The strategy of investment and development of the French companies in Poland

This paper deals with the strategy of investment and development of the French companies in Poland. In a first part, the author discusses the theory of Foreign Direct Investment, more commonly called FDI: its different types and their alternatives, their motives, benefits and risks. In the second part, more practical, he studies the evolution of the FDI on different scales, always keeping in mind the French activism in the area: on a global basis, in Central and Eastern Europe and in Poland itself. Then he tackles a sort of SWOT analysis of the Polish market and point out foreign investors’ incentives to settle their activities in the country. The third and last section is dedicated to an analysis of cases in the service sector focusing on 3 key sectors of economy: the banking, the retail and the telecommunication sectors.

This paper deals with the strategy of investment and development of the French companies in Poland. In a first part, we will discuss the theory of Foreign Direct Investment, more commonly called FDI: its different types and their alternatives, their motives, benefits and risks. In fact, before entering into details we need to define a couple of principles and theories to better understand the challenges at stake. In the second part, more practical, we will study the evolution of the FDI on different scales, always keeping in mind the French activism in the area: on a global basis, in Central and Eastern Europe and in Poland itself. Then we will tackle a sort of SWOT analysis of the Polish market and point out foreign investors’ incentives to settle their activities in the country. The third and last section will be dedicated to an analysis of cases in the service sector. The French FDI in Central and Eastern Europe, and particularly in Poland, is mainly affected to that area; thus, we will focus on 3 key sectors of economy, more particularly of the tertiary sector, e.g. the banking, the retail and the telecommunication sectors.

Key Words - FDI, Foreign Direct Investments, investments, French companies in Poland, CEE, Central and Eastern Europe, Poland, France, service sector, tertiary sector, banking sector, the retail sector, telecommunication sector, Greenfield investment, Acquisition, Joint-venture, Attractiveness of Poland, Special Economic Zones, France Telecom, Telekomunikacja Polska, TP SA, Polska Telefonia Komorkowa Centertel, Polska Telefonia Cyfrowa, Vivendi Universal, Deutsche Telekom, Era, Idea, Orange, BNP Paribas, Société Générale, Credit Agricole, Cetelem, Calyon, Franfinance, Lukas Group, Europejski Fundusz Leasingowy, Eurobank, Carrefour, Auchan, Géant, Casino Group, Globi, Champion, Muszketrowie, Leader Price

[...] But as we said earlier, the amount of investment made by German investors is mainly due to mid-size companies by opposition to French Multinationals, which explain easily this Exhibit 2.I.3 / 6 Size of investments among the 4 major investors in Poland Source: Polska Agencja Informacji i Inwestycji Zagranicznych S.A. Trade between Poland and its partners In 2004, Poland has exported for $ 65 billion of goods and imported for $ 82 billion, which represents a trade deficit of $ 17 billion. [...]

[...] This paper deals with the strategy of investment and development of the French companies in Poland. In a first part, we will discuss the theory of Foreign Direct Investment, more commonly called FDI: its different types and their alternatives, their motives, benefits and risks. In fact, before entering into details we need to define a couple of principles and theories to better understand the challenges at stake. In the second part, more practical, we will study the evolution of the FDI on different scales, always keeping in mind the French activism in the area: on a global basis, in Central and Eastern Europe and in Poland itself. [...]

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