Poles attract research and development

Poland has emerged as the research and development centre of Central and Eastern Europe.

Despite the low labour costs, unsaturated markets, and steady economic recovery that have made the Asia Pacific region attractive for semiconductor manufacturers, Poland has emerged as the research and development (R and D) centre of Central and Eastern Europe (CEE).

In setting up R and D in Poland, companies seek to lower costs, increase efficiency, improve quality, and diversify from their basic activities.

New Country Industry Forecasts from the Frost and Sullivan Economic Research and Analytics (ERA) team addressing the Polish automation and electronics industry reveal that potential investors in the automation and electronics industry should seek to capitalise on the opportunities in R and D.

"The automation and electronics industry is one of the leading manufacturing sectors in all industrialised and newly industrialising countries of the world", notes Frost and Sullivan Research Analyst Meera Krishnaswamy.

"Due to its pervasive applicability, the industry is strongly linked to macroeconomic conditions and also considered a leading indicator of the health of an economy".

Growth and development in this industry affects other end-user industries such as consumer electronics and computers.

Due to its strong linkage with the economy and other industries, trends in this industry are conscientiously tracked.

Over the years, the production base of electronic components and semiconductors sectors have shifted from the developing countries of North America and Europe to the emerging markets of Asia Pacific and Latin America to capitalise on low labour costs and other conducive market conditions.

However, Poland has the highest population of such centres among the Eastern European countries.

Several multinational corporations (MNCs) have chosen Poland as a location for their R and D centres.

There are 40 R and D centres belonging to foreign investors in Poland, employing over 4500 people.

"For many companies, Poland is the obvious choice due to the availability of highly qualified labour force, presence of universities, support of authorities, the largest market in central Europe, and possibly the lowest labour costs on the continent", explains Krishnaswamy.

"The biggest R and D centres are located in Warsaw, Cracow and Wroclaw".

Most top MNCs in the industry have sales, marketing, and support centres in Poland.

However, the presence of production facilities is minimal.

The number one companies in the automation and semiconductor industries, namely ABB and Intel, have chosen Poland as their R and D hub.

These centres have become successful and the companies are continuing to expand their presence in the country.

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