Focus on Central & Eastern Europe

As part of our Emerging Markets webinar series we teamed up with the British Chambers of Commerce and UK Trade & Investment to highlight the opportunities for UK businesses in Central & Eastern Europe.

We started with Poland and Slovakia, two diverse and emerging markets that now have accredited British Chambers of Commerce overseas business networks to help British businesses enter and thrive in-market.

In the below webinar you can find out about the opportunities, key considerations and in market support available to grow your business in Poland, Czech Republic, Slovakia & Romania:

http://youtu.be/8LQNsukXXjg

Speakers: Patrick Ney, Director, British Polish Chamber of Commerce & Chris Plant, Chief Executive Officer, British Slovak Business Centre.

You can watch all of the webinars in our Emerging Markets webinar series on our YouTube playlist.

Click here to download the PDF version of our webinar presentation.

To support our Emerging Markets webinar series, Export Britain has uploaded some in-depth market snapshots. We have featured four of them below, and you can find many more here.

Czech Republic

Trade outlook
A pick-up in activity in the country’s main trading partners should lead to a rise in exports in 2014. The largest trade partners for the Czech Republic include Germany, Poland, France and the UK. To ensure economic growth, Czech Republic needs to expand widely its foreign trade, not only in the EU but also in the rest of the world. Czech Republic’s exports to Asia were at almost constant rates, around 3 to 4% of total exports. Czech Republic’s trade structure has transformed, with trading with Asia becoming more prominent.

Opportunities for UK Businesses
Czech Republic offers UK businesses a sophisticated market where English is widely spoken and where British products are well received. Czech Republic is located at the heart of Europe offering very good links to neighbouring markets. The country’s well-developed infrastructure, and skilled labour force attracts strong flows of foreign direct investment. Opportunities for UK businesses lie in numerous sectors including: food & drink, consumer goods, retail, science & technology, education & training and advanced engineering.

Click here to view the Czech Republic full market snapshot

Poland

Trade outlook
The bulk of Poland’s goods exports will continue to be bought by large European countries like Germany, France and the UK as a result of the EU single market. However, although they are likely to remain a small proportion of total exports, the most dynamic trade relations will be with emerging Asia. This is forecast to be the case both in the short term, as the Asian economy recovers from its recent slowdown. China is anticipated to displace the US’s position among Poland’s principal non-EU export destinations in the longer term.

Opportunities for UK businesses
One of the main reasons why investors tend to choose Poland is its location at the very heart of continental Europe, part of the trans European road network and easy access to 250 million consumers within a radius of 1000 kilometres. Poland is a significant market of 38 million consumers offering opportunities for UK businesses in particular opportunities within the following sectors, engineering, electronics, software, life sciences, transport, retail, food and environmental sectors.

Click here to view the full Polish market snapshot

Romania

Trade outlook
Romania offers a marketplace of 22 million, an expanding economy, and access to the Black Sea and Asia. Romania offers significant opportunities to UK businesses with products, services, or technologies that either meet growing private demand or contribute to the country’s development priorities. In particular opportunities exist in the following sectors: banking, energy, biotechnology, manufacturing, electronic components, cable operation, consumer products, telecommunications and film production.

Opportunities for UK businesses
Romania offers a marketplace of 22 million, an expanding economy, and access to the Black Sea and Asia. Romania offers significant opportunities to UK businesses with products, services, or technologies that either meet growing private demand or contribute to the country’s development priorities. In particular opportunities exist in the following sectors: banking, energy, biotechnology, manufacturing, electronic components, cable operation, consumer products, telecommunications and film production.

Click here to view the full Romanian market snapshot

Slovakia

Trade outlook
Foreign trade is important to Slovakia’s economy. Crude oil, natural gas, machinery, and transportation equipment are Slovakia’s main imports. Exports include machinery, chemicals, fuels, steel, and weapons. The Czech Republic, Austria, Germany, and Russia are Slovakia’s leading trade partners. The upward trend in import business was stimulated by increased deliveries for the automobile industry as well as the electronic home entertainment sector, along with growing purchases of crude oil.

Opportunities for UK businesses
Slovakia is a country of 5.4 million strategically located at the geographic heart of Europe. Slovakia’s stable macroeconomic policies have made it a good place for UK exporters to do business. Best prospects for UK businesses include: machinery, medical equipment, automotive parts and components, chemical products and plastics.

Click here to view the full Slovakia market snapshot

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