The Polish Investment and Trade Agency (Polska Agencja Inwestycji i Handlu, PAIH) opened one of the seventy planned Foreign Trade Offices in San Francisco – the hub of entrepreneurship in the United States. The Foreign Trade Office is located in Rocket Space, one of the most renown business accelerators in the world.
The Foreign Trade Office in San Francisco is called the PolishHub. Its main objective is supporting Polish exporters and investors in foreign markets. It will also promote and support Polish startups and high-tech companies that wish to benefit from the existing Silicon Valley startup ecosystem. “For us, it was a priority to establish one of our very first offices here in San Francisco. Polish companies need to be at the center of US technology”, said president Tomasz Pisula during the opening ceremony. San Francisco is the world’s center of innovation and technology, where many aspiring entrepreneurs can find the inspiration, financial support, networking, and mentoring they need. They can also look up to the biggest tech companies, such as Google or Apple, that have chosen Silicon Valley as their headquarters.
“PolishHub is a landing pad for Polish companies that consider doing business in the US. On the other hand, it is also a departure hall for American companies interested in investing in Poland”, said Tomasz Pisula. The Foreign Trade Office will be responsible for a variety of different services, from providing networking opportunities with local institutions to accessing venture capital funds. One of their tasks is to create a thorough database of information useful for Polish startups entering the US market.
“The office provides information and data on American economics and legal regulations. It provides matchmaking services and looks for business partners for Polish companies. Moreover, it arranges business missions, B2B meetings, workshops and researches new business opportunities for products and services from Poland,” explained Maja Kieturakis, the head of PolishHub in San Francisco.
The opening took place on 30th March and involved the participation of public figures such as the Undersecretary of State in the Ministry of Development, Mr. Tadeusz Kościński, consul general of Poland in New York, Mr. Maciej Golubiewski and president of the Polish Investment and Trade Agency, Mr. Tomasz Pisula.
Until now, the Polish Investment and Trade Agency has already launched Foreign Trade Offices in Ho Chi Minh City, Nairobi, Shanghai, Singapore, and Teheran. Their goal is to create a network of 70 such offices all around the globe in countries that present the greatest potential for Polish companies. The offices in Toronto, London, Frankfurt, Milan, and Budapest are next in line – they are scheduled for the first half of 2017.
