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TABLE OF CONTENTS NEWS
INVESTMENTS IN POLAND
FROM THE REGIONS
ANALYSES AND REPORTS
DID YOU KNOW...?
FROM THE EDITOR Dear Readers, In this week’s edition we will present the conclusions of the Ministry of Economy report on Polish Special Economic Zones’ performance in 2007, where over last year 36 thousand workplaces were created. There will also be news on the improving Polish economy position in the WCY ranking of the top world competitive economies. Moreover, some data on new Swiss and American SEZ investments and an answer to why Poles are to plan American huge refineries. Pleasant reading! PAIiIZ’s editorial team NEWS Poland classifies high in the competitive economies ranking Poland rose by eight positions, from 52 to 44 in the most competitive world economies ranking. For the 15th time in a row the USA ranked top of the list.
The first three places of the ranking, elaborated by World Competitiveness Yearbook, again have been taken by the USA, Singapore and Hong Kong. According to the information on www.pb.pl it is worth noting that Australia took off and entered the group of the ten top competitive economies this year. From among the former Eastern Bloc countries the Czech Republic ranked highest (28). Poland was exceeded, among others, by Lithuania, Hungary, Slovakia and Slovenia and followed by Romania, Italy, Russia and Turkey. (PB) Go to top...
Poland’s industrial production increased by almost 15% Poland’s industrial production rose by 14,9% in April, compared to April last year, after the increase of 1% y-o-y in March 2008. According to the Central Statistical Office (GUS), in comparison to March this year the rise accounts for 4%.
The analysts claim that the rise results from growing export. The strong zloty seems not to have harmed Polish exporters due to their high productivity and continuing relatively low labour costs. The acceleration in production growth has also much to do with high consumption rate related to, among others, pay rises. It is estimated that the condition of industrial output is to swing between 8 and 10 percent in the months to come. According to the Central Statistical Office data on nonfinacial SMEs hiring at least 50 employed worker, over the first quarter of 2008 the SMEs have made over 20 million PLN net earnings - up by 7,4% when compared with 2007. The incomings level continues to be stable and accounts for 13,5% y-o-y against 14,8% y-o-y in the previous quarter. That translates into the fact that the entrepreneurs accept the temporary fall of price margins which helps to maintain the current development rate. “Supporting Poland’s Competitiveness by Development of Transport Infrastructure” Another in the series of „Building Competitive Advantage” conferences, organized by the Polish Information and Foreign Investment Agency (PAIiIZ) and bilateral chambers of commerce, will take place on June 9, 2008 from 9:00 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. at the InterContinental hotel.
This time the discussion “Supporting Poland’s Competitiveness by Development of Transport Infrastructure” will be organised by the American Chamber of Commerce in Poland in cooperation with PAIiIZ and with honorary patronage of the Ministry of Infrastructure. Representatives of the Ministry of Infrastructure, Ministry of Sport and Tourism, General Directorate for National Roads and Motorways, American Chamber of Commerce, WestLB Bank, CMS Cameron McKenna, Wierzbowski Eversheeds and the Confederation of Polish Employers will have their say in the conference panels and addresses. Among the main topics there are the issue of changes to be introduced in order to speed up road construction in Poland and development of an efficient infrastructure financing model based on PPP. The panel will be chaired by Roman Rewald, the Chairman of the American Chamber of Commerce in Poland and Dr Paweł Wojciechowski, the PAIiIZ President. Labour Market Trends - Challenges 2008 Employment Agencies Association (SAZ), made up of 38 employments agencies, organises on June 17, a conference on current labour market tendencies.
The conference will give an opportunity for the invited experts to discuss the current market labour situation as well as the-adequate-employees-sources problems. Another issue on the agenda concerns the continuing shortage of staff, very often cited among the major development -hampering factors in Poland, with the simultaneous unemployment rate of 56.8% and 1.6 million officially registered jobless people. The changing role of the employment agencies as subjects providing human-resources-related services and solutions together with their positive influence on the activity and mobility increase on the labour market will also be examined. Employment agencies representatives, entrepreneurs, labour market experts, politicians and public administration officials together with employment market institutions and trade unions delegates will discuss the above-mentioned and a number of other issues connected with the current labour market situation. For more information go to: www.saz.org.pl. INVESTMENTS IN POLAND The biggest investment project in Łódź this year Euroglas Polska announced planes to invest over 206 million EUR in constructing new glassworks in Łódź Special Economic Zone. Official permit for the investor is due on May 29.
Laying of the foundation stone for the construction will take place on May 29, in Ujazd. The glassworks will be one of the biggest investments in the Łódź Economic Zone ever. The plant, which is to produce plate glass and plate profiled glass for further processing, will be equipped with the biggest glass furnace in the world with a capacity of 1000 tones of fluid glass. The capital input is calculated at around 206 million EUR with an estimated number of 275 workplaces to be created by 2011. Production process at the Ujazd’s glassworks is scheduled to start in the third quarter of 2009. According to Euroglas, the undertaking is going to be environment-friendly. Potential detrimental influence on the plant’s environs will be kept to a minimum thanks to specialist eco-friendly procedures and professional facilities that will be applied in the factory. (ŁSSE) 3M to build its third plant in Poland American concern 3M again chooses Wrocław as a location for it new plant. Neither the founds to be invested nor the number of potential workplaces have not yet been revealed.
The plant is to produce protective tapes which until recently have only been manufactured in the USA. According to Brian Young from the Aviation Division at 3M, the plant is envisaged to meet the demand of many aviation sector clients located in Europe and Asia. The construction will have been finished by the beginning of the next year and is expected to double the concern’s productivity. Puls Biznesu reminds that 3M has already invested in Wrocław 64,8 million PLN in 2005 in the Scotchcast™ (synthetic cast) production and 108 million PLN in the optical foil plant for LCD screens in 2006. Now, when 3M does not need new building sites for their new enterprise it is estimated that over 75 million PLN may be allocated to the end. However, as it is normally the case, the number of new workplaces will be limited. Piotr Freyberg, General Director at 3M Poland, emphasizes that it was not the cheap labour force that made 3M invest again in Poland but rather good localization, access to engineer staff and also positive experiences of 3M in Poland. (PB) MACROECONOMIC POLAND
Source: www.nbp.pl FROM THE REGIONS New office block at the Częstochowa Industrial Park The new office block is a modernized former Polnam factory. Almost 10 million PLN budget was allocated to the object’s refurbishment. The building has production and office premises, showrooms and fairs halls for let. Those who are interested should not waste their time as there is not much free space left.
The project forms part of a bigger programme “Building of infrastructure for enterprise development within the Częstochowa Industrial Park” which is co-financed by the European Regional Development Fund. Over 20,1 million PLN for the project comes from the EU funds, while 3 million PLN were provided by the Częstochowa Municipality. Within the mentioned programme in July 2007 four production and office premises together with warehouses were provided for let in a different part of the city. This time, according to the Polish Press Agency, the refurbished building is located in the very centre of Częstochowa. The former Polnam factory building, with a floor area of 5,8 thousand square metres now offers showrooms and conference centre as well as production and office premises for light industrial branches. Half of the space for production purposes and the majority of office premises has already been taken. According to the Regional Development Agency both the object executed last year and the interest in the recently modernised office and production space do testify to the Industrial Park’s efficiency. Representatives of the City’s Municipality emphasize that the project of building infrastructure for enterprise includes also other initiatives consisting, among others, in recently introduced free economic activity registration, right to free of charge changes in the register entries or another Katowice Special Economic Zone enlargement (27 ha). The establishment of Industrial Parks proves to be a very popular way of stimulating entrepreneurship. All over Poland around 90 projects of the kind have been being realized. Among the realized projects these are not only industrial but also technological parks and business incubators. In all, over 900 million PLN were allocated for the creation and consulting services of this kind of facilities. In the majority of cases between 60 to 70 percent of the offered premises are usually taken before a given objects opens. (PAP) ANALYSES AND REPORTS 36 thousand new workplaces created in Special Economic Zones in 2007 2007 results successful for the Special Economic Zones (SEZ) with another 10 million PLN invested in new projects and a 25% rise (36 thousand) in created workplaces.
The Kraków-based Economic Zone ranks first with 213% investment increase achieved mainly thanks to MAN Trucks investment in Niepołomice, worth over 410 million PLN. The Tarnobrzeg SEZ comes in second place where the capital input by LG Philips LCD Poland (in Kobierzyce) accounts for over 928 million PLN and constitutes 22% of the overall investment in this Zone. The Kostrzyn-Słubice Special Economic Zone takes third place. 40% of the overall invested capital went to Katowice- and Wałbrzych-based Zones. Currently, the Katowice SSE is also the leader as far as employment rates as concerned. In all, there are 35 thousand people working in the Zone with the recently created workplaces at TRW Polska (4280), General Motors Manufacturing Poland (2736) and LEAR Corporation Poland II (over 1800). Second in the category ranks the Wałbrzych Zone, with the total number of 28 thousand employees distributed, among others, amid MAHLE Polska - 2906, POLAR - 2498, FAURECIA WAŁBRZYCH - 2292 and Toyota Motor Manufacturing Poland - 2073. Nevertheless, it is in the Pomeranian, Łódź and Kamiennagóra SEZ that the employment rate increase results to be among the highest in 2007.
Among the top investing countries, providing over 75% of the total input capital of the Polish SEZs, there are: Poland, Germany, the USA, Japan and Italy. In 2006 there was not much difference in the ranking, with the only exception of the USA which ranked second, providing 20% of the total investment capital, at that time. In 2007 the value of American-based investment rose only by 90 million PLN, the partnerships with German capital increased their activity by 2.2 billion PLN what made them go up in the ranking by one position. The automotive sector dominated the Katowice, Legnica, Wałbrzych and Kraków SEZs where investment expenses accounted for 32% of the investment costs. The situation was similar in 2006 when the sector had 35.7% of the SEZ market. As second most active rate the rubber and plastics producers (10%) followed by metal product manufacturers (9.6%) and electric and optic device makers (9.4%). The total area of the Polish SEZs rose by 2 800 ha and amounts now to 10 963,11 ha. The Polish Cabinet passed 20 regulations concerning the SEZ borders change. The majority of the newly incorporated land was allocated to the Wałbrzych SEZ - around 500 ha what accounts for around 70% of the distributed land in 2007. Considerable area was also incorporated into the Łódź and Pomeranian SEZ, 385 ha and 377 ha respectively. The highest rate of the land resources development could be noticed in the Legnica SEZ (over 77%), Kraków SEZ (over 56%) and also in the Kostrzyn-Słubice SEZ (over 75%). In turn, the Słupsk and Starachowice SEZs are among those with the highest percentage of waste land as compared to their total area. In 2007 201 economic activity permits for operating within Special Economic Zones were issued, what accounted for near 19% of the total number of the permits given in Poland. The biggest number of investors was attracted by the Katowice, Kostrzyn-Słubice and Wałbrzych SEZ. (MG) For more information go to: www.mg.gov.pl DID YOU KNOW...? Poles to plan refineries in India and the USA Bechter, an engineering and construction American company is to open a planning centre in Poland. Polish engineers are to devise big refineries’ plans for construction in India and the USA.
Jan Łaski, the Bechtel Polska President, told the Polish Press Agency that the Polish division aims at full participation in the creation of global concept for the big Bechter projects realized worldwide. The forecasts are that the company is to participate in the creation of a big Angola-based factory and also in a Canadian project for metallurgy and mining sector. The Warsaw centre will hire around 400 engineers within the next five years. The recruitment process has been launched in February and several candidates have already been taken in. Till the end of this year about 80 people will have been hired. According to the Bechtel Polska President, there are many interesting job applications to choose from as the Polish graduates may boast of a profound technical education as opposed to other countries’ candidates with very limiting technical specialisations. Although, the creation of the centre will be supervised by the concern’s division specialised in the oil and gas installations, Polish specialists will also be involved in electricity, metallurgy and mining related constructions. Bechter is one of the biggest engineering and construction companies, hiring over 40 thousand people in 40 divisins all over the world. (PAP)  Editorial office: Polish Information and Foreign Investment Agency, 00-585 Warsaw, Bagatela Street 12 Economic Promotion Department, tel: (+48 22) 334 98 15, fax: (+48 22) 334 99 98, e-mail: redakcja@paiz.gov.pl | ||||||||||||
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