Poland attractive to foreign investors
There has been an inflow of more than 6 billion Euro of foreign direct investment to Poland, the National Bank of Poland has announced, following analyses of the period January to October 2009
Although this represents a decrease compared to the respective period last year, Poland is, despite the crisis, still an attractive investment destination. Investors choose Poland recognising not only its qualified human resources, attractive location, favourable rules of investing and labour costs which are still lower than our neighbours’, given the significant inflow of EU funds.
The main investments in Poland this year have been in the Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) sector and the automotive sector.
The Polish Information and Foreign Investment Agency [Polish: PAIiIZ] summarised the year 2009 and announced the successful completion of nearly 30 investment projects totalling nearly 768 million Euro. 8,152 new jobs will be created thanks to the investments. PAIiIZ honoured three main foreign investors of the closing year in the following categories: the largest investment, the investment which created the most jobs and the most important investment in the sector of modern technologies.
The winner within the category "The largest investment in 2009" is Cargotec Poland. In the area of the Industrial Park of Modern Technologies in Stargard Szczeciński, on a 41ha area, Cargotec Poland Sp. z o.o. is to build an assembly room for trans-shipment machines. The value of the investment is 64.4 million Euro. The assembly room of Cargotec will be designated for the production of forklifts, shifting cranes, gantry cranes and terminal tractors. The investor intends to create at least 400 permanent jobs by the end of 2013, of which 340 will be worker positions (electrical and mechanical fitters, foremen as well as warehouse and paint shop workers) and 60 will be management. Cargotec is a leader in manufacturing technologies of the above equipment and its research and development department is focused on developing innovative solutions whilst taking into account the environmental issues.
In the category of the investment which will generate the most jobs the award was granted to IBM Polska Sp. z o.o. According to the application for a subsidy IBM’s plans envisage the hiring of up to 2000 IT specialists in Wrocław. The employment process will be completed in 2013. The specialists will be providing services related to the administration of servers, databases, networks and applications for IBM's customers with their headquarters in Europe. IBM Polska employs Project Managers, IT Specialists and System Administrators. It is the first such large investment in the modern services sector. The new centre will join the international network of IBM centres providing IT services. The centres monitor, maintain and support the IT infrastructure and manage the IT services for the benefit of thousands of IBM’s customers all over the world. The Centre is planning to start its operations in spring 2010.
In the "modern technologies” category the award was granted to Woodward Governor Poland Sp. z o.o. The company is a part of the American corporation Woodward Governor Company, with its registered office in Fort Collins, in the state of Colorado, in the U.S. Its main activities include the design, production and maintenance of control and monitoring equipment for sectors such as: aviation, industrial engines, turbines, electric power generation. The company’s investment in Niepołomice near Cracow is worth approx. 35 million zlotys. The facility will provide space for engineers’ offices, support departments’ offices and a production hall. Both the design and production activities will be at an advanced technological level, mainly in the area of electronics, electrical engineering and mechanics.
Source: PAIiIZ
