The Policy Objectives of BCC

When it started its activities, Business Centre Club set itself the goal of promoting the establishment of conditions conducive to the development of entrepreneurship and the building of a market economy, competitive and open to the world, in Poland. We decided that this was not only a path leading to the prosperity of the state and well-being of its citizens but also a prerequisite of national security.

Now, seven years on, this objective is just as important as it was then. Despite profound political and economic changes, especially in the first period of transformations, the process of transition from a centrally planned to market economy has not advanced beyond the half-way marker.
The introduction of new legislation, the construction of financial institutions and the growth of the capital market, the privatisation of the economy and elimination of monopolies, or the economic education of the society inevitably take long. It is necessary to gain public acceptance of these processes, overcome the resistance of bureaucrats and secure the support of politicians. This is not easy because many politicians are not aware of the degree of backwardness of Poland's economy and fail to appreciate the need to restructure and modernise it, especially when they see the current economic growth. But the truth is that highly processed goods and technologically advanced goods do not account for more than several percent of Poland's manufacturing output and there is the danger that Poland will remain a poor country, a supplier of raw materials and crude products.
As regards the integration of Poland's economy with the economies of European Union countries, civic organisations must exert pressure on representatives of the government and parliament so they would intensify their actions aimed at the improvement of social communications. It is important from the point of view of the country's economy to introduce a free flow of information about the costs relative to integration and to prepare enterprises for foreign competition on the domestic market and for venturing into European Union market as well. BCC is supporting these endeavours through the engagement in the work of appropriate teams in the government's European Integration Committee, in parliament and in international organisations. Besides, as the exchange of goods and services gets more and more liberal, it is increasingly important to improve the international competitiveness of Poland's economy. Therefore the conditions for engaging in economic activity in Poland should be more favourable than in the highly developed countries that Poland wants to catch up with. In order to make it easier for business people to accumulate capital for modernisation and growth, it is necessary to lower the taxes they are having to pay and reduce the burden of welfare benefits. This calls for a reform of the system of social insurance, rationalisation of public sector spending and cuts in budget subsidies to loss-making areas of the economy.
The reform of the social security system should lead to lower premiums and the introduction of pension plans tied to capital. This will reduce the wage-related labour costs and increase the level of long-term savings and consequently increase the availability of investment loans.
The share of public spending in the domestic product should be reduced from the present 50 to 30 percent. Unless this is done, Poland's economy stands no chance of closing the gap separating it from the highly developed countries.
In order to ensure rapid and lasting economic growth it is important to facilitate a rational allocation of capital, which should flow to the areas where it can generate the biggest effects. The subsidising of inefficient branches of the economy is taking place at the expense of the reduction of revenue and consequently of the possibilities of growth of the more profitable branches.
State enterprises and banks should be privatised so as to make better use of their potential. This also applies to sectors referred to as strategic ones, in which case a nti-trust action is also important because only competition can force them to care about improving quality and reducing costs.
In order to facilitate investing in Poland, both to foreign and domestic investors, it is vital to settle the ownership titles to real estate; this includes a definitive solution of the problem of restitution of property nationalised after World War II.
Faster processing of cases in courts and guarantees of the enforcement of the verdicts are indispensable from the point of view of limiting risks and consequently reducing costs of engaging in business.