On 5–7 November 2025, the 6th edition of the PAIH Business Forum (PFB) was held at the National Stadium in Warsaw. The event provided an opportunity to summarise the successes of Polish exporting companies, hold expert discussions, and conduct business meetings.
What’s behind us, what lies ahead?
The PFB was inaugurated with a speech by the father of Poland’s economic transformation, Prof. Leszek Balcerowicz, entitled “The Polish Economy. What’s Behind Us, What Lies Ahead?”
The Polish economy he encountered in 1989 was in a state of collapse. Unprofitable state-owned enterprises were unable to meet even the basic needs of the domestic market, let alone export goods. It was therefore necessary to implement unpopular reforms that laid the foundations for a market economy. State factories had produced goods to fulfil often abstract plans of the Central Committee of the Polish United Workers’ Party (PZPR). The aim was to replace this system with private factories producing goods in order to earn money by selling them on domestic and foreign markets.
The side effects of Prof. Balcerowicz’s reforms included the collapse of many state-owned enterprises and the emergence of unemployment in Poland. However, their main objective was achieved. An economy full of competitive private companies was created. Between 1989 and 2024, Poland’s GDP more than tripled. Over the same period, Polish exports increased twenty-fivefold. Today, there are more than 2.8 million companies operating in Poland, 26,000 of which are engaged in export activity.
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