Page 437 - Sustainable Cities and Communities Design Handbook

Business Ventures and Financial Sector Chapter j 19 407

to hold a majority package in the share capital of local companies and the need
to have a local partner. It is a significant discomfort, particularly in case of
production companies, which by their very nature need to invest a lot. Inglot
solved that problem with the help of a franchise partner.
In 1999 Can-Pack founded Arab Can in the UAE, in 2004 it started up a
second plant in Dubai, in 2009 it established a joint venture company of Can-
89
Pack Linco in Cairo, and in 2010 it opened a beverage can production
facility in Casablanca in Morocco.
In turn, it is more difficult for construction companies to succeed in the
markets where cheap local companies along with well-recognized international
brands already operate. Polish construction companies are unable to compete
against the local ones, and they have not yet achieved the position in the market
that would enable them to compete against international concerns. Finding
qualified workers in Arab states is also a problem. In practice, workers are
recruited from among immigrants coming from India, Pakistan, the Philippines,
etc., and assembling an efficient production facility team requires a lot of effort.
Can-Pack is one of the few Polish companies that have found out what it is
like to operatedand not only selldin the Near East. The fear of the situation
in Iraq is too great for most companies. Companies in Poland demonstrate
great interest at the stage of talks. However, when it comes to concrete actions,
only a small percentage of companies decide to go there. Fear and a
misconception of the situation in Iraq constitute the largest problem. There are
many entities in Poland that are interested in cooperation, but news of
explosions and other types of dangerous events refrain them from action.
If an entrepreneur is determined to take subsequent steps aimed at starting
cooperation with partners in the Persian Gulf region, then the nextdhighly
significant stagedis going there. Arab states do not conduct business at a
distance. Some companies tried to start operations remotely, but without a
physical presence locally, not much could be achieved. Some experts claim
that the time of Polish enterprises in the Near East is about to come. Com-
panies without references that want to implement contracts in the Near East
must start as subsuppliers or subcontractors. That is the strategy adopted by
Spanish companies, which in the last 30 years have achieved an unprecedented
global expansion. Nevertheless, to enter new foreign markets, Polish com-
panies need to take a greater advantage of the financing of national institutions
that support and promote such types of undertakings (banks or insurance
corporations). For instance, a Swedish equivalent of KUKE S.A. 90 (Export
Credit Insurance Corporation Joint Stock Company, which establishes the
conditions for the safe and stable functioning of Polish enterprises by securing
export and domestic transactions and by facilitating access to external

89. http://www.canpack.eu/index.php?lang¼en&action¼1.
90. http://www.kuke.com.pl/home.php.