Potential Market Opportunities in Hungary,Poland and Bulgaria

Central European economies are undergoing radical reforms changing from central planning to free market economies. If these changes are to be successful, there is a need for their govemments to liberalise legislation to allow privatisation to take place and to allow and encourage foreign investment in the countries. Potentially the most effective form of foreign investment is the participation of Western companies in the business of the country enabling development of the market and the local understanding of the methods of business in free market economies. Whether and to what extent this participation takes place depends on the macro-environmental climate and the specific market environments in the countries. This paper addresses both of these issues and is based on a twelve month study of marketing conditions in Hungary, Poland and Bulgaria. In the first part the macro changes taking place are explored and the overall attractiveness assessed by comparison with the published literature on the market entry strategies. The conclusion is that Hungary is the most attractive of the three countries concerned for Western company investment in terms of political stability, economic development and performance, cultural unity, and lower legal and geo-cultural similarity.