Deputy Prime Minister Jarosław Gowin would like to thank the Entrepreneurship Council for the appeal calling for “strict observance of sanitary rules in the workplace, which will protect us from closing the economy down.” He also calls on the society to mobilise in the name of nationwide solidarity. As he emphasises, today we need to combine all individual responsibilities. “I believe that we, as a society, will meet this challenge”, he says.

Suspension of catering activities with the option of selling food to take away only, limiting the functioning of malls and shopping centres, closing cultural institutions, as well as sports and recreation centres – these are the most important restrictions that will apply throughout the country from November 7 to 29. Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki signed the regulation in this matter.

The EC estimates that the decline in GDP in Poland in 2020 will amount to 3.6%. This result is better than the estimates of the summer forecast (-4.6%) and the spring forecast (-4.3%). In comparison to the EU countries, the weakening of activity in 2020 will be lower than the EU average (-7.4%), and also lower than the indicator for the eurozone (-7.8%). Among the EU countries, only Lithuania, Ireland and Sweden will be less economically affected by the pandemic this year.

The final version of first Polish genetic test, MediPAN-2G + FAST COVID, has already been launched on the market – it is the fastest among all currently used, very sensitive and created in Poland. The test was developed by a group of volunteer scientists from the Institute of Bioorganic Chemistry of the Polish Academy of Sciences in Poznań with a governmental support. By the decision of Deputy Prime Minister Jarosław Gowin, the ministry of science and higher education allocated 15 million Polish zlotys for this purpose.

The PMI index for industry in October remained above the threshold of 50 points, staying unchanged since September at 50.8 points, which means that positive sentiment prevails on the market. Among the most positive phenomena observed are the highest rate of employment growth in 2 years, as well as exports being on the sharpest rise since January 2018.

According to data published today by Statistics Poland, in 2019, gross domestic expenditure on R&D (GERD) increased by 18.1% compared to the previous year and exceeded 30 billion PLN. The R&D intensity indicator, which describes the share of gross domestic expenditure on R&D in GDP, increased to 1.32% (compared to 1.21% in 2018).

Unification of the way of creating and maintaining data and metadata sets concerning spatial planning acts on the national scale will enable investors to check information about the designation of the potential investment area and its surroundings online – all thanks to the regulations on spatial planning and development, which enter into force on Saturday. At the same time, the regulation of the Minister of Economic Development, Labour and Technology in this matter becomes effective, containing detailed regulations concerning the creation and maintenance of data sets, which include APP spatial data and spatial information infrastructure metadata describing such sets.

Combining responsibility for the labour market and the economy in a single ministry is the right response to the challenge posed by COVID-19, which is supposed to solve the issue of siloisation, as well as ensure greater flexibility and efficiency in the face of the crisis – said Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Economic Development, Labour and Technology Jarosław Gowin during his first meeting with the Labour Market Council. The meeting was also attended by Deputy Minister Iwona Michałek.

We do everything we can to avoid a total lockdown of the Polish economy. I would like us, together with the social side, represented by trade unions and employers’ organisations, to work out recommendations and a common position on this issue, which can then be presented to Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki – says Deputy Prime Minister Jarosław Gowin.

Exemption from ZUS contribution for November, establishment of a one-time additional idle time benefit of 2080 PLN and abolition of the market dues in 2021 are some of the key solutions of the aid package for entrepreneurs, also referred to as the anti-crisis shield for the industries, worked out by the Ministry of Economy Development, Labour and Technology. In the case of the abolition of the market dues, the draft provides for compensation for municipalities whose revenues resulting from the dues exceed 10,000 PLN annually. The solutions are addressed to industries which were hit the hardest by the effects of the second wave of the coronavirus pandemic, including catering, wedding, fitness, market, stage, film, retail (stalls and markets), entertainment, leisure, photography and physiotherapy industries. It is estimated that the industry shield will help about 200,000 companies, which employ 372,000 workers in total with more than 1.8 billion PLN earmarked for the relief measures.