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This year's 32nd edition of Welconomy Forum in Toruń took place on 3-4 March under the banner of "Polish Presidency of the EU". The nearly 2,000 participants included representatives of the government, parliament, business, agriculture, finance, local governments, as well as science, culture and health care. Discussions focussed on improving Poland’s economic, food, health, demographic and defence security, and the common denominator of the panels was a strong economy based on development-inducing investments.

During the discussion panel organised by WARBUD SA and entitled "Conditions for efficient implementation of infrastructural investments in the public-private partnership formula" we took up the topic of effective use of resources, knowledge and experience of the public sector, businesses and the financial sector and advisors for a streamlined implementation of development projects. Savings, the best technologies available on the market, tested solutions – these were the topics discussed by outstanding PPP practitioners representing the public sector - Mr. Artur Zieliński, Deputy Mayor of Płock and head of the PPP Committee of the Association of Polish Cities. The private sector was represented by Mr. Szulfer, Director of Treasury and PPP at VINCI Construction Polska, financial institutions by Ms. Anna Łopaciuk, Director of the Infrastructure, Transport and Logistics Program at Bank Gospodarstwa Krajowego and a representative of the consultancy sector – Ms. Adriana Mierzwa-Bronikowska, Partner at Dentons Europe. Their extensive knowledge and successfully completed PPP projects allowed them to present important elements of preparing and implementing PPP projects, good practices and also indicated risks occurring in the entire process.

‘The potential of the Polish PPP market is very extensive, its value amounts to hundreds of billions of PLN, and so far it has been used to a small extent and in a definitely insufficient way, especially in comparison with other countries in Europe and the world,’ said Mr. Jerzy Widzyk, Representative of the Warbud S.A.’s Management Board and moderator of the panel devoted to PPP during the Forum. ‘Considering that the flow of non-repayable funds (grants) for of projects will decrease and the country's economic development will require the implementation of infrastructure development projects, in my opinion the implementation of PPP projects is one of the most effective responses to meeting those needs and challenges facing the country's economy.’ As Mr. Widzyk emphasized, the tools necessary to implement PPP projects are available in Poland. However, there is a need for a greater activity on the part of public entities. ‘Among more than 200 PPP projects implemented over the last dozen or so years, with a total value of approximately PLN 10 billion, we can find projects in various fields. It is therefore enough to use ready-made, tested solutions. The door is already open, there is no need to break it,’ convinces J. Widzyk.

According to the panel participants, WARBUD is perceived as one of the leading companies on the PPP market, guaranteeing an effective implementation of private funding initiative projects. Our professionalism, knowledge and experience were emphasized.

Photographs by courtesy of the event organizer.