020 and reached record levels of over 22 billion euros in 2019. In 2019, Polish exports to France amounted to almost 13.8 billion euros (an increase of 10.4% y/y), while imports amounted to around 8.5 billion euros (1.4% y/y). At that time, the positive trade balance in goods with France was around 5.3 billion euros. 

Since accession to the EU, Polish exports to France have increased by almost 350%. For years, Poland has also been a significant trading partner of France. According to the French Ministry of the Economy and Finance, in 2020 exports to Poland accounted for 2.2% of the total French exports, which places our country in 10th position among the main recipients of French goods. Our economy is also ranked 10th among the main suppliers of goods to France (share of 2.2%).

French investment supported by the Polish Ministry of Economic Development, Labour and Technology

One of the recent major French investments in Poland is the construction of the new PSA Group commercial vehicle factory in Gliwice, which started in 2019. Regular production is expected to be launched in mid-2022, the factory is supposed to produce around 100,000 light commercial vehicles per year. At least 300 people are to employed at the new plant. The value of the investment is estimated at about 1.1 billion zlotys. The PSA Group will receive 78.75 million zlotys in subsidies from the Ministry of Economic Development, Labour and Technology for the construction of a new plant, as part of the “Programme supporting investments of significant importance to the Polish”.

Representatives of the French SME sector

Mouvement des Entreprises de France (MEDEF, literally: Movement of French Enterprises) is the largest French federation of employers.  It was founded in 1998, replacing the National Council of French Employers set up in 1946.

Today, MEDEF brings together companies that employ more than 10 million employees, of which 95% are small and medium-sized enterprises. In addition, it gathers 80 trade federations and 600 trade unions.