Secretary of State Colin L. Powell Addressed
Polish-American Enterprise Fund
and the Polish-American Freedom Foundation
The Polish-American Enterprise Fund was an innovative and highly successful initiative launched in 1989 to support the private sector and nascent market economy in Poland through unique public-private partnerships. During its ten years of operation, the Fund's activities, including direct investment, lending programs, and technical assistance, had a direct impact on more than 130,000 jobs in Poland's private sector. The companies in which the Fund had invested generated revenues in excess of $1.2 billion and employed over 21,000 people.
After completing its mission of stimulating Poland's private sector, the Fund began to liquidate its assets returning $120 million to the U.S. Treasury in September 2001. The remainder of the sales proceeds, approximately $180 million, were used to endow a philanthropic foundation called the Polish-American Freedom Foundation to support the continued growth of the private sector in the region.
The Ambassador of the Republic of Poland Przemysław Grudziński and president of the Polish - American Freedom Foundation, former Polish Ambassador to the United States Mr. Jerzy Komiński participated in the ceremony at the Department of State.
The Establishment of
the Kazimierz Dziewanowski
Memorial Award
The 33rd
Annual Convention of the American Association for the Advancement of Slavic Studies took
place in Crystal City VA, near Washington D.C. between November 15 and November 18, 2001.
On November 16, the Embassy of Poland hosted a reception for members of the Polish
Institute of Arts and Sciences of America and other scholars whose interest lie in Polish
studies. The reception provided an excellent opportunity to exchange views on the role of
Polish and Central European studies at American universities. During the ceremony,
Ambassador Przemysław Grudziński announced, together with Professor Thaddeus V. Gromada
of the Polish Institute of Arts and Sciences of America, the establishment of the
Kazimierz Dziewanowski Memorial Award. The award is a joint initiative of the Embassy
of Poland, the Polish Institute of Arts and Sciences of America and the daily Rzeczpospolita
and will be given annually to an American student who excels in Polish studies.