Summarize of 6th Expo 2008

Polish entrepreneurs don't afraid of the financial crisis and they still want to invest their money in own business.

The 6th edition of the Polish Franchise Expo took place on 9-11 of October, 2007, collaterally with Your Money-Fairs.

On the 9 October Vice-minister of Finance Katarzyna Zajdel-Kurowska, President of Warsaw Stock Exchange Ludwik Sobolewski and President of Polish Banks Association Krzysztof Pietraszkiewicz opened Expo.

Participants of the 6th Polish Franchise Expo got huge amounts of serious leads. People, interested in running franchise business and people who were wondering about the possibility to make money in certain business areas, needed investments and requirements. Companies from sectors of clothes, financial, consulting, food industry, jewelry presented their offer of franchise cooperation.

The exhibitors on the 6th Polish Franchise Expo:

5-10-15; Ada Plus; Atlantic; Benedicite; Bo Concept; Cache-Cache; Collagena Botoxexpress; Fornetti; Glamour; Groszek & Milea; Gold Finance; Galtex; Hands For Retail; Laforet Immobilier; ING Bank Śląski; Lewanowicz; Lingua Nova; McDonald's; Mobilex; Mortimer English Club; Mr Hamburger; Naturhouse; Pekao SA; Polish Franchise Organization; Polish Hot Dog; Profit system; Remodis Data; Subway; Świat Spinek; The Earth Collection; Vandenberg; YES Biżuteria.

- We met a lot of potential franchisees interested in our license. I hope some of them will accept franchise agreement and than open the new restaurant - says Monika Dabrowska from McDonald's.

Exhibitors tried to attract visitors in many ways. People could find on stands clothes, jewelry and furniture. They could also taste hot-dogs and cakes.

Expo was not only place of meeting. Visitors could participate the educational forum. Pawel Jarocki (National Bank of Poland) talked about the level of economical knowledge among polish people. Arkadiusz Slodkowski (Polish Franchise Organisation) explained how to run a business successfully in the franchising system. Adam Warminski (McDonald's) presented conditions of the accession to the chain of the restaurants. Anna Plawinska from the Australian Embassy described the franchise market in Australia. Karina Korczyńska (Profit System) advised how to convert business into the franchising system.

- We decided to visit Expo in order to get some information about franchise. At the moment we are studying at the culinary school, but perhaps in the future we will found the restaurant in the franchising system - says Piotr Fergin from the technical college.

6th Polish Franchise Expo was visited by over 3 000 people. Next Expo will be organized on 15-17 October of 2009.

Poland - country of chance

Poland is one of the fastest growing economies in Europe which is confirmed by various market indicators such as Gross Domestic Product, Consumer Price Index, structure of the labour market, competitive wages, and dynamic foreign trade exchange. With GDP growth of 6.2% for the first quarter of 2008, Poland is developing much faster than the Euro zone (2.1%) and higher than the average of all 27 EU members (2.3%).

According to a survey commissioned by PAIiIZ in 2007 the main reason for investors to enter Poland is creating special economic zones and obtaining funds from the European Union. Costs of conducting business in Poland are significantly lower than in Western Europe. Also the labour cost are very optimistic for foreign investors. The wage level in the Czech Republic and Hungary is now higher than in Poland. According to Cushman & Wakefield Cities Monitor, Warsaw is the best capital city in Europe in terms of cost of staff. Also, the time required to start up a company is much shorter than in other countries. According to the World Bank, estimated time required to start a business in Poland is 31 days, in Hungary it is 38 days and 40 days in Czech Republic.

Poland lies in the Central-Eastern Europe. Total surface area of Poland is 322,500 sq km. This makes Poland the ninth largest country in Europe. The Voivodeship of Greater Poland (Wielkopolska) is exactly the size of Belgium. Poland's population fluctuates near 38,111,000. This makes Poland the 29th most populated country in the world and the 8th in Europe.

The major territorial division in Poland is voivodship (wojewodztwo). There are 16 voivodships in Poland. The primary urban and rural unit is municipality (gmina). Between the gmina and the voivodship ther is an intermediate unit - called district (powiat). The major Polish cities are Warsaw, Łódź, Cracow (Kraków), Wrocław (Breslau), Poznań (Pozen), Gdańsk (Danzig), Szczecin, Bydgoszcz, Toruń, Katowice and Lublin. The main geographical regions are Pomerania (Pomorze), Masuria (Mazury), Greater Poland (Wielkopolska), Mazovia (Mazowsze), Podlassia (Podlasie), Silesia (śląsk), Lesser Poland (Małopolska), and Sub-Carpathia (Podkarpacie).

General economic data (2007)

• Economic growth 6,6%
• Level of exports 101,142.5 M EUR
• Level of imports 118,770.8 M EUR
• Foreign trade - balance of payments - 17,628.3 M EUR
• Inflation rate 2,5%
• Unemployment 11,5%

Taxes

• Corporate Income Tax (CIT) 19%
• Personal Income Tax (PIT) 19%, 30%, 40%
• Value Added Tax (VAT) - basic rate - 22%
• reduced rates - 7%, 3%

Source: PAIiIZ, GUS, Eurostat