All quiet in the economic zones
The entrepreneur has the right to choose how he/she will benefit from tax exemptions, which are based on how much he/she is prepared to invest. The maximum amount of regional aid for entrepreneurs is 50 percent of the total investment or 50 percent of labor costs over a two-year period for new employees. But despite such incentives, there are no queues of investors waiting to come to the zones.
But the success of any one particular zone is driven by its management and some like the Suwalki Special Economic Zone (SSE), which was established in 1996, are currently hosting the construction of new facilities. These include a new factory for the firm Łukasz, a shoe manufacturer, a warehouse for Porta KMI Fornir, a window producer, and factory modernization for wood processor Ortis Ltd. In contrast, the 627 hectare Euro-Park Mielec in the north of Poland, which consists of 627 hectares (twice the size of the SSE) and offers airport facilities as well, is home to no large-scale construction at the moment. This is also the situation for Legnicka Special Economic Zone (381 hectares) in the south-west of Poland, which is equipped with an airport as well, and Special Economic Zone Żarnowiec (with 197 hectares), which is located on the premises of would-be nuclear power plant. In other zones like SEZ Tczew (127 hectares) new investments aren't even being contemplated.
However, another zone located in Starachowice in the north of Poland, SEZ Starachowice, which has issued more than 60 investment permits (including 48 for direct construction), since its inception in 1997, has welcomed 26 newly constructed factories over the last 4 years, amounting to a total of e49.7 million as of December 2003. Among the investors who have decided to put up new premises there are: Starfam, Cersanit II S.A and Cerrad, as well as a number of others. The biggest advantages of this zone are its location and railway connections.
The most successful economic zone in Poland is the Kostrzynko-Słubicka Zone which consists of 457 hectares and has attracted companies such as Podravka, Instal and Fabryka Ceramiki Budowlanej to build factories there. Since opening it has issued 58 permits for investors from countries such as: Germany, Italy, Croatia, the Netherlands, Belgium and the USA.
Because all economic zones are regulated by the same corporate and tax exemption regulations, investors prefer to have a free hand when constructing new facilities. This is unfortunately not possible in Łódzka SEZ, for example, where there is a high density of buildings and very little space for the development of new ones, though it occupies a total of 205 hectares. Given the current low level of development in special economic zones in Poland, only SEZ Technology Park in Kraków, which can attract high-tech companies such as Motorola and Comarch, has the best prospects for the future, but as these firms have no need of occupying industrial buildings of scale, it is clear that a construction boom is some way off in Poland's special economic zones.
But the success of any one particular zone is driven by its management and some like the Suwalki Special Economic Zone (SSE), which was established in 1996, are currently hosting the construction of new facilities. These include a new factory for the firm Łukasz, a shoe manufacturer, a warehouse for Porta KMI Fornir, a window producer, and factory modernization for wood processor Ortis Ltd. In contrast, the 627 hectare Euro-Park Mielec in the north of Poland, which consists of 627 hectares (twice the size of the SSE) and offers airport facilities as well, is home to no large-scale construction at the moment. This is also the situation for Legnicka Special Economic Zone (381 hectares) in the south-west of Poland, which is equipped with an airport as well, and Special Economic Zone Żarnowiec (with 197 hectares), which is located on the premises of would-be nuclear power plant. In other zones like SEZ Tczew (127 hectares) new investments aren't even being contemplated.
However, another zone located in Starachowice in the north of Poland, SEZ Starachowice, which has issued more than 60 investment permits (including 48 for direct construction), since its inception in 1997, has welcomed 26 newly constructed factories over the last 4 years, amounting to a total of e49.7 million as of December 2003. Among the investors who have decided to put up new premises there are: Starfam, Cersanit II S.A and Cerrad, as well as a number of others. The biggest advantages of this zone are its location and railway connections.
The most successful economic zone in Poland is the Kostrzynko-Słubicka Zone which consists of 457 hectares and has attracted companies such as Podravka, Instal and Fabryka Ceramiki Budowlanej to build factories there. Since opening it has issued 58 permits for investors from countries such as: Germany, Italy, Croatia, the Netherlands, Belgium and the USA.
Because all economic zones are regulated by the same corporate and tax exemption regulations, investors prefer to have a free hand when constructing new facilities. This is unfortunately not possible in Łódzka SEZ, for example, where there is a high density of buildings and very little space for the development of new ones, though it occupies a total of 205 hectares. Given the current low level of development in special economic zones in Poland, only SEZ Technology Park in Kraków, which can attract high-tech companies such as Motorola and Comarch, has the best prospects for the future, but as these firms have no need of occupying industrial buildings of scale, it is clear that a construction boom is some way off in Poland's special economic zones.
