New person joins Echo Polska Properties

Details: Published on Friday, 12 August 2016 00:00; Written by AS

Marek Belka, a former Prime Minister of Poland and a governor of the the National Bank of Poland – the country's central bank – joins the Board of Directors at Echo Polska Properties (EPP), which lists on the JSE in September following a listing on the Euro MTF market of the Luxembourg Stock Exchange (LuxSE) in August.

Mr. Belka, who will start his duties as an Independent Non-Executive Director in August 2016, says he is very excited about the prospect of applying his professional experience in the real estate area.

"This is the sector with the highest growth potential, and this has been confirmed by various recent economic indicators," he says.

Mr. Belka points out that June forecast by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) holds that Polish GDP could increase from around 3% in 2016 to 3.5% in 2017 – which is up from only 1.3% in 2013.

"Economic activity in Poland continues to expand. Rising employment and wages, higher social transfers and low energy prices are expected to support faster consumption growth, which in turn drives the growth potential of the retail property market," he adds.

He says the increase in economic activity and infrastructure development will continue to drive prospects in the real estate market, and particularly in the retail sector.

"We are very happy to have Marek Belka as a member of our team," says Hadley Dean, EPP's CEO. "I'm convinced that his profound knowledge of macroeconomics and finance will be an invaluable asset to us."