Investment boom in Wałbrzych

Two new companies, the Polish branch of the cosmetics giant Colgate-Palmolive and Nifco Poland, were granted permission two weeks ago to invest in the Wałbrzych Special Economic Zone (WSEZ) Invest-Park. Both investments will be located in the Świdnica sub-zone.
Colgate-Palmolive Manufacturing Poland declared that it would invest more than EUR 40 (zł.159) million in the zone and will hire more than 430 employees. The new plant, which should start operations by the end of 2007, will produce dental and oral hygiene products, mainly toothpaste.

Nifco Poland will build a plant to produce components for the automotive and white-goods sectors, mainly rings, rivets and clamps. The value of the investment will exceed zł.16 million and 98 people are to be employed in the plant, which should start operations by the end of September 2007.

In the zone
WSEZ Invest-Park was established in 1997 and consists of 15 sub-zones, all but two of which are located in the Lower Silesia voivodship. The remaining two sub-zones are in the Opolskie and Wielkopolskie regions. WSEZ is located on an area of over 812 hectares. "By the end of 2005 total investment in the WSEZ amounted to zł.4.6 billion and there were 18,789 people employed in the zone," said the president of WSEZ Invest-Park, Mirosław Greber.

Some 58 companies have been granted permission to carry out economic activities in the zone, among them Toyota Motor Corporation, Bridgestone, Cersanit, Trelleborg and Electrolux. Although the investors represent different sectors of the economy, Greber notices that the dominant industries are the automotive sector as well as white goods and construction.

Flooding in
"There are other investments planned," said Greber. Automotive parts producer AAM plans to invest EUR 40 (zł.159) million in a production plant which will employ 200 people, while diaper producer SCA Hygiene Polska also plans to invest EUR 40 (zł.159) million and provide 302 jobs. Both investments are to be located in the Oława sub-zone. The Świdnica sub-zone should see another investment soon, this time by biofuel producer Elstar Oils, which should invest zł.27 million and employ 90 people in its plant. Some zł.210 million will be invested in the Wrocław sub-zone by IT company 3M Poland and 500 people should find work in the company's plant where protective foil for LCD monitors will be made. The Skarbimierz sub-zone will see a zł.374-million investment by Cadbury-Wedel, which should establish a chewing gum production plant in the area.