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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, This week we report on forecasts of the experts from the Institute for Market Economics who claim that there is no threat for the Poland’s economy to slide into recession and also on the planned agreement between the PAIiIZ and the capital cities of the Eastern Poland region. In this week’s edition you may also find information on a new big automotive investment in Poland and a new investment in the Fiat’s Tychy-based factory. Moreover, you can read about the contribution of the Polish scientists to works aiming at finding ways of compressed hydrogen application as car fuel. Pleasant reading! PAIiIZ’s editorial team NEWS PAIiIZ and the capital cities of voivodships from Eastern Poland to sign a contract The Polish Information and Foreign Investment Agency (PAIiIZ) plans to sign an agreement with the capital cities of Eastern Poland in order to shore up the region’s promotional system and new investment-acquisition strategy.
The agreement assumes co-operative actions aiming at:
PAIiIZ plans to expand the collaboration with the region’s capital cities in the frame of the Programme for Economic Promotion of Eastern Poland which has been realised in co-operation with the local self-governments and financed by the Operational Programme - Development of Eastern Poland (EPD OP). The co-operation, which is to supplement the wider plans of the Operational Programme (EPD OP), aims at supporting the region’s competitiveness and investment attractiveness.
The Agency plans to sign agreements with Lublin, Rzeszów, Bia³ystok and Olsztyn. On July 30th, the first agreement with Lublin was signed. The PAIiIZ’s co-operation with the city of Katowice is regulated by a fix-term agreement signed in January 2005. For more information contact: Press Office of the Lublin’s City Council 
The Polish GDP to go up by 5.5% in 2008 The Institute for Market Economics (IBnGR) forecasts 5.5% increase in GDP this year.
The Institute’s estimates suggest that in the first Q 2008 the Polish GDP rose by 5.6% and the GDP increase in the whole 2008 hovers at around 5.5%. The outlook for the second half of 2008 looks slightly grimmer than it was in the case of the first six months - while the GDP increase for the third Q this year is estimated at 5.6%, in the fourth Q the increase is expected to account for 5.3%. Yet the symptoms of economic slowdown in Poland are only reaching a minimum rate when compared to other EU economies, e.g. in the UK GDP rose in the 2nd Q 2008 only by 1.6% y-o-y and by 2.3% in the 1st Q of the year. According to the Institute, it is the domestic demand that is to have the greatest influence on GDP in the years 2008-2009; the estimated increase rate in 2008 is to reach 6.4% and in 2009 Poland may expect an acceleration rate to near 7.5%. Due to the mildly felt slowdown in Poland the recently signalled entrepreneurs’ anxiety in the country does not seem to be of a permanent nature. The Gdañsk Institute’s experts forecast that although the investment increase in 2008 is to grow by 13.3%, in 2009 it is expected to rise by 17%. The Institute’s forecasts concerning unemployment predict the rate to stay at a one-digit level and near 9.1% this year and 8.2% in the year 2009. The appreciation of the Polish z³oty is estimated to continue to be felt in the years 2008-2009 - both against the euro and the dollar. The calculations of the average annual exchange rates euro/z³oty are estimated at 3.3 and 3.0 respectively and in the case of dollar/z³oty the exchange rates are expected to reach 2.1 and 1.9 - “Rzeczpospolita” reports. (Rzeczpospolita) INVESTMENTS IN POLAND American Axle & Manufacturing to invest near Stanowice American Axle & Manufacturing (AAM) plans to build a new plant in Stanowice within the Wa³brzych Special Economic Zone(WSSE). The plant is to produce differential gears for a variety of car brands.
From information provided by the PM Group, a company in charge of the project’s realisation, results that the venture has thus far entered the concept phase. Yet the investor has already disclosed plans for the plant’s expansion and a consequent build up of staff. The object’s area is to account for 4.7 thousand sq m and around 1.2 thousand sq m is to be allocated for offices. Within the next year the expected number of employees is to reach 100 persons. The production process in the factory is to set off in 2009. In fact, one AAM factory has already been active in Stanowice by O³awa. The factory was built in 2006 in an adapted building and has been producing elements for power transmission systems for a variety of car brands. The Polish Press Agency informs that the American Axle & Manufacturing, created in 1994, is manufacturing power transmission systems and undercarriages for trucks, buses, cars and sports cars. The company operates within a worldwide scope and has factories situated in, among other locations, the USA, Brazil, China, Mexico and Great Britain. (PAP, PM Group) Americans to open a plant in Bia³ogard
The project is a result of a co-operation which dates back to November 15th 2007 when the letter of intent between the investors and the self-government was signed. The initial plan assumes 240 workplaces to be created and the overall personnel number is expected to reach 400 in 2010. The county’s residents are to be the first to find employment in the factory. All prospective new employees have already took part in an adequate preparatory training, 20 of them spend some months gaining experience in the British divisions of the company. All the new workplaces are of the utmost importance for the region which suffers from high unemployment (29%). Valassis operates in the marketing sector. The company organises and manages advertising campaigns using vouchers. The Bia³ogard-based facility, located within the recently constructed Technology Incubator, is to deal with digital data processing of the vouchers and receipts.
The location has not been chosen by accident. Among the decisive factors in favour of Bia³ogard there were good transport connections to the location, easy access to well-qualified cadre, attractive conditions of the building, low business activity costs and the support of the county’s Job Centre. The project was managed jointly by the Polish Information and Foreign Investment Agency and the Investors Assistance Centre (COI) by the Marshal's Office of the West Pomerania Voivodship. (COI) MACROECONOMIC POLAND
Source: www.nbp.pl FROM THE REGIONS Technopark Gliwice opened Construction of a technology park called “Technopark Gliwice“ has been finished. The Technopark is located in an academic campus and in the vicinity of a Congress and Education Centre of the Silesian University of Technology.
The Technopark was a common initiative of the representatives from the Silesian University of Technology, the City Council of Gliwice and the Katowice Special Economic Zone (KSSE). The new technology facility is to be modelled on similar institutions operating in Poland and abroad. The Technopark is to focus on transferring technology, mainly from university research centres and other academic units to small and medium-sized enterprises. Moreover, the park may function as a kind of incubator for innovative technology enterprises created in the majority of cases by university graduates. Thanks to an agreement with the Industrial Development Agency the project managed to obtain a subsidy for EU funds, worth 17.5 million PLN, accounting for 75% of the whole investment. A steel framework of an unfinished production premises located in the neighbourhood of the Silesian Technology University was chosen, refurbished and accommodated for the need of a modern technology facility. Construction started in 2006. A two-storey building with the total area of 3 thousand sq m divided in a variety of workshop and administrative space was finished this year.
Profesor Jan Kosmol, the President of the Technopark’s Board, said on a press conference that from among many applicant-companies 19 small and medium-sized companies were selected. These are, above all, Silesia-based companies, interested in new technologies and in the majority of cases created by the Silesian University of Technology graduates. Currently there are 160 persons working in the technology park and its whole area has already been developed and distributed. Yet there are plans for further enlargement and development of the park in the future. (www.um.gliwice.pl) ANALYSES AND REPORTS It pays to invest in Poland Poland classified 5th in the ranking of the most investment attractive destinations in Europe. The ranking was devised by the Cushman & Wakefield agency, a real estate advisor.
Three out of Europe’s top five markets with the best location for industrial/logistics facilities are in the CEE region - the Polish Press Agency (PAP) reports. Belgium, the Netherlands and Hungary classified highest on the list and were immediately followed by Poland and the Czech Republic. While previous editions of the European Distribution Report focused on 15 countries, this year 25 countries came under scrutiny and underwent an evaluation in terms of their attractiveness for businesses and logistic activity. From among new country locations Slovakia ranked highest and took the 9th position. Ferdinand Hlobil, Head of Industrial for Cushman & Wakefield in Central Europe, told the PAP that the fact that the countries from the Central and Eastern European region have risen up the ranking is no surprise. Experts from Cushman & Wakefield are well aware that the CEE region countries have been developing and result attractive for investors seeking cheaper production base. Moreover, the report shows an interesting preference for regional cities as an investment destination. The regional locations are not only more attractive in terms of prices but, what is equally important, do not suffer from problems of land shortages. These locations are also free of traffic congestion so characteristic of big cities. The data used in the ranking was analysed according to variables like: the relation of the production cost to generated profits, rents’ height, work costs, the market’s size, distance from priority markets and population density. (PAP) DID YOU KNOW...? Polish scientists work on hydrogen fuel Scientists from Wroc³aw are finishing tests of the so called “intelligent cylinders” for hydrogen. The cylinders are thought to drive a new model by Mercedes. One hundred km journey, using the hydrogen-generated power, costs 4 EUR - “Gazeta Wyborcza” wrote.
For the last four years engineers from he Wroc³aw University of Technology have been participating in a large research project involving academic centres, gasworks and leading car makers e.g. BMW, Ford or Volvo. The works on a safe compressed hydrogen usage are scheduled to be completed by August this year. According to the “Gazeta Wyborcza” publication, tests took place in a Wroc³aw-based laboratory, one of four such laboratories located in the EU. The tests consisted, among others, in checking out the carbon fibre and resins made containers’ resistance to high pressure, minus 40 degrees temperature and the containers’ behaviour after a shot through it. The “intelligent cylinders” are equipped with a net of sensors enabling the driver to monitor the safety-level of the container. In 2009 this type of super-resistant containers are to enter mass production in France, Italy and Germany, and in two years time they are expected to find a wide range of applications e.g. they are to be installed, among others, in Mercedes F600Hygenius. Professor Jerzy Kaleta from the Institute of Materials Science and Applied Mechanics in Wroc³aw told the “Gazeta Wyborcza” daily that at the moment there are around one thousand prototypes of cars using hydrogen-fuel and the number is on the increase. It is envisaged that from among 300 million cars used in Europe in 2020 round 10 million will use the hydrogen fuel which results to be three times more economic than petrol and may be obtained from natural gas or water. (Gazeta Wyborcza)  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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