THE inaugural Northern Ireland – Poland economic conference taking place in Titanic Belfast on Thursday will bring together experts in the fields of politics, economics and business to foster business connections between both countries and develop bi-lateral business links already worth more than £200 million a year.
The trade and investment promotion section of the Polish Embassy in London is organising the conference in partnership with the honorary consul of the Republic of Poland in Northern Ireland, Jerome Mullen.
Local businesses are encouraged to register for this free to attend event. Jerome says:
Mr Mullen said: “The Northern Ireland - Poland conference will bring together eminent experts in the fields of politics, economics and business from Poland and Northern Ireland, in the one space, for the first time.
"It will provide local businesses and entrepreneurs with an excellent opportunity to get an insight into the economic growth of the central European markets and to make valuable connections with businesses, political leaders, market experts, major enterprises and regional chambers of commerce.
“More than a dozen Northern Ireland companies, including the likes of Kainos and Delta Packaging, already have a strong foothold in Poland. A significant section of the conference will be dedicated to the 'Discover Powerful Connections' session which promotes the most attractive Polish investment regions and presents the benefits of the ‘special economic zones’ policy in Poland.
“And we are also delighted to announce that His Excellency Witold Sobków, ambassador of Poland, will be guest of honour.”
One of the event speakers is Terry Cross OBE, founder of Belfast-based Delta Print & Packaging, which has just been acquired by Huhtamaki.
He said: “I will be giving delegates an insight into recent investment that Delta Packaging embarked on which resulted in the development of a 100,000 square foot production facility in Gliwice to expand the company’s European supply chain network.
"The new site allows the team to further develop existing relationships with our client base, while realising the full economic potential and incentives of exporting to the international market.
“The company’s success in recent years has attracted the success of Huhtamaki which recently acquired the Delta Print & Packaging sites in both Belfast and Poland. The company is now known as Huhtamaki Foodservice Delta and with forces combined, Huhtamaki will strengthen its position within the European foodservice packaging market and be able to expand its offering of fiber based packaging to packaged food and retail customers throughout Europe.”
Further insights on successful cooperation between Northern Ireland and Poland will be shared by Kainos Group, a fast-growing provider of IT services. Founded in 1986 and headquartered in Belfast, Kainos specialises in the development of digital technology solutions.
Kainos customers include large global organisations such as Netflix and Diageo, as well as public sector clients in government and healthcare. Many of these organisations are experiencing long-term structural change, and are working with Kainos to develop digital solutions that help them address new and emerging business challenges.
Kainos employs almost 800 staff in eight offices in various parts of Europe and the USA. Over 200 of these work from a flagship development hub in the centre of Gdansk, the historic trading capital of Pomerania in northern Poland.
Kainos selected this location in 2007 as its first mainland European centre, primarily because of the high quality of the local work force. Since then, the Kainos development hub in Gdansk has grown rapidly, and now forms a central part of the company’s development activities and growth plans.
Kainos Polish employees lead the development of the company’s innovative software products, and also work side by side with colleagues from other Kainos locations on client sites in the UK and Ireland.
To register your business to attend the Northern Ireland-Poland Conference, which runs from 9am to 5.30pm, log on to polishconsulateni.org/event/business-conference-belfast-2016 or email jeromemullen@polishconsulateni.org. The event is free of charge
