It is natural for most companies to decide at some stage of development to go international. Exports and international cooperation provide the opportunity to broaden output markets and optimize the use of production capacity; it is also a chance to increase this capacity. It is a means to balance and stabilize the situation of the enterprise in case of problems on the domestic market. On the other hand, acquisition of foreign companies helps to enter a particular market. Foreign investors may be a way to gain more capital for the company or its organizational and technical enhancement. However, the decision to run international business needs organizational and financial effort, as well as necessary expertise on foreign markets and exports regulations. For smaller or less experienced companies it may pose a considerable challenge or even barrier preventing from going out to international markets. Therefore a series of measures supporting internationalization of businesses have been launched.

One of them is the System of Investors and Exporters Assistance Centres (COIE) established under Sub-measure 6.2.1 of the Operational Programme “Innovative Economy” for 2007-2013. It comprises the newly established Lublin Investors and Exporters Assistance Centre operating within the Lublin Voivodeship Marshall’s Office (Lublin Regional Government).

The programme is aimed at increasing the rate of internationalization of Polish companies, through providing enterprises and business organizations with the access to comprehensive, free-of-charge information necessary to plan, organize and carry out exports and/or investments outside Poland. It also comprises the activities for increasing the level of foreign investment in Poland by match-making and providing potential foreign investors with an access to information on business conditions in Poland and entrepreneurship support instruments, including investment incentives.

The centres cooperate with the Sections for Trade and Investment Promotion at Polish embassies (currently there are 42 such sections abroad – it is planned to increase their number to 50 by 2015). COIE help entrepreneurs in establishing contacts with potential partners, participation in foreign fairs and business missions, getting comprehensive and essential knowledge concerning the markets within their interest, specifically by providing analyses and studies on prospective foreign markets and industries (pro-export assistance), and analyses of investment attractiveness of the Lublin voivodeship (pro-FDI assistance).

Benefits for businesses:
a) considerable amount of information concerning exports and foreign investments available in one place, which saves time and costs of getting such information,
b) it serves as an additional channel to reach potential customers, clients and investors around the world,
c) assistance in establishing relations with potential partners, clients and investors around the world,
d) platform for cooperation and exchange of experience on the occasion of regular meetings to raise awareness on various aspects of export and investment activities for various industries,
e) reduction of entry costs for enterprises entering foreign markets (including lower costs of obtaining data on foreign markets),
f) reduction of the level of fragmentation of knowledge in the field of exports and investments abroad,
h) easier completion of foreign direct investment in the Lublin region,

Benefits for the region:
a) contributing to the growth in foreign investment in the Lublin region by providing potential foreign investors with the access to information on conditions for business activity in Poland and instruments to support the development of entrepreneurship, including investment incentives,
b) support at the level of regions, under uniform standards and procedures recognizable by businesses, regarding international markets and the market of the Lublin region, also in terms of investment,
c) increasing the quality of efforts made by the Regional Government to attract foreign investors to Poland, including through the development of comprehensive information on investment opportunities in the region.