While the planet economy balances between the euphoria of artificial intelligence and geopolitical tremor, panel participants Investment Strategies for Innovative Solutions They agreed that innovation was no longer just a fashionable slogan in corporate strategies, but the foundation of national security. In the shadow of the debate on billions of transfers of capital and digital sovereignty, they besides revealed fundamental differences in the approach to hazard – from banking caution, to disturbing visions of the quantum future, which could disrupt today's financial order.
Moderator for discussion, Marek Yellowowski with THINKTANK, beginning the panel accurately noted that innovation is no longer a domain of separated R & D departments. Instead, it became a central part of the discussion on Growth, safety and competitiveness not only in Europe, but besides the global strategy of forces. In the panel, which brought together representatives of the governments of Lithuania and Poland and leaders of the banking and investment sector, clashed different visions of how to attract and keep capital At a time erstwhile stableness is specified a scarce commodity.
Participants in the debate: Janusz Kizenewicz, Deputy Minister for Finance of Lithuania, Rafał Rosiński, Deputy Minister for Digitalisation of the Republic of Poland, Krzysztof Dresler, Vice-President of PKO BP and Magda Wierzycka, CEO of Refinery Asset Management, outlined a road map for the region of Central and east Europe. Conclusions? The region now has a unique chance for a leap of civilization., provided he understands the fresh nature of money. As 1 of the panelists noted, The capital stopped blindly chasing growth itself, and began looking for something far more valuable – trust. However, in the background of these macroeconomic considerations, Technology warnings, which can shortly make today's security, and thus i the safety of all economical flows useless.
Speed, stability, strategy
The first part of the debate focused on State function in creating an investor-friendly ecosystem. In the region, which has been dynamically making up for the distance to the West over the last decades, the key question becomes: what next?
From the Polish perspective, represented by Rafał Rosiński from the Ministry of Digital Affairs, Most importantThe function of the State is to make rules that aid and not hinder economical activityand advance investment.
In our ministry, we have created a peculiar platform for dialog between business, local governments and the central government to make common solutions and to strengthen the efficiency of innovation and digital solutions. We have besides set up a peculiar squad to support the expansion of home technology companies into non-EU markets, especially Asian and African – declared Rafał Rosinski.
The key component of the Polish strategy remains protecting critical infrastructure against cyber threats, which is crucial that Poland presently has the most cyber attacks in the EU.
Lithuania’s consequence is pragmatic and is based on a extremist simplification of procedures. Janusz Kizenewicz, Lithuanian Deputy Minister of Finance stressed that for tiny economies key is to identify nicheswhere a competitive advantage can be obtained. For Lithuania these are FinTech, cybersecurity and natural sciences, with peculiar emphasis on biotechnology.
Minister Kizenewicz indicated The request for a fundamental change in approach to timeWhich in business is now the most costly currency. Within the programme Investment Highway, including investments in defence, Lithuania has drastically shortened the decision-making process. We reduced the time of approval, which is the alleged time to market, as investors like to say, from 24 to 4 to 5 months – explained.
Such reduction of regulatory risk is not only to attract capital, but besides to strengthen the east flank by closing infrastructure and safety gaps. Lithuanian Minister besides pointed out the request to join forces. He mentioned unification of the Baltic capital market (Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia) and plans for further integration with the Nordic markets. The nonsubjective is simply a mixed financing model (blended finance) where one public euro can mobilise multiple private capital – in the innovative sectors, the mark is simply a ratio of up to 1 to 11.
From Growth to Trust
When the typical of the banking sector spoke, the discussion was discussed the level of hard macroeconomic data and real capital movements. Krzysztof Dresler, Vice president of PKO Bank Polski, outlined a image of global financial markets following the introduction of US tariffs and expanding geopolitical fragmentation.
In his opinion We see a clear change in the investment paradigm – from concentration to maximisation of short-term rates of return to stableness search., predictability and systemic resilience. So-called. capital rotationthe transfer of funds from US bonds and dollar assets to another regions, has taken on an unprecedented scale for years. marketplace estimates show that within a fewer weeks these flows could scope up to US$1 trillion, of which a crucial part was diverted to Europe and selected Asian markets.
President Dresler introduced the concept of transition to the debate from ‘returns’ to ‘confidence’. Under increasing geopolitical volatility, tariff force and redefining supply chains investors are increasingly accepting a lower but more unchangeable rate of return in exchange for transparent rules of play, unchangeable institutions and predictable regulatory environment.
Against this background Poland was identified as an example of the economy with a comparatively advanced opposition to transatlantic shocks. The direct vulnerability of Polish GDP to US request remains limited – less than 3%. Indirect dependence, mainly through the German automotive sector, estimated at about 8-9 percent. Compared to many more heavy integrated economies, this means relatively lower sensitivitythe effects of trade protectionism.
Krzysztof Dresler pointed out that Poland faces 3 structural investment waves todaywhich in the coming decade define the trajectory of economical growth and the country's position in European safety architecture and technology:
- Energy transformation: is estimated at PLN 800 billion. In 10 years, it aims to reverse the energy mix, which was based on coal in 60% last year.
- Industrial automation: essential due to the saturation of the labour marketplace (unemployment at a historically low level) and the fact that the number of robots in Poland is inactive 10 times lower than in Germany.
- Defence expenditure: Although treated as temporary (2-3 years), they are crucial for building national production capacity.
Referring to the financing of these megatrends, Krzysztof Dresler stressed that The scale of challenges exceeds the possible of national banks operating in the conventional model the balance sheet. The rate of corporate credit to GDP in Poland is around 12%. which is among the lowest levels in the European Union. This means that the banking strategy itself – even at advanced profitability – cannot bear the burden of transformation alone.
In this context, according to Krzysztof Dresler, private capital needs to be mobilised and reallocation towards investment projects, improvement of public-private partnership models, wider cooperation with global financial institutions and usage of instruments specified as securitisation of credit portfolios, guarantees and hazard sharing mechanisms.
Quantum Future and Risk
The most critical voice in the discussion was Magda Wiełcka, CEO of the South African importance Fund. The panelist was born in Poland, but she has lived in South Africa since the age of 12. On investment from the position of global capital she looked relentlessly, scoring the weaknesses of government narratives.
- Wierzycka warned against falling into the trap of repeatability. She noticed that Every country in Davos sells the same story: stability, deficiency of bureaucracy, public-private partnership. If you want to be different, you request to put circumstantial things on the table as rapidly as possible [...], and not just the words cast in the ether – she appealed, criticising “hot air” around infrastructure projects that toooften stay only on paper.
The investor pointed out frequently Government omitted marketplace for listed companiesWhich in the West is key mechanics for raising capital for growth, and not just on ‘beton’. That's what made her look. the biggest stir in the room. Ms Wierzycka has identified 2 areas that will specify the coming decade: hardware for artificial intelligence (data centres, energy) and quantum computers.
The communicative of investing in a British startup that developed a unchangeable quantum chip and was sold for over a billion dollars, served as Introduction to the Dark Forecast. The combination of quantum computing power with AI algorithms means in her opinion End of the era of privacy and digital securityAs we know it. There are already algorithms, specified as Shora, that can break any current encryption [...]. Connect this to the quantum and say goodbye to all your passwords - She warned me.
And even worse, the hazard is not distant. Ms Wierzycka pointed to the phenomenon of mass scraping of data now. Criminals and hostiles collect encrypted databasesto usage them as shortly as quantum technology becomes available. In her opinion, governments and companies are naive, ignoring this arms raceIn which giants like OpenAI or Microsoft are already hunting quantum technologies to gain absolute dominance.
Historical chance for CEE
The panel in Davos showed that the region of Central and east Europe faces a historical opportunity, but besides unprecedented challenges. These are the key conclusions of the debate:
- Change in the capital paradigm. Investors decision distant from aggressive growth search for a "return from trust". stableness and predictability become more valuable than advanced but variable profits.
- Regulatory ‘autostrade’. Lithuania proves that a drastic simplification in administrative procedures (from 24 months to 4 months) is an effective method of attracting strategical investors in the high-tech sectors.
- Poland as an oasis of immunity. The diversified Polish economy and comparatively low dependence on the US make it resistant to geopolitical and tariff turbulence, as confirmed by GDP growth forecasts.
- Three investment waves. Poland faces tremendous spending on energy transformation (PLN 800 billion), as well as automation of manufacture and defence.
- Criticism of "government Newm". Investors anticipate concrete, not repeated by all slogans about “no bureaucracy”. A unique offer must be a distinction, not a standard incentive package.
- Underestimated public markets. Governments focus besides heavy on infrastructure, neglecting stock exchanges, which should be a natural mechanics for financing the improvement of home businesses.
- Quantum threat. The improvement of quantum computers combined with AI poses an existential threat to current cybersecurity systems. The data is stolen now to be deciphered in the close future.
The gathering ended with the conclusion that technology is simply a double-edged weapon – it can be a driver of growth, but besides a tool of full surveillance and destabilization if the region sleeps through the quantum revolution.
Recording with The panel is available HERE.
Work. Zbigniew Gajewski, editor-in-chief of "THINKTANK Review"
