Speaking at a business conference in the western city of Poznań, the Polish prime minister said his government's well-designed efforts were "attracting people from abroad."
“What gives me particular joy is that, over the past three years, 300,000 people have returned to Poland, that we have reversed the trend of the last 30 years,” he told the Impact ‘21 conference, which examined how the country has developed in recent years amid challenges including the coronavirus crisis.
Reflecting on the challenges of recent months, Morawiecki said that the COVID-19 pandemic showed how "the market isn't the answer" to all problems.
“Even the toughest competitors were collapsing, firms were going under and unemployment soared,” he said, as quoted by public broadcaster Polish Radio’s IAR news agency.
“Whole industries remain in dire straits, such as airlines, tourism and the food service sector,” he added.
'Mix of market and agile state'
He argued that “what can help us out of this predicament is not the liberal doctrine, but a mix of the market and an agile state ... a state which is able to create the best framework for doing business, which attracts people from abroad."
Morawiecki also told the conference that at the heart of Poland’s success story was an ability to improve the performance of state institutions, notably those responsible for collecting vale-added tax (VAT), the state PAP news agency reported.
“The gigantic hole in the proceeds from VAT has largely been plugged, but not entirely and there is still a long road ahead of us,” he cautioned.
Morawiecki said that stable public finances were a prerequisite for economic growth and in this aspect, “Western countries still serve as our benchmark,” he told the gathering.
For now, Poland has performed well, he added, and, as a result, it was "now better able to emerge from the crisis and search for routes into the future."
Impact ‘21 is a two-day Polish conference that brings together some 400 policy practitioners, business people and experts, providing a forum for discussions at the intersection of business, politics, science and modern technology, organisers said.
(pm/gs)
Source: IAR, PAP