American entrepreneurs? trade mission to Lubuskie region
On behalf of the Marshal Office of the Lubuskie Voivodeship in Zielona Gora and Investor and Exporter Assistance Centre we organized a trade mission of American entrepreneurs in the Lubuskie region. The mission took place on September 21-25 and was a huge success.
Representatives of eight import and distribution companies of food products and alcoholic beverages visited Poland in September. The companies represented by American guests are the leading companies supplying individual shops, trade networks and Polish shops in the United States. The entrepreneurs were interested mostly in local products and wines.
The programme of the mission was varied and interesting to American guests. On the first day they participated in a conference on economic cooperation between Poland and the US. Experts from Polish Agency of Information and Foreign Investment, Polish Insitute of International Affairs and Organization of Employers in Ziemia Lubuska as well as representatives of The Marshal’s Office of Lubuskie Voivodeship and Agriculture and Trade Market in Zielona Gora pronounced their speeches. As for the audience, there were not only American guests, but also local entrepreneurs and representatives of business environment insitutions interested in strengthening cooperation between Poland and the US. In total, more than 50 people. After the conference, the Americans met with local producers at business meetings. Among the latter we had the opportunity to gather both small, family companies operating on a local scale as well as large companies experienced in export. The meetings were so popular and interesting to both parties that we had to prolong the B2B session for two more hours.
In the next two days the Americans visited local plants and science and technology parks. They had the opportunity to get to know the economic potential and inovativeness of the region. The guests visited Agriculture and Trade Market in Zielona Gora, a production unit of confectionery manufacturer (wafers and sweets), pasta manufacturer and two local vineyards. They were impressed with both the quality of Polish products and high standards of the production process. On the last day they visited regional science and technology parks: Centre of Innovation and Agro-technical Solution in Lubuskie, Science and Technology Park of University of Zielona Gora and Gotech Centre.
The American guest were enormously impressed with the innovativeness of the regional centres. The mission changed completely the image of Polish economy and products they used to have ? they recognized the Polish quality and opportunities for business development offered by our country.
