WE Ambasady RP w Tel Awiwie Maj 2012

Attractive Business Partner

  Territory of Poland covers area of 312,7 thousands of sq. meters and is 15 times larger than Israel.

The total length of Poland’s borders is 3511 km. : - with Czech Republic - 796 km - with Slovakia – 541 km - with Ukraine - 535 km - with Germany- 467 km - with Byelorussia- 418 km - with Russia 210 km - with Lithuania 104 km 2

     Population of Poland in December 2011 was 38,3 million inhabitants.

Main cities: Warsaw (capital, 1,7 mln). Krakow (760 thousand), Łódź (740 thousand), Wroclaw (635 thousand), Poznań (550 thousand) The official language ​​in Poland is Polish.

Poland has a range of natural resources such as copper, coal, lignite, zinc, lead, salt, sulfur, natural gas, limestone and gypsum.

The official currency in Poland is Polish Zloty (PLN). 1 PLN = 100 groszy. The exchange rate in May 2012 was 1 EUR = 4,29 PLN, 1 USD = 3,35 PLN. 1 PLN = 1,14 NIS.

Currency can be exchanged at banks or exchange offices 3

    The network of paved roads in Poland is about 200 thousand km of which 1300 km constitute highways (400 km is under construction. Planned highway network is 2000 km) and 850 km express roads (850 km under construction. Planned express roads network is 5500 km) The total length of railway lines is about 23 thousands km. Density of the railway net is 7,1/100 sq km. The railway network in Poland is currently under intensive modernisation.

In Poland there are 12 airports with passenger traffic. The largest one, Warsaw F. Chopin airport serviced 9,3 million passengers. Over 35 sea ports are located in Poland. 4 of them support for the international transport. Others are specialized ports (such as oil terminal, coal, chemical), fishing ports and marinas.

4

   Poland entered the Schengen Agreement in December 2007.

Citizens of Israel holding passport valid for at least 6 months may come to Poland (as well as to the other „Schengen” countries) without visas for up to 90 days.

Visa-free travel only applies to tourist/business arrivals.

Guests arriving for the other purposes and for a period longer than 90 days must first obtain the appropriate visa at the Polish Embassy in Tel Aviv.

13 days during the year in Poland is the official public holidays (2 days fall always on Sunday). The „National days” are two – 3rd of May, day of 3rd May Constitution and 11th of November , day of Independence.

5

Poland is Parliamentary Republic. The Parliament consist of two legislative bodies: The lower house – Sejm and the upper house - Senat The head of the State is President elected every five years

‣ ‣ ‣ Executive government in Poland is Council of Ministers. The president appoints as Prime Minister the leader of the party that won elections to Sejm.

Economic affairs are the responsibility of the Ministry of Economy. State finance deals with the Ministry of Finance, and the creation of money, interest rates, etc. corresponds to the National Bank of Poland.

The structure of economic self government is similar to the structure in Israel. There are different chambers of producers, industry or commerce, but their membership is not compulsory.

7

 2010-2011 was the period of gradual recovery of the potential of Polish economy, after slowdown observed in 2009. In 2011 GDP growth amounted to 4,3% as an effect of the increase in individual consumption of 3,1% and growth of investments by 8,5%.

 In the period of January-December 2011 the annual average consumer price index (CPI) amounted to 4.3%.

The fastest growth was observed in transport prices (by 7.7%), in which fuels by 13.7%. The costs of the use of housing and energy carriers increased by 6.2%.

Simultaneously producer price index surged by 7.6% and construction prices increased by 1.0% (yoy).

8

% 7,0 2,0 1,0 0,0 6,0 5,0 4,0 3,0 1,4 2002 3,7 2003 5,1 GDP of Poland 2002-2011 6,7 6,2 5,0 3,3 1,8 3,8 4,3 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 9

  Main macroeconomic indicators 2011 : Price index of consumer goods and services Index of sold production of industry Index of construction and assembly production Average monthly wages and salaries in the national economy in PLN Average employment in enterprise sector in thousand persons Unemployment rate (%) Balance of payment (in million euro) 2011 104,3 107,5 112,0 3.400

5.544

12,5 Current account Trade balance Export revenues Import expenditure Services’ balance Capital account Financial account Direct Polish external investments Direct foreign investment in Poland -15.220

-10.303

137.981

148.284

4.885

8.033

18.396

-4.092

9.929

10

 Poland is a perfect place for investments and business expansion. Poland’s 38 million strong consumer market is one of the biggest in Europe. The country’s favorable location, in the centre of Europe, where the main communication routs intersect, makes it possible to export goods to all European countries and thus reach over 500 million consumers. The next advantage of doing business in Poland are well educated employees, such as: economists, engineers, IT specialists or scientists and Poland’s sustainable development which is the result of solid economic foundations. In 2010 the inflow of foreign direct investments (FDI) to Poland amounted to EUR 6 686 million.

11

Poland, member of the European Union apply “Euro-Mediterranean Agreement establishing an association between the European Communities and their States, of the one part, and the State of Israel, of the other part”.

In addition, Poland and Israel are signatories to the following bilateral agreements: Agreement for the Promotion and Reciprocal Protection of Investments of 22.05 1991 Agreement for the Avoidance of Double Taxation and the Prevention of Fiscal Evasion with respect to the Taxes on Income of 22.05.1991

Agreement on Cooperation in Culture, Science and Education of 22.05.1991

Agreement in the Field of Economy, Science and Technology Regarding Cooperation Applicated to Agriculture and Food Industry of 04.10.1991

Cooperation Agreement in the Field of Posts and Telecommunications of 14.01.1997

12

Agreement on Cooperation and Mutual Assistance in Customs Matters of 15.06.2000

Agreement on Cooperation In Tourism of 14.01.1997

Agreement on Cooperation in the Fields of Health and Medicine of 11.09.2006

Agreement Concerning Veterinary Services and Animal Health of 19.05.1989

Agreement on Technical Cooperation in Dairy Development of 19.12.1996

Air Transport Agreement of 27.02.1990. This agreement will be gradually replaced until 2017 by the „Open Sky Agreement” between the EU and Israel 13

14