The meeting began with Michael Dembiński, the BPCC’s chief advisor giving an macroeconomic introduction into the dynamics of the economic relations between the Poland and the UK as well as an analysis of the UK market in terms of demand for Polish products. He drew the attention of listeners to legal and cultural differences between the UK and Poland, and talked about the size and importance of the Polish Diaspora. Mr Dembinski then outlined the BPCC’s four-phase export support service presented aimed at Polish firms interested in entering the UK market. Jacek Tacik from 1MoneyMail explained how bet to transfer money between the UK and Poland, explaining the benefits of using a service tailored to a single corridor (UK->Poland) as opposed to letting a bank to it. He also talked about the possibilities of monitoring business and financial transactions by verifying a potential customer in UK. He said that 18% of all cross-border fraud out of the UK is between our two countries.
After a networking lunch break, Piotr Smagała from Smagała Strzelczyk law firm introduced the role of contracts in international business. He said that the biggest single cause of conflict between business partners is niedomówienie – a word that is inadequately translated into English as ‘understatement’, but which more accurately means ‘leaving too much unsaid’. He also drew attention to securing payment and guaranteeing of the proper performance of the contract, and said that it was difficult to agree which court should be used in the case of dispute – a Polish or UK one. Contracts should be written down, either in long form, or better still – short form. Mr Smagała also went over the latest Incoterms, explaining the rights and responsibilities of exporter and importer. He suggested that exporters hold back some 2%-4% of the transaction as ‘retention money’ to cover small repairs.
After the presentations, there was a discussion in which fraudulent transactions were the biggest issues Mr Dembinski pointed participating Polish exporters to the website of the Trade and Investment Promotion Department at the Polish Embassy in London.
