The competitiveness of economies is an issue that becomes particularly important in times of crisis. The collapse triggered by the COVID-19 pandemic, spreading virtually all over the world in 2020, has a different strength of economic impact on individual economies and generates multiple social and economic effects. The debate on competitiveness in times of crisis touches upon but is not limited to the following general issues:

•    How to maintain or improve the competitive position?
•    What new dimensions of the phenomenon have emerged?
•    How has the significance of the various competitiveness factors changed?
•    What are the new economic policy approaches and instruments to be developed to strengthen the resilience of economies and improve competitiveness?

Given the pandemic-induced strong slowdown in international trade growth and capital flows, an additional objective is to answer the following questions on the status of Poland’s bilateral economic ties with major economic partners and to identify new areas of cooperation:

•    What is the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on Poland’s bilateral economic cooperation?
•    What are the directions of economic policy aimed at strengthening Poland’s international relations after the pandemic?

The World Economy Research Institute’s 15th Annual Conference on competitiveness will seek to answer these and related questions.