In accordance with the Financial Times’ ranking of fdi (foreign direct investment) Global Free Zones, Polish Special Economic Zones (SEZ) win among other European zones.
Especially high notes had Katowice Special Economic Zone, which was “highly commended” and came as a second after United Arab Emirates Free Zone.
The Katowice Special Economic Zone which is located in southern Poland was the runner-up of all global zones in this year’s awards and the winner in the Europe and central and eastern Europe regions. It was praised for having more than 230 tenants in 2014, with SME tenancy rates rising by 16% and large tenants by over 5%. Among the initiatives of the zone that attract new investors is the ‘K2’ project which allows companies to manage their human resources, helping companies find appropriate graduates for jobs on offer, as well as helping improve technical education in the local region.
Other Polish zone was also highly commended in the ranking: Walbrzych Special Economic Zone. It is also located in the southern Poland. In turn it is a runner-up in this year’s Global Free Zone of the Year awards for Europe. The main advantage of this zone was the increase of employees in the region which “…soared past 40,000 in 2014, a 10% increase on 2013’s figures” as was pointed in the report of fdi intelligence. It also points out the increase of reinvestment projects – from 17 reinvestment projects in 2013 to 33 in 2014. The reinvestments included major companies such as 3M, Colgate, Electrolux and Bosch.
In the category for SME (Small and Midsize Enterprise) and Large tenants, Polish Lodz SEZ was the winner in Europe. It impressed judges “with its efforts to accommodate and attract more SMEs, whose tenancy increased by 13% between 2013 and 2014.
fdiintelligence.com
paiz.gov.pl
