Foreign Direct Investments in the Service Sector – Flowing from Poland and into Poland – in Light of Poland’s Accession to the European Union

Abstract

The objective of this publication is analysis of direct foreign investment (FDI) streams and resources in the service sector flowing out of and into Poland during the period preceding and after accession to the European Union. The beginning of the paper discusses the question of why FDI plays such an important role in activities providing services. The subsequent section is divided into two parts. The first encompasses an analysis of Polish FDI streams and resources invested in the service sector—size, structure, and dynamics. Unfortunately, due to a lack of data relating to Polish FDI in the service sector, all that is analyzed is a very short period following Poland’s accession to the European Union (the years 2005–2006). Also discussed is a phenomenon observed in the wake of accession involving the establishing by Poles of a large number of small companies, mainly service providers, in certain member states of the European Union. In a similar vein, the second part analyzes FDI streams and resources in the service sector in Poland. In this case the analyzed period is longer (the years 1996–2006), which makes possible a comparison of the analyzed values before and after accession.