Google Announcing New Investment in Warsaw

Today, at Google Poland, Marta Poślad, Director, CEE & Transatlantic Public Policy, was pleased to host Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki, U.S. Ambassador Mark Brzezinski, Tony Housh, AmCham Chairman, and Piotr Nowak, Minister of Development and Technology.

Prime minister Mateusz Morawiecki has thanked Google for their investments in Poland in the technology realm with investments such as the cloud technology center. He also mentioned the current situation in Ukraine and how Poland is working hard at assisting our neighbors however we can during the crisis in our region.

Next, we had AmCham Chairman Tony Housh mention Polish business and science cooperation being significantly important to the country as IT companies such as the Google Hub employ thousands of people in Poland and the importance of continuing our collaboration between the U.S. and Poland.

During the speaker Panel, Marta Poslad moderated the panel with Ambassador Mark Brzezinski and Piotr Nowak, Minister of Development and Technology.

Ambassador Brzezinski thanked Google for their hard work in tackling misinformation and how vital it is, especially during the crisis in Ukraine. He answered how technological advancement is growing tremendously in the defense sector when asked about technological investments. In the future, a lot of the defense expenditure will be within that sector due to the technology used in modern militaries. There was also mention about the Three Seas Initiative, which also involves technological infrastructure not just in Poland but in the whole of Central Eastern Europe that will make the region less vulnerable and more secure. The ambassador said that Poland has a vast talent pool; however, to keep Poland attractive, there needs to be a change in the nature of business in the country through its regulations, laws, protocols, and taxes. If there is one thing American companies do not like, it is surprises that increase costs and challenges of doing business in the country they invest in.

Minister Nowak also mentioned Ukraine and the contribution they have on the Polish economy not only in low-skilled jobs but also in high-skilled jobs where Ukrainians often educate themselves in Poland and then retain their talent and skills in the country upon graduation. He mentioned the importance of giving a hand to the Ukrainian people during this crisis and how Polish families have opened their homes by providing this helping hand when in need. Regarding technology, the minister spoke about investments in the infrastructure of technology, also ensuring that new regulations come into force in allowing Ukrainian businesses to establish themselves in Poland, such as sharing their offices to ensure when they are able to locate their operations back to Ukraine they can go in stronger and not weaker and retain strong cooperative business ties with Poland afterward. The minister mentioned that Polish and EU relations have some challenges, yet our spirit of solidarity is strong in Europe, where our economic growth is strong, catching up to economies such as Germany and France. Yet, he mentioned that the old EU member states don’t notice the importance of Poland within the block especially post Brexit and that they need to understand that we are an important country within the union.