SEZ could soon take on a new flavor with food companies

The zones, which attracted combined investments of zl.9 billion last year, resulted in the creation of 20,000 new jobs, and had focused on sectors such as high-tech, automotive and business process outsourcing (BPO). But many of them, especially in the East of Poland, had been approached by food companies in recent years, and expect major projects to materialize after changes to the law. When similar rules were introduced in early 2005 with respect to BPOs, the resulting investment boom exceeded all expectations. Some 50 BPO centers have been set up so far, and the sector is expected to employ 550,000 people by 2010. The effect for the food industry could be even bigger. (Puls Biznesu, p. 1, 4,5) R.M.