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TABLE OF CONTENTS NEWS
INVESTMENTS IN POLAND
FROM THE REGIONS
FROM THE EDITOR In today's edition of the newsletter, we issue two reports from Wednesday's conference at the PAIiIZ Press Centre: the initial NBP figures on the topic of the inflow of foreign direct investments to Poland in 2007, which confirms our position as the region's leader and also a summary of the projects completed by the Agency in I Q of this year. Apart from this, we are presenting the information about a new technology park in Wałbrzych, with the developments in Małopolska, which will gain new communication routes with important Polish cities. Pleasant reading! PAIiIZ’s editorial team NEWS PAIiIZ - summary of 1st quarter 2008 The Polish Information and Foreign Investment Agency (PAIiIZ) have completed 16 investment projects in the first quarter of this year. Their value is almost 650 million EUR and the planned employment figure is 4,100 people.
Eight of the projects are from the EU countries (3 from Germany and 1 each from Belgium, Portugal, Ireland and Sweden). Decisions to invest have also been made by 2 investors each from Japan, China and India and the USA and South Korea each made one investment. In terms of the amount of capital to be invested, the predominance of the funds - 2/3 of the total sum - is to be invested in the paper industry sector - according to the declarations of the investors. Smaller amounts - 51 and 41 million EUR respectively, have been earmarked for investment by the chemical and automotive sectors. It must be noted that a specific characteristic of the projects are the high levels of capital investments (in the chemical and paper industries), relative to the small numbers of new jobs created. The BPO sector investments are much more favourable, though they involve relatively small investments - they will employ the largest numbers of workers. In the sector of business process offshoring, who have decided to invest in Poland this year, hope to employ up to 900 new staff. Almost as many workplaces (over 840) can be expected as a result of investments in the motor industry’s sector. In comparison to the analogous period in 2006, there has been a significant increase of 25% in the share of projects from the BPO sector; whereas there was a 29% fall in the share of projects from the electronics sector. - This is caused by a saturation of the Polish market, in terms of the investors in this field - said Dr Paweł Wojciechowski, President of PAIiIZ. The Agency has also recorded a several point increase in the number of automotive projects. Currently PAIiIZ is dealing with app. 150 projects. The largest numbers are from the USA and Japan. Taking into account the sector to which an investor belongs, the largest numbers of projects are related to the sectors of: the motor industry, electronics and BPO. 2007 - a record year 12 billion, 834 million EUR, of foreign direct investments (FDI) flowed into Poland in 2007 - it appeared from the initial findings of the National Bank of Poland (NBP). This is almost a billion more than last year.
In comparison to 2006, there was a noticeable tendency of a change in the structure of FDI - there followed by an increase in the size of reinvested profits instead of firms increasing their capital. - This is also a testimony to the creditworthiness of our economy - NBP President Mr Sławomir Skrzypek, stated. 85% of the sum of FDI came from the EU countries. Among these, the leaders remained France and Germany, which had 17.7% and 17.2% shares of FDI respectively. Following was Austria with over 8% and then Italy and Sweden with almost 7% each. As usual the biggest investor from outside the EU was the USA; with app. 10%, following this were the Dutch Antilles, South Korea and Japan. A total of almost 13 billion EUR of foreign investment inflows enabled Poland to retain first place among the new EU member states relating to the amount of the inflows of foreign capital. - We’re the undoubted leaders and we’ll maintain this position for a further year - said the NBP President. By comparison the second placed country: the Czech Rep. was only able to attract slightly over 6 billion EUR, Bulgaria had almost 6 billion EUR, Hungary app. 4 billion EUR and the remaining new European countries (without Malta and Rumania) a joint figure of 9 billion EUR. According to the structure of the types of businesses, the largest sums were located in the industrial processing sector (20%), services related to the industrial processing sector (also almost 20%), financial services (15%) and trade and repairs (almost 12%). The complete figures on the subject of the inflow of FDI into Poland in 2007 - making adjustments for e.g. capital in transit (sources of finance, which have only been accounted in Poland) - will become available in the third quarter of this year.
The KSSEZ promotes itself in Taipei On 7th April this year, a promotion and investment seminar “Investment & Trade Opportunities in Poland” was held in Taipei. During the meeting potential investors were able to find out about Kostrzyn-Słubice SEZ’s investment offer.
The Economic Department from Warsaw’s Trade Bureau in Taipei organised the seminar in cooperation with the trade organisation: Taiwan External Trade Development Council (TAITRA), which was supported by the Foreign Trade Bureau, Taipei’s Ministry of Economy and the Central, Eastern Europe and CIS Association. During the conference a presentation was shown by the Kostrzyn-Słubice SEZ, this was prepared by a delegation under the Board President, Mr Krzysztof Dołganow. Also present was the General Director of Warsaw’s Trade Bureau in Taipei, Mr W. Strażewski, and the Director of the Economic Department, Mr R. Morawski. The hosts were represented by Mr Berton Chiu, - the General Director of the Investment Department at the Ministry of the Economy, and Mr Peter Huang - Managing Director of TAITRA. The seminar’s programme also included an appearance by Mr Jeremy Horng, Deputy General Director of TAITRA: “Investment and Trade Climate in Poland” and Ms Holly Liao, Director of the Services Department, in Taipei’s branch of the Hong Kong’s Shanghai Banking Corporation (HSBC), called “Case Studies: Trade between Taiwan and Poland”. The seminar aroused much interest and representatives of 55 firms, from various sectors of the economy attended, together with companies that are already trading in Poland; including the region’s major investor - TPV Poland. The KSSEZ is the largest zone in Poland, in which the Island’s companies are active. The concept of the seminar was to further encourage local businesses, to place their investments in the zone. On 8th April 2008, an agreement was signed between the Warsaw Stock Exchange, the Taiwan Stock Exchange, the Taiwan Futures Exchange and GreTai Securities; which may prove to be an immense opportunity for new investors and regional firms. The company representatives present at the seminar said that they would continue discussions on these matters. The Taipei investors are looking towards Poland with increasing interest, as they perceive it as a country with perspectives for growth and as the “gateway to the EU countries”. Currently in Poland there are 23 firms with shares of capital from Taipei. The balance of trade between Warsaw and Taipei, together with Polish exports over the last 3 years, shows steady growth. The turnover in 2007 was 1,320 billion USD and was almost 4 times as high as that with Hong Kong. The Warsaw Trade Bureau in Taipei, was established as a non-government institution in 1995 and is concerned with the promotion of Polish business interests in the region; with particular regard to assisting with cooperation for investments. The hitherto largest seminar related to the promotion of trade and investments in Poland on the island took place in 2007, with the assistance of the Polish Information and Foreign Investment Agency. It will be easier for EU citizens to work in Poland An agreement on the principles for recognising professional qualifications issued in other EU countries, was signed by President Lech Kaczyński. This will considerably simplify the procedures for foreigners to gain work in Poland.
The new regulations are meant to limit to a minimum the formalities connected with the taking on of temporary or incidental work, by citizens from other EU countries. It will also eliminate the necessity of undergoing a traineeship, or the necessity to take further qualifying exams. The act also embraces new regulations regarding recognition of the qualifications of cross-border workers, i.e. those whose permanent residence is in one country, but are temporarily working in another. The Minister for Science and Higher Education will be responsible for recognising qualifications in the regulated professions: e.g. architecture, medicine and pharmacy. (GW) INVESTMENTS IN POLAND An Indian giant will build a research centre in Wrocław The Indian corporation Wipro, in cooperation with Credit Suisse, is to establish a research and service centre in Wrocław, dealing in the management of personnel.
The Service Delivery Centre will conduct its activities in the field of staff support and deal with matters relating to human resources, e.g. in: recruitment, bonus systems, managing the effectiveness of work, managing human resources, training and in the progress of employees. The Centre is to be fully operational by October of this year. Initially a team of app. 140 staff will be employed at Wipro’s new centre - these will mainly be higher education graduates speaking English and German. - They’ll be graduates in IT and also from arts subjects - said Mr Herald Stoehr, the head of HR at Credit Suisse, who is to be the centre’s director. - Credit Suisse are to create a completely new, innovative and more effective system for globally managing their staff - stated Mr Ramit Sethi, vice president of Wipro BPO - The Wipro Company are to assist Credit Suisse in this system’s project and its later control. For this task we’re opening two centres, the first is to be the one in Wrocław and another one will be in Pune, India. Mr Sethi, acknowledged that in event of the centre’s expansion and it receiving further assignments, not only from Credit Suisse but also from Wipro’s other strategic partners, the centre in Wrocław would be further developed. What caused the investors to choose Wrocław? Mr Stoehr, stressed that it was because Wrocław was a strong academic centre and it would be easy to find university graduates with language and IT skills there. Wipro is the third largest IT firm in India, it works closely with companies like Microsoft, Cisco, HP, IBM, SAP and Sun. Across the world it employs 80 thousand staff. (GW) Another accountancy and finance centre has been set up in Kraków The Newton Finance Centre has been opened in Krakow by Hitachi Data Systems. The centre will deal with the financial operations of firms across Europe, the Middle East and Africa.
In the competition to gain a new investor, Kraków beat off several large European cities - including Riga and Bratislava. The decision to locate the finance centre in Poland was influenced above all by the high level of education there and the very good foreign language skills of the workers. As Mr Michael Vńtha, the vice president of Hitachi Data Systems, stated, one of the goals for the centre’s development - although it’s a long term one - is to embrace the services of other firms under Hitachi Data Systems that are operating beyond the region of Europe, the Middle East and Africa. Among the centre’s tasks will be to receive orders, analyse income, write up transactions, write sales invoices, assess commissions, process purchase invoices, consolidate figures from the whole region, reporting to the management and manage payments. The centre has already been operational since the end of last year and currently employs 32 people - they plan to take on a further 70. In recent years, many multinational companies have opened up accountancy and finance centres in Kraków; firms such as: Motorola, Shell, Capgemini, Sabre Holdings, Lufthansa, IBM, Google and Ahold. (Rz) MACROECONOMIC POLAND
FROM THE REGIONS A new technology park in Wałbrzych A new technology park will be built between Wałbrzych and Szczawno Zdrój. The idea was conceived by the Dolny Śląsk Regional Development Agency. The whole project will cost 51 million PLN, of which 36 million is in EU grants.
Several dozen hectares of land in plots with all the necessary utilities, which are well located and with easy access to all the national roads, are being prepared for firms from the sectors of: electronics, telecommunications and IT. In the vicinity a research centre is to be built that is designated as a headquarters and laboratory, for firms engaged in business within the park. Within its area there will be conference rooms, a restaurant, a sanitary area and also a large manufacturing hall. Approximately 6 thousand m2 will be available for use.
Currently almost all works relating to installation of utilities in the area, in which the four storey Dolny Śląsk Technology Park R&D Centre (TPRDC) building is being built, have been completed. On the site the water supply, sewers and drainage systems have all been completed, along with some of the other preparation work for the site. Alongside the construction of the TPRDC, work is being carried out on installation of utilities for the 20 ha of land where the companies are to be located. The completion of the preparation work for the plots is planned for September 2008. The park’s development will certainly increase the attractiveness of investments in the former voivodship of Wałbrzych. This will be an advantage to students in the local higher education facilities, particularly those in technical subjects. The region’s neighbours from the Czech Republic’s Hradca Kralove, see an opportunity to strengthen economic cooperation between the regions through the project and they also intend to build such a park - it was written in a summary by “Gazeta Wrocławska”. Małopolska opens up to Europe Tarnów i Nowy Sącz will gain from having a direct rail connection with Warsaw, which bypasses Krakow. An express road will also be constructed between Kraków and Bielsko Biała, which will then lead up to the country’s border - it was shown in the latest government plans - it was stated in "Dziennik Polski".
The government wants the Warszawa - Radom - Kielce - Busko Zdrój - Tarnów - Nowy Sącz - Muszyna rail route, to be added to the Trans-European Transport Network TEN-T. This is possible on condition that existing track is modernised and that an extra section is built from Busko Zdrój to Żabno. Poland also hopes to add the S7 Warszawa - Kraków - Głogoczów express road, together with the Beskidzka Integration Road, from Głogoczów to Bielsko Biała, to the TEN-T network. Both the new rail and road routes could be added to the European network by 2010, as this is when the transport corridors of European significance will be updated. - There shouldn’t be a problem to reach agreement for the entry of the S7 and BDI to the TEN-T network - said the deputy transport minister Mr Zbigniew Rapciak. - As the Slovak’s don’t have any investment plans on their side in the direction of Chyżne, it seems natural to point the routes in the direction of the border crossing at Cieszyn. The new corridor would provide road connections between the Czech Rep. and Slovakia, to the Polish Baltic ports and the Baltic States; so the claim that it has a European significance is obvious - he added. The świętokrzyskie voivodship is the best at making use of EU funds The świętokrzyskie voivodship is in 1st place nationwide in terms of making use of the capital from the European Regional Development Funds under the Integrated Regional Operational Programme (IROP) 2004-2006.
- In the latest rankings of the Ministry of Regional Development, the Swiętokrzyski voivodship was placed first, in terms of the percentage of certificated payments received under IROP - this is an indication measuring the programmes’ progress. In our region the recorded payments are at a level of 94% - the voivodship’s Marshall Mr Adam Jarubas, said at a press conference. Following in the rankings are the podlaskie and lubuskie voivodships, on 92% and 90% respectively. Bottom of the list are the voivodships of: Śląsk with 79%, then Łódź and Mazowsze with 77% each. - We’re the best voivodship in Poland when it comes to making use of funds and this has been reported by the European Commission, during a meeting of the monitoring sub-committee for regional policy at Kamień Śląski - a member of the voivodship’s management, Mr Marcin Perz stated. Under the IROP framework almost 300 investment projects have been concluded in the voivodship; which have all been jointly financed under the European Regional Development Funds, for a joint sum of 430 million PLN. As a result of this, over 110 km of voivodship, poviat and gmina (both local authorities) roads, together with hundreds of kilometres of water supply and sewers have been constructed or modernised in recent years. Over 10,000 m2 of cultural, recreational and sporting buildings have been modernised, along with 63,000 m2 of buildings for educational and sporting usage.  Editorial office: Polish Information and Foreign Investment Agency, 00-585 Warsaw, Bagatela Street 12Economic Promotion Department tel: (+48 22) 334 98 15, fax: (+48 22) 334 99 98, e-mail: redakcja@paiz.gov.pl | ||||
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