Construction under the scrutiny of experts - BUILD4FUTURE 2023 Forum
Despite many alarming developments in the construction sector across Europe, during the BUILD4FUTURE 2023 Construction Economic Forum in Poznań in January, many words were heard, perhaps not yet quite optimistic, but giving hope for a better near future. Prominent industry experts, management boards and directors of the largest construction companies, economists, financial analysts, investors, contractors and distributors of construction materials summarised the recent months and set directions for short-term and long-term changes in their sector.
Guests of this year's BUILD4FUTURE Forum, organised jointly by the MTP Group and the Polish Association of Builder Employers (PZPB) in the Poznań Congress Center, were welcomed by Konrad Wyrwas of PZPB and Dariusz Muślewski representing Poznań International Fair, while the official opening of the Forum - such an important event for the construction industry - was made by Jan Styliński, President of PZPB, and Filip Bittner, Vice President of the Management Board of MTP Group.
Economy and construction from professional perspective
The introductory debate to the Forum and the Convention was held first. Marek Zuber, the economist and financial analyst, and Dariusz Blocher from the supervisory board of Budimex company, spoke and discussed about the economy and the construction sector. The leading theme of the debate was the question of whether we might be facing the risk of collapse of the Polish construction industry.
Although the war across our eastern border is still continuing and, unfortunately, its end is not imminent, although high inflation suppresses the demand in the construction market and the financial belt-tightening by the state almost freezes the market of mortgage loans, experts do not lose their optimism. They said that the macroeconomic outlook for the Polish economy and the Polish construction industry was not as bad as it seemed, and that forecasts for the coming years were quite promising.
Shortly after this debate, a panel discussion devoted to residential and industrial construction and the market for building materials in times of crisis began. The guests were interviewed by Szymon Jungiewicz of PMR Ltd. Participants talked about the ongoing crisis in the sector and the chances of returning to business as usual, the possibility of recovering high investment levels in the residential and industrial segments or the production of construction materials, machinery and equipment.
There was a lot of discussion about new technologies in the construction industry, the stabilisation of production costs or the complicated situation on the labour market. Participants in the debate included Anna Karyś-Sosińska from Budimex, Marcin M. Kruk from Łukasiewicz - Warsaw Institute of Technology, Wojciech Caruk - President of PFR Real Estate, Janusz Komurkiewicz from the Polish Windows and Doors Association and the FAKRO company, Przemysław Janiszewski from the company Unibep and Krzysztof Kaczorek, PhD Eng from the Polish Polytechnic Society.
Projects and finance
In the afternoon of 30 January, the debate on “Major infrastructure investment 2023-2030 - opportunities and threats” was held, with Konrad Wyrwas of the Polish Association of Builder Employers talking to Arnold Bresch, President of PKP Polskie Linie Kolejowe, Minister Tomasz Żuchowski, General Director of National Roads and Motorways, Professor Przemysław Drapała, PhD DSc from the JDP law firm, Artur Popko, CEO of Budimex, Adrian Furgalski from TOR Economic Consultants Team, Andrzej Sidło from the Ministry of Climate and Environment and Kamil Marjanek from Foamax.
They discussed major infrastructural projects which are expected to assist in overcoming the crisis period in the broadly-understood area of construction. Will funds be available to implement them? Which projects are likely to be implemented and which may be suspended? Will the disrupted supply chains of construction materials, machinery and equipment necessary for the seamless delivery of major investment return to business as usual? What are the ideas for avoiding major turbulence and returning to the path of growth? These are the main subjects of this debate.
The topic of economics and finance in the Polish construction industry in the face of the crisis concluded Monday's meeting of the construction industry in Poznań during the BUILD4FUTURE Construction Economic Forum. Kazimierz Krupa from Drawbridge law firm and also editor-in-chief of Euroinfrastruktura XXI magazine talked to Katarzyna Kowalska from KUKE, Anna Łopaciuk from Bank Gospodarstwa Krajowego, Krzysztof Pietraszkiewicz from the Polish Bank Association, Damian Kaźmierczak from PZBP, Dr Lidia Stępińska-Ustasiak from Łukasiewicz - ORGMASZ and Piotr Bielski from Santander Bank Polska.
They talked about money for investment, inflation and climate policy in the financial sector, as well as public money for infrastructural investmens and private money for housing and industrial construction, and finally about the lending and insurance policy of banks and insurance companies.
Organisers and Partners
The BUILD4FUTURE Construction Economic Forum and the Poland-Ukraine International Construction Convention are organised by the MTP Group and the Polish Association of Builder Employers, bringing together the major construction companies operating in our country. Substantive support to the events was provided by: Polish Investment and Trade Agency, Export Credit Insurance Corporation, Bank Gospodarstwa Krajowego, PFR Real Estate and Łukasiewicz Research Network.