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Fundacja Kronenberga przy Citi Handlowy
26th September, 2019
Sixth edition of the Emerging Market Champions Award


Polish pharmaceutical company, logistics provider which connects Far East with Central and Eastern Europe, and a company which introduced new quality in the doctor-patient relationship on over 15 markets: these are the winners of the sixth edition of the Emerging Market Champions Award.


Corporate banking at Citi Handlowy is a "window to the world" for many businesses. We have been supporting the development of foreign investors on the Polish market for many years now. Our presence in over 100 countries worldwide makes us a natural business partner for Polish companies entering foreign markets. The idea of the Emerging Market Champions Award was initiated based on these observations and experiences, says Sławomir S. Sikora, President of Citi Handlowy. When we presented this award for the first time six years ago, we wanted to reward mainly foreign companies in Poland, although there were already some Polish companies with a spectacular success abroad. Today, the optics is different. I follow Polish companies entering new markets with a great satisfaction. The same applies to companies which assume future international activity in their digital model at the very beginning. This year's winners are the best example of that. One of them is a Polish pharmaceutical company, which is competitive on international markets thanks to the quality and innovativeness of its product. A Korean investment in a Polish company, which enabled a successful opening of a logistic hub connecting Poland with the Asian market. And finally, a Polish company which moved the traditional doctor-patient relationship to the Internet and persuaded patients on almost 15 markets worldwide to do the same.

The award in the Emerging Market Champions competition organized by Citi Handlowy Foundation has been presented for the sixth time.The award was initiated by Sławomir S. Sikora, the President of the Management Board of Citi Handlowy, in order to inspire and reward the best entities and motivate them for further development. Out of 100 candidates, the Competition Jury chose three the most outstanding companies which deserved the champion's title.

Zakłady Farmaceutyczne Polpharma S.A. was acknowledged for the consistent strategy of organic business development, with a great emphasis on international expansion - it has already announced its expansion to the Vietnamese market. The engagement into production and development of new medicines translates into a huge support for R&D sector (Polpharma is responsible for 30% of expenditures in the pharmaceutical industry).

The "Foreign Investments in Poland" category was won by Adampol S.A. The company was awarded for developing a strategic position of a liaison between the Asian automotive industry and its recipient from CEE region. Owing to many years of cooperation with Korean concerns and strategic partnership with Hyundai Glovis, the company has become the European transport hub for almost half a million cars of different brands annually. Adampol also created its own logistics solution linking Europe and Asia - Euro China Train, which is an intermodal railway network.

The winner of the "Ecommerce" category, which is the youngest category created two years ago, was the company Znany Lekarz sp. z o.o. Its innovative approach to the doctor-patient relationship turned out to be a commercial success. The company is already active on 15 markets, leading 6 of them and making 1.5 million appointments per month.

The purpose of the Emerging Market Champions Award is to promote enterprises which are successful abroad. The first category promotes Polish companies which extend their business activities outside Poland, whereas the second one is addressed to foreign enterprises from emerging markets which carry out significant investment projects in Poland, thus creating new jobs and stimulating the development of our country. "Ecommerce", which is the youngest category existing only for two years now, rewards companies the activity of which goes beyond standards. The important factors are the digital transformation of a company and the effectiveness of digital technologies implemented in production and sales.