It’s been just over three years since I last wrote in this column about Poland. Then, the EU was about to freeze funding to Poland because of their violation of the rule of law. I warned in my article that although Poland was clearly very attractive to Japanese companies, with stable economic growth over three decades and a cheap but educated labour force, this was not enough for long term sustainability if legal and state institutions were not stable, independent and transparent.
Now, after his victory in the October 2023 elections, Donald Tusk has become Prime Minister, replacing the former ruling Law and Justice (PiS) party. Tusk has arrested two politicians for abuse of power and has presented the justice reforms needed to unfreeze EU funds.
The number of people employed by around 300 Japanese companies in Poland has continued to grow despite the political and legal instability, to over 60,000, fourth in Europe after the UK, Germany and France. According to a recent JETRO survey*, Poland is seen as the most promising market by Japanese companies in Europe, for the fifth year running. This is a reflection both of its relatively large population and that it is still a developing economy.
The importance of Poland to Europe, both culturally and economically, was brought home to me again on my recent trip to Warsaw and Krakow. Although the largest Japanese employers in Poland are the manufacturers such as Sumitomo Electric Industries, NGK and Toyota, there are substantial numbers working in the services sector. I was there to deliver training to a newly established shared services group for a Japanese electronics company. Shared services has become an increasingly common feature of multinationals in Europe, whereby there are hubs in several countries, supporting all the European operations with logistics, HR, IT and legal services.
I went to Krakow, not for work, but to see the Manggha Museum of Japanese Art and Technology. It is named Manggha because this was the pen name of Felix Jasieński, a 19th century art connoisseur who collected Japanese artists such as Hiroshige. He donated his collection to the National Museum in Krakow where it was seen by the a young Andrzej Wajda, later to become a famous film director. Wajda later donated money to fund the Manggha Museum, which opened in 1994, supported by the Japanese government.
The JETRO survey also showed that Japanese companies have a strong interest in supporting the rebuilding of Poland’s neighbour, Ukraine. Poland has been a supporter of Ukrainian sovereignty, and for its integration into Europe since the fall of the Soviet Union. Relations between the two countries deteriorated somewhat, however, when PiS came to power in 2015. At the beginning of the Russian invasion, Poland provided strong support to Ukraine but in recent months tensions have flared up again. The hope, both for the EU and Japan must be that these tensions are resolved now Tusk is in power, although no resolution to the Russian invasion is in sight.
*https://www.jetro.go.jp/world/reports/2023/01/9692d660c7fb3d25.html
Top 30 Japanese companies in Poland 2021 – Rudlin Consulting
This article was first published in Japanese in the Teikoku Databank News on 14th February 2024
Photo of Manggha Museum – (Nemuri), Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
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