Private sector
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs supports the development of a system to encourage and support the private sector so that it can actively contribute to the goals of sustainable development in the world. To achieve the objectives underlying Agenda 2030, twinning and strengthening public-private cooperation to address global economic, environmental and social challenges is essential.
For businesses, getting involved in development cooperation offers not only new business opportunities, but also image benefits resulting from getting involved in solving the biggest issues in developing countries. As regards donor countries, the involvement of the private sector is an opportunity to increase the scale of development activities and their sustainability by creating jobs, stimulating economic development and eradicating poverty. This is also an opportunity to apply Polish business and technological solutions in response to challenges in developing countries.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs encourages Polish businesses to engage in development cooperation, which Poland provides directly or through international organisations.
- In 2020, in partnership with the United Nations Development Programme, the MFA launched a pilot edition of the Polish Challenge Fund. This project is targeted at Polish businesses to implement feasibility studies and business projects that will contribute to solving specific development challenges in Ukraine and Belarus. The pilot project aims to enable the transfer of Polish know-how, technology and innovative solutions to developing countries, thus seeking to assist partner countries in building their capacity to address complex development challenges and in achieving sustainable development goals (SDGs).
- Polish businesses are also encouraged to participate in tenders of international aid organisations, such as programmes and agendas of the United Nations system or international development banks (World Bank, European Investment Bank, European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, European Central Bank and others). Only prepared businesses have a chance to be successful in the open public procurement market of these organisations. This means presenting a competitive offer, exposing experience in a given sector and on a given market, but also knowing potential partners. The Warsaw Humanitarian Expo and the Warsaw Procurement Forum promote Polish companies on the aid market.
The long-term goal for the Polish administration is also to develop instruments for engaging the private sector in development cooperation, which by using public funds to reduce the risk of private investment will encourage business to invest in less developed countries.
Currently, such instruments, co-funded by Poland as a contribution to the EU budget, are offered by the European Commission through the European External Investment Plan and its financial pillar, the European Fund for Sustainable Development. By 2020, under the EFSD, the European Union will provide approximately EUR 3.1 billion for blending (i.e. combining grants and loans) and EUR 1.54 billion for guarantees (secured by the EFSD Guarantee Fund). These instruments aim to generate additional investment by European businesses in developing countries by reducing investment risks. Measures must be clearly targeted to support socio-economic development impact and be characterised by “additionality”, i.e. in that investments could not be made under strictly market conditions (e.g. due to high political and financial risks in the least developed countries).
Detailed information is available at:
https://ec.europa.eu/commission/eu-external-investment-plan_en