A couple of weeks ago, I had the pleasure to attend several events in Poland and was very much impressed with what the Poles have achieved in the last 25 years in terms of economic growth and infrastructure development.
Polish Roots?
My great grandfather, Mendi Rosenberg emigrated to the Unites States in 1895 from Rzeszow which had become part of Austria in 1772 after the first partition of Poland. My grandfather, Benjamin, was the sixth son of Mendi and Leah Rosenberg and while he was born in new York City in 1903, we understand some of the older boys were born in Rzeszow.
To be honest it took some time in Poland for me to be able to properly pronounce Rzeszow which is now a thriving city with its own airport and an exciting aerospace and software industry.
Polish Progress
Over the last 25 years the polish economy has grown to become Europe’s 6th largest economy with GDP at over €10.000 and Poland has become an attractive place for manufacturing, engineering services and of course construction as the country is still building out its infrastructure after many years of neglect.
One of the events I spoke at was the annual conference of The Executive Club, a business organization, which works in collaboration with former President, Aleksander Kwaśniewski’s Europae Amicus Foundation. The conference’s sponsors include many of Poland’s leading companies which are now in the process of internationalization to the nearby baltic states, Ukraine, Russia, and beyond. The leading oil company, Orlen, for example, has even acquired upstream assets in Canada’s tar sands. What I saw at this conference was a deep faith in the strength of Polish business which was determined to build on its past success and to play a role on the European stage. The issues which were discussed at the conference was Europe’s role in a changing global economy and the need for Poles to continue to invest in infrastructure and innovation to help ensure a bright future.
The other event I spoke at was a gathering of the IESE alumni association in Poland which was largely attended by graduates of our Advanced Management Program which is offered in Warsaw and Barcelona. WHat I saw there were terrific examples of a relentless entrepreneurial spirit, deep pride in the achievements made by Poland over the last 25 years and firm resolve to confront Poland’s problems in the future.
Polish problems
Poland, like any other country, has its fair share of problems which include the need to continue to invest in innovation, serious air pollution in some cities, and the deeply worrying situation between Poland’s neighbor to the East, Ukraine and Russia.
One of Poland’s strengths are its highly educated population and excellent universities. Proof of this are the more than 2 million young polish men and women who are currently working in other European countries and using their languages and education. Additional proof can be seen in in the automotive industry where companies are hiring engineers in Poland for the combination of high productivity and relatively low costs as compared to the U.S. and Germany. Polish universities, however, were also seen as too theoretical by many of the attendance at both conferences who felt that one of the challenges was to bring them closer to the concerns of industry and commerce.
Poland also suffers from a smog problem as 90% of its electricity is produced from coal and increased prosperity has put a total of more than 19 million cars on polish roads (328,000 last year) which are not yet in condition to handle them. Besides smog Poland also suffers from some of the worst traffic accidents in Europe according to the Economist.
In speaking with our alumni, however, the biggest cloud on the horizon for Poland is the continuing conflict in Eastern Ukraine and Russia’s ambitions in the region. Last year, I had the privilege of interviewing former President Lech Walesa who spoke at our Fast Forward program about how he and his colleagues managed to bring about Poland’s transition with 2 million Russian troops stationed in Poland. This year, I spoke with Aleksander Kwaśniewski, who succeeded Walesa, about the situation in Ukraine and he is convinced that Vladimir Putin is playing a long game and will settle for nothing less than bringing all of Ukraine back into Russia’s orbit one way or another.
My visit coincided with the 5th anniversary of the Smolensk disaster which killed Polish President Lech Kaczynski and 95 other people and for which many Poles suspect Russian involvement.
Polish Resolve
Despite these problems the Poles I met are excited about the future and resolved to face whatever may come. They are proud of the achievements to date and determined to catch up with the other countries in Europe. Even with respect to Russia the Poles I met look East with firm resolve to protect the gains they have made in the last 25 years.