(ANSA) - ROME - The presence of Polish companies in Italy is constantly growing. Services, transport, biotechnology, construction, cosmetics: Polish direct investment in Italy today is 40 times bigger (57,9 million euros) than it was in 2003 (1.4 million).

If Italy's taxes weren't too high, if civil justice system weren't so slow-moving, and if the level of infrastructure and security in some parts of the country weren't so low, things would definitely go much better. Among Polish investors are Oknoplast (plastic products, 850 outlets throughout the country and 50 employees hired locally), Bioton (biotechnology sector, 17 million investment, the largest in Italy), Solaris (among the largest producers of buses), Pesa (production, maintenance and modernisation of railways and trams), Inglot (cosmetics).

'We have recorded a growth not only in investments in Italy, but also in the number of employees hired by our companies'' says Tomasz Orlowski, Poland's ambassador to Italy. According to the National Bank of Poland, the overall share of Polish direct investment abroad is 13 times bigger than in 2003 (1.7 billion euros), and 4 times bigger compared to 2005 (5.3 billion euros). About 72% of foreign investments (i.e. 14.9 billion) are made in the EU. However, the diplomat underlines, 'Italy does is not ready to welcome productive investments from Poland. Our top five partner countries are Lithuania, Czech Republic, Norway, Germany and the United Kingdom'', Orlowski says. After joining the EU, the country has experienced a boom in the expansion of capital to foreign markets. ''Polish companies have reached a certain degree of maturity - Orlowski concludes -, therefore, they are now ready to explore new markets''.(ANSA).