PFTM meeting: Polish shipbuilding industry – challenges and relations with the government and the market
By Marek Grzybowski
The meeting of the Polish Maritime Technology Forum took place on December 14 in Gdańsk. The meeting participants visited Karstensen Shipyard Poland. Tomasz Mulica, director of the shipyard, and his employees were escorting around the shipyard. PFTM members had the opportunity to see production at the former Gdańsk Shipyard, and previously the Schichau Shipyard in Gdańsk.
Mateusz Kowalewski, President of the Management Board of PFTM, welcomed the guests in the conference room of the Hilton Hotel in Gdańsk.
The development history and current production portfolio of Karstensen Shipyard Poland were presented by Tomasz Mulica, director of the shipyard. new rules, programs and opportunities to support investments in the shipbuilding and offshore sectors were presented by Krzysztof Wojtowicz and Dominika Alicka from Deloitte Polska.
Igor Nagraba from the Polish Investment Zone and the Pomeranian Special Economic Zone talked about the opportunities related to investing in the Pomeranian Special Economic Zone and the possibilities of income tax exemption in the maritime industry, in particular in the shipbuilding industry.
The presentation of the activities of the Gdańsk International Fair and the BaltExpo 2023 program were discussed by Mateusz Lis, who announced activities related to the preparation of the BaltExpo 2025 fair. The plans of the Gdańsk International Fair for the coming years were presented by the president, Andrzej Bojanowski, who thanked the companies involved in the maritime industry for their cooperation in the preparation of the BaltExpo 2023 fair.
The meeting ended with a panel discussion led by President Mateusz Kowalewski. The future of the Polish shipbuilding industry was discussed by Marek Siemaszko (Safe shipyard), Grzegorz Strzelczyk (Lotos Petrobaltic), Krzysztof Kulczycki (Crist), Arkadiusz Świech (West Pomeranian Maritime Cluster) and Przemysław Hoffmann (Promap).
During the discussion, it was emphasized that the shipbuilding industry in Poland has a strong position on the international market. However, we need a government policy that will ensure equal treatment for all companies. Marek Grzybowski, president of the Baltic Maritime and Space Cluster, proposed the creation of one lobbying group that would represent all maritime industry associations. The task of this group should be to create a common marketing policy on international markets and organize dialogue with the government on behalf of both industrial regions in the Pomeranian and West Pomeranian Voivodeships.