CEE IPO SUMMIT, organised by the Ministry of Treasury, the Warsaw Stock Exchange, the National Depository for Securities and the City of Warsaw, was held on 25-26 May 2011. The conference aroused great interest of representatives of the biggest banks, legal offices and regional companies. Companies from Central and Eastern Europe which are considering IPOs, had a two day-long chance to meet international financial investors searching for new market opportunities.

In his opening speech, Prime Minister Donald Tusk emphasised that the WSE is the most suitable trading floor in Europe for organising such transactions. The WSE is not only a symbol of highest economic standards but also represents the Polish success which contributed to minimising negative effects of crisis in our country. The Prime Minister also stressed the significant role of the WSE in the process of transforming Polish economy, by saying: In recent years, it has been clearly demonstrated that the WSE not only stands a change of becoming the international centre attracting money, interest and people’s enterprise but can also become the symbol of highest standards and build people’s trust in such complicated processes as ownership transformations.

The Minister of Treasury, Aleksander Grad, encouraged in his speech potential investors to invest in Polish companies. He emphasised that Central and Eastern Europe has a great potential and investments in this region are always profitable. Minister Grad drew participants’ attention to the logotype of the Summit, i.e. the bridge. According to this symbol, the bridge stands for a platform ensuring connection between investors and companies seeking capital, with the WSE’s support seen as the underlying pillar. We hope that this conference will be held regularly and will help to create a stable platform facilitating the flow of money – said Minister Aleksander Grad at the end of his speech.

During the first day of the conference, participants discussed economies of Central and Eastern Europe, in particular economic perspectives of the region and the role of the WSE as the regional financial centre. The following persons took part in panel discussions held on the first day of the conference: Jan Krzysztof Bielecki (Chairman of the Economic Council at the Prime Minister's Chancellery), Krzysztof Walenczak (Undersecretary of State in the Ministry of Treasury), Ludwik Sobolewski (President of the Warsaw Stock Exchange), Juan Jose Toribio (IESE), Erik Berglof (EBOR), Jeremi Grant (Financial Times) and others. On the second day of CEE IPO Summit, potential investors could talk directly to representatives of companies planning to organise their IPOs on the WSE and acquire information on companies which are planning their IPOs. Discussions concerned also the future of agriculture, its globalisation, regionalisation and related issues. Panel discussion devoted to development of the emerging energy market in Central and Eastern Europe (petroleum, natural gas and natural resources) as well as issues related to extracting shale gas in Poland also aroused great interest of participants.

The second edition of CEE IPO Summit is scheduled for May 2012.