In my last post, I noted that Krakow was “under construction.” Well, I’d like to extend that to more than just the city. There was barely a road I travelled on that wasn’t coned off and rerouted for some kind of improvement.
And one of the reasons Poland is spending so much time updating its infrastructure and roads is to become more attractive to foreign investors.
On one stretch of highway, I saw two major manufacturing plants: BASF (BAS:Frankfurt) and Daewoo (004550:Korea).
Interestingly, the Slovak roads are in much better condition. Investment is still going strong, though, and one major private investor is expanding a huge resort here in the High Tatras, in the Pieniny National Park.
Now, that brings up an interesting point to growing so quickly…
And sometimes, fast growth comes at the cost of quality. Take this picture of the Czorsztyn-Niedzica-Sromowce Complex for example. This is the dam provides only half the electricity it could have had it been built right. It was finished in 1994 and has a capacity of 160 million kWh of generation a year. That’s less than what Rhode Island uses in a month…
So, not all the rules are being followed. Even my guide book has a little note on it. In talking about Slovakia’s capital, Bratislava, the Lonely Planet says:
As post-EU-membership investment pours in, the whir of construction equipment in all quarters of Slovakia’s capital is growing… There’s something a bit reckless about the development, though. Zoning laws are largely ignored and and odd mix of antireform-minded parties took control of the parliament in June 2006.
But Slovakia is certainly breaking away from the past, and it’s financial markets are trying to do the same. The SAX Index on the Bratislava Stock Exchange (BSSE) has climbed 3.54% in August, year over year.
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