WILTOLD WILINSKI, CEO OF GPW TECH : "Our region has a completely different competitive advantage compared to the EU members"

From a macroeconomic perspective, Central and Eastern Europe has a complete competitive advantage over the other members of the European Union, says Witold Wilinski, the CEO of GPW Tech, part of the Warsaw Stock Exchange group (GPW Group).

He said: "I think in our region we need to focus on what we have in common. From a macroeconomic perspective, we as a region have a totally different competitive advantage over other EU members. GDP growth is the fastest. Secondly, if we refer to government debt, in our region, after the communist regime, the level was quite low. In Western Europe, and I am referring not only to Greece but also to Italy and France, the level of government debt exceeds 130% of GDP, which is a dangerous situation.

From the point of view of potential investors, the situation and the macro-economic prospects in our region are very good and we must highlight two factors: economic growth and the sound state of finances at the governmental level".

He added that one of the macro consequences of Covid-19 pandemic will be rising inflation, which from a capital markets perspective is a good thing, as there is already a trend of capital shifting from the banking system to the stock markets.

Regarding the business of the Polish stock exchange, Witold Wilinski emphasized that the institution is trying to diversify its revenue sources.

"We have the stock market, the debt instruments market, the derivatives market, the commodities market and we have created a company that is responsible with selling the technology we develop within the Warsaw Stock Exchange", he said in closing.