In 2012, Polish small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) plan to invest 34 percent more than they did last year and are far more bullish than their counterparts in the Czech Republic, France, Germany, Hungary, Italy and the UK according to a GE Capital survey.

Polish SMEs intend to invest €35.3 billion over the next 12 months and with a “net confidence score” of 39.8 percent, are by far the most optimistic out of all those surveyed.

Of the Western European economies surveyed, German SMEs were the most confident, having plans to increase investments by 17 percent year-on-year in 2012. SMEs in all other countries surveyed were either in negative territory, meaning they will be investing less this year than in 2011, or expecting single-digit increases in investment in 2012.

The manufacturing equipment and commercial fleet sectors are expected to benefit the most from the positive attitudes of SMEs in Poland. On average, survey respondents said that they would invest 53 percent more in commercial vehicles and 44 percent more in manufacturing equipment than they did last year.

The IT sector is also likely to benefit, since Polish SMEs expect to increase their expenditures on IT hardware by 8 percent and by 14 percent on software. A key reason for this is that they need to build capacity for servicing an expected increase in new orders, providing further proof of Polish SME optimism.

In general, current investment is mainly aimed at enhancing efficiency and productivity, servicing growth in new orders and replacing deteriorating equipment.

The report was based on a survey of 1,750 SMEs in seven countries.