Infrastructure is lacking despite economic growth in largest of nations about to join European Union
Published:
29 March 2004 y., Monday
Just weeks before Poland joins the European Union on May 1, Warsaw struts a new prosperity. But all is not what it seems: Despite strong economic growth driven by exports, the country faces high unemployment, political uncertainty and deeply rooted corruption.
Paradoxes abound. Those who can afford new Volvos or BMWs must still drive them along potholed roads. The hip cafes that draw fashionable young people are often housed in drab Stalinist-era concrete block buildings.
And many of the luxury goods for sale in the bright new shops and malls remain off-limits to many in Poland, where only 1 percent earn above $18,000 a year.
Such contrasts exist in all eight former communist states due to join the EU, but the stakes are highest in Poland, the largest of the new countries.
With more than 38 million people, Poland accounts for 52 percent of the new EU citizens. Poles will be 8.4 percent of the union’s population, so its economy performance will have a major impact on the rest of the bloc, the world’s largest economic union.
Analysts say that Poland’s greatest economic strength is the many modern, efficient companies that have made the transition and are already selling successfully to EU countries.
Ten years ago, Polish exports consisted mostly of raw products like coal, sulfur, apples and meat. Today, exports also include higher-value goods like precision surgical instruments, pharmaceuticals and car engines.
Šaltinis:
detnews.com
Copying, publishing, announcing any information from the News.lt portal without written permission of News.lt editorial office is prohibited.
The most popular articles
Nils Melngailis, the Chairman of Parex banka, and Alex M Furber, American Express Vice President in Central and Eastern Europe, agreed to explore further options for co-operation.
more »
Every one of the Taiwan's 23 million population has been given a voucher worth the equivalent of just over 100 U.S.dollars.
more »
Commission cuts economic growth forecast as scale of financial crisis and ensuing global downturn become apparent.
more »
Wincor Nixdorf AG completed the first quarter of the current fiscal year with 7 percent growth in net sales and an 8 percent increase in operating profit (EBITA).
more »
New homes go up in the UK's eastern county of Norfolk. There is also the unusual take on selling new homes.
more »
Announces approximately 4,000 additional workforce reductions, primarily in the Mobile Devices business. Total cost savings from recent actions now expected to be approximately $1.5 billion in 2009.
more »
MasterCard announces organizational changes.
more »
Economic volatility , rising prices and a general pessimism about what the future holds were all opinions voiced in a recent “Eurobarometer” European survey.
more »
Wincor Nixdorf AG says it exceeded its profit goals for fiscal year 2007/2008, which ended Sept. 30, despite a battered global economy and a slight drop in retail sales.
more »
Across the country Australians are expected to spend over 10 billion U.S. dollars in post-Christmas sales.
more »