Mateusz Morawiecki made the statement at a business conference in the northern city of Toruń on Monday, Polish state news agency PAP reported.
The annual event, called the Welconomy Forum, brings together policymakers, politicians, business leaders and academics to discuss the future of the Polish economy, healthcare, the energy sector and the banking system, among other topics, according to officials.
‘Times of economic and geopolitical change’
In his speech, the PM stressed that “we are living in times of economic and geopolitical change.”
He told the gathering: “We see clearly what is happening around us. It has a lot to do with the war in Ukraine, but not only.”
Morawiecki said that even before Russia’s full-blown invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, “the assumptions of globalisation, which had served as one of the key economic paradigms for 30 years, had been shaking in their foundations.”
The PM said that the world was “in the midst of a socio-economic turn,” where “previous economic paradigms are undergoing abrupt change“ and many “previous axioms of economic policy across the world” are “losing relevance.”
As an example, Morawiecki cited the notion that “capital has no nationality,” that it should “circulate freely around the world” and that it “always creates added value.”
The PM stressed: “After the previous financial crisis, amid the current financial turbulence, we are perfectly aware of the fact that this is not the case.”
He added that “capital may bring with it economic imbalance” and “it has nationality.”
'State intervention is very often necessary to resolve economic problems'
Morawiecki said that recent events had proved that “the state is not, and must not be seen as, an enemy of business,” and that “the state is very often necessary to influence economic reality through intervention or by reducing or resolving problems which arise independently of entrepreneurs.”
The PM said this meant that the Welconomy Forum was “a very important event,” providing an opportunity for “people with various political affiliations” to discuss how to shape Poland’s economic policy “to make sure that our economy emerges victorious.”
Morawiecki declared: “As we enter another period, after the COVID-19 pandemic, one that is characterised by big geopolitical tensions, it is important that economic policy is stable, predictable, and that regulations for business are like that, as well.”
Monday is day 404 of Russia’s war on Ukraine.
(pm)
Source: PAP, tvp.info, welconomy.pl