A site visit to the facilities of Grupa Azoty Puławy S.A. marked the start of the second congress day. 

The special guests invited to the Congress were Włodzimierz Karpiński,

Minister of the State Treasury, and Kurt Bock, Ph.D, Chairman of the Board of

Executive Directors of BASF SE and President of the European Chemical Industry

Council.

Five conference sessions and a site visit to the GAP facilities were on

the agenda of the second day of the 2014 Polish Chemical Industry Congress.

Attendees had an opportunity to take a tour of the plant and see the

installations and state-of-the-art technologies used by the Puławy-based

company. During the second strategic debate, themed 'Polish Chemical Industry

in the Context of Global Economy', the Polish State Treasury Minister spoke of

the need for the Polish and European chemical industry to pursue innovation.

“We need to find sources of competitive advantage.

With the potential of simple capital accumulation and business acquisitions

being exhausted, we should promote the development of intelligent solutions.

This is what the European Union strives for, albeit quite ineffectively so far,

at least when it comes to the Polish economy,” said Włodzimierz Karpiński, the

State Treasury Minister. “I'm talking about innovations, new technologies,

search for sources of competitive advantage and implementation of scientific

inventions within our economy,” Mr Karpiński added.

During the congress, a speech was also given by Kurt Bock, Ph.D,

Chairman of BASF and President of CEFIC, who emphasised the need to move

towards green economy, citing environmental efforts as a guarantee of

accelerated growth for the industry. He further noted that the European economy

should be aiming to optimise production efficiency.

“It is vital for Poland to continue its programme of shale gas

exploration and production and for other countries to follow suit (...) Europe

cannot afford not to use its resources,” said Kurt Bock, adding that innovation

is an essential precondition for and guarantee of development.

In his address, Mr Bock also noted that Europe is strong in terms of its

industrial and research performance. Exports are steadily on

the rise in the industrial sector and European countries enjoy an advantage on

the global research market. Given its excellent R&D base, Europe should be

leading the world in research, but to that end more should be invested in

scientific research programmes.

The 2014 Polish Chemical Industry Congress was organised by the Polish

Chamber of Chemical Industry and was held on June 12th–13th at the Puławy

Research and Technology Park. Grupa Azoty S.A. was the strategic partner of the

Congress.