Foreign Investment Projects

The ¦l±skie Voivodeship is a region of the high investment attractiveness, which predominantly results from the following: location in the centre of Europe, well-developed transport and telecommunication infrastructure network, high concentration of academic centres, high supply of qualified workforce, sales market of almost 5 million inhabitants, huge opportunities for co-operative and commercial collaboration. This is confirmed by the data from the Polish Agency for Information and Foreign Investment, according to which in 2004, 12.5% of all direct foreign investment projects in Poland, over 1 MUSD, was located here, which is (just after the Mazowieckie Voivodeship) the best result in Poland.

In the region, there are 392 direct foreign investment projects with the value over 1 MUSD. They originate from 22 countries (the investor’s country of origin) and were established by 158 investors. The most widely-represented group comprise the companies with German capital. Subsequent positions are taken by the United States, Italy, the Netherlands and France.

As of the end of 2003, there were 23,471 commercial partnerships registered in the region, including 4,105 with the foreign capital share, i.e. 17.5%. It is noteworthy that 68% of this group carried out the activity in the scope of trade and repairs as well as industry.

The companies with the foreign capital share according to the type of the activity carried out in 2003.

TOTAL: 4105 = 100%

Among the investors, a great number of automotive companies is remarkable, with GM OPEL as the leader as well as FIAT AUTO POLAND that attracted plenty of sub-suppliers manufacturing for the automotive branch, e.g. plastic or electronic parts.

The significant investment projects are also carried out in the machine and device production sector. This branch is represented among others by Alstom, AEG Aktiengesellschaft, Heraeus Electro-Nite International N.V., Lucent Technologies Network Systems Netherlands B.V., NKT Cables A/S, Philips, Sylea Italia Srl., ICL, Siemens, SGL Carbon AG as well as such companies as: GE Power Controls Belgium BVBA, Caterpillar Inc., Sest SpA, Sutco Maschinenbau GmbH & Co KG., Timken Company.

Another branch that is developing relatively fast is the glass and ceramics production as well as building engineering products. Such an activity is executed among others by Ekocem, Guardian Industries Corporation, ROCA Radiadores, Saint Gobain, Uralita or Vitrum.

The investment projects in the region are predominantly located within the Upper-Silesian Agglomeration as well as in the former voivodeship towns, i.e. Bielsko-Biała and Częstochowa. The selection of the investment areas is among others associated with the operation of the Katowice Special Economic Zone within these areas.

The Katowice Special Economic Zone (KSSE) was established by the Cabinet's Act of 18 June 1996 (The Journal of Laws No 88 item 397, later modifications included). It was created to support and speed up the restructuring processes and create new work places in the region.

It was founded for the period of twenty years (by 8 August 2016). It is the "Katowicka Specjalna Strefa Ekonomiczna S.A.", with its domicile in Katowice, that manages the zone.

The Katowice Special Economic Zone is a dispersed zone, comprising four sub-zones:

• Gliwice
• Sosnowiec and D±browa
• Tychy
• Jastrzębie-Żory

On the whole, the Katowice Special Economic Zone covers the area of 1,118 ha (plenty of separate areas). The zone makes it possible for the potential investors to obtain the most convenient location in the terrain chosen, provided that the investment project is estimated for the amount of over 40 MEUR or that it results in the creation of 500 new workplaces (the so-called large projects).

So far, KSSE has gained 120 business entities, of which 75 is already active. Over 7 milliard zlotys have been invested in the zone and 19,200 workplace have been created.

The companies investing in the terrains covered by the Katowice Special Economic Zone may obtain compensation for their investment expenditure up to 50% and additional 15% in case of small- and medium-sized companies. The Katowice Special Economic Zone is an institution relevant for those companies that wish to make use of the public aid in the form of tax exemptions, by increasing investment expenditure or creating new workplaces.

In connection with Poland's accession to the European Union in 2004, the conditions binding in the special economic zones in Poland have been adjusted to the principles in force in similar institutions in the European Union countries (inscribed in the Accession Treaty).

The advantages arising from investing in the zone:

• exemption for the PIT or CIT income tax
• obtaining the investment land plot for a competitive price
• free aid in settling of the formalities associated with the investment project
• exemption from the real-estate tax (dependent on the Resolution of the Borough where the zone is located)

The respective boroughs aim at creating the best climate possible for creating new investment enterprises. “The Top-Class Land”, a competition organised in 2005, prepared by the Polish Agency for Information and Foreign Investment and Marshals of the Voivodeships. The idea behind the competition was to select in each voivodeship the most attractive investment area entered into the competition by a borough, but not situated in the zone.

In the ¦l±skie Voivodeship, 13 boroughs entered 19 investment areas into the competitions. 6 areas from 5 boroughs (Będzin, Lubliniec – 2 areas, Radziechowy – Wieprz, Ruda ¦l±ska and Tworóg). The competition winner was the Ruda ¦l±ska area covering 13.4 ha, located directly at the exit from the A-4 motorway.