Light and bright: Passwords for future Krakow investments
They are also proof of the direction that city elders want to follow to attract light-and-bright industry; high-tech and environmentally friendly firms fueled by the city's educational base of more than 15 institutions of higher learning. Motorola worked out a deal with the newly established Krakow Technology Park, headed by officials from Jagiellonian University and Krakow Technical University, to invest $110 million in a semiconductor facility.
That's probably only the tip of the iceberg of follow-on investment by Motorola, according to market watchers.
Tishman Speyer envisions a south-Poland financial and business center and plans to invest $480 million in the Krakow Transportation Center. This 93-hectare development behind the main train station will include new train and bus stations, a shopping center, hotels, restaurants and office space.
The total investment from these two companies far outpaces previous years and with other investments expected, notably from Delphi Automotive, in a technology center and other follow-on businesses such as RDS, Krakow may well have entered its golden investment years.
In 1997, Krakow received $380 million (76%) in new investments, with the remaining investment of $121 million coming from the continuing investments of companies already in town.
Most of the new investment came from the city's two largest privatizations in 1997, Elektrocieplownia, bought by Electricite de France and Zaklady Farmaceutyczne Polfa, bought by Croatia's Pliva.
The price tag for these combined sales exceeded $200 million: Pliva paid $123.8 million for Krakowskie Zaklady Farmaceutyczne Polfa and Electricite de France is investing $79.9 million in Elektrocieplownia Krakow. Other recent French investors include Carrefour ($30 million) and Air Liquide ($18 million).
Before Tishman's announced investment, cigarette maker Philip Morris had been the major foreign investor with $260 million invested in Zaklady Przemyslu Tytoniowego. The tobacco company came to Krakow in 1993.
The next year the city reported a total of $175 million in foreign investment to date, followed by $135 million in 1995 and $355 million worth of new investments in 1996.
By the end of last year, foreign investment had reached $1.2 billion.
U.S.-based Tishman and Philip Morris together will account for almost half ($740 million) of all current foreign investment in Krakow.
U.S. investors as a group form the largest foreign investment bloc in this southern city with $462 million invested, or 39% of total foreign investment here. Other large American investments in Krakow include Coca Cola ($60 million), RR Donnelley & Sons ($35 million) and F & P Holding ($24.5 million).
Investment by German businesses ranks second with a 13.2% share of all foreign investment in Krakow. Its largest, the German snack food producer Bahlsen, leads the way with a $42.7 million investment in Lajkonik Snacks.
That figure puts the German firm in the eighth position on the list of biggest foreign investors in Krakow. Other investors are Passauer Neue Presse with $19 million in Centrum Prasowo-Poligraficzne, Metro ($16 million), Schmalbach Lubeca/White Cap ($15 million), Hit Handelsgruppe ($10.5 million) and Stinnes ($10 million), according to a 1998 report by VRG Strategia, a Krakow-based market research firm.
Austria ranks third with $51.9 million, giving it a 4.5% share of Krakow foreign investment. The largest Austrian investments are Porr International ($20 million), Alfred Wall ($8.5 million) and Julius Meinl ($6.5 million).
That's probably only the tip of the iceberg of follow-on investment by Motorola, according to market watchers.
Tishman Speyer envisions a south-Poland financial and business center and plans to invest $480 million in the Krakow Transportation Center. This 93-hectare development behind the main train station will include new train and bus stations, a shopping center, hotels, restaurants and office space.
The total investment from these two companies far outpaces previous years and with other investments expected, notably from Delphi Automotive, in a technology center and other follow-on businesses such as RDS, Krakow may well have entered its golden investment years.
In 1997, Krakow received $380 million (76%) in new investments, with the remaining investment of $121 million coming from the continuing investments of companies already in town.
Most of the new investment came from the city's two largest privatizations in 1997, Elektrocieplownia, bought by Electricite de France and Zaklady Farmaceutyczne Polfa, bought by Croatia's Pliva.
The price tag for these combined sales exceeded $200 million: Pliva paid $123.8 million for Krakowskie Zaklady Farmaceutyczne Polfa and Electricite de France is investing $79.9 million in Elektrocieplownia Krakow. Other recent French investors include Carrefour ($30 million) and Air Liquide ($18 million).
Before Tishman's announced investment, cigarette maker Philip Morris had been the major foreign investor with $260 million invested in Zaklady Przemyslu Tytoniowego. The tobacco company came to Krakow in 1993.
The next year the city reported a total of $175 million in foreign investment to date, followed by $135 million in 1995 and $355 million worth of new investments in 1996.
By the end of last year, foreign investment had reached $1.2 billion.
U.S.-based Tishman and Philip Morris together will account for almost half ($740 million) of all current foreign investment in Krakow.
U.S. investors as a group form the largest foreign investment bloc in this southern city with $462 million invested, or 39% of total foreign investment here. Other large American investments in Krakow include Coca Cola ($60 million), RR Donnelley & Sons ($35 million) and F & P Holding ($24.5 million).
Investment by German businesses ranks second with a 13.2% share of all foreign investment in Krakow. Its largest, the German snack food producer Bahlsen, leads the way with a $42.7 million investment in Lajkonik Snacks.
That figure puts the German firm in the eighth position on the list of biggest foreign investors in Krakow. Other investors are Passauer Neue Presse with $19 million in Centrum Prasowo-Poligraficzne, Metro ($16 million), Schmalbach Lubeca/White Cap ($15 million), Hit Handelsgruppe ($10.5 million) and Stinnes ($10 million), according to a 1998 report by VRG Strategia, a Krakow-based market research firm.
Austria ranks third with $51.9 million, giving it a 4.5% share of Krakow foreign investment. The largest Austrian investments are Porr International ($20 million), Alfred Wall ($8.5 million) and Julius Meinl ($6.5 million).
