Poor January for special economic zones

2010-02-05



The year got off to a weak start for the country’s 14 special economic zones. According to data compiled by Rzeczpospolita, in January the zones attracted only 14 new investment projects worth less than PLN 173m (approx. €43m).
Indeed, six zones failed to approve even a single new investment over this period. Of those projects that were approved, most were small or at best medium in size. In terms of investment value, the best performers were the Katowice and Walbrzych zones, which approved two projects each worth PLN 80m (€19.9m) and PLN 54m (€13.4m) between them, respectively. In terms of the number of new projects, the Euro-Park Mielec zone tops the list with five new investments, worth PLN 11m (€2.7m).
As for the remainder of the year, expectations are mixed. Some zones, notably Katowice, are reporting a rising number of enquiries and expect investment activity to be higher than in 2009. Others would be glad to avoid a drop in investments compared with last year.
Meanwhile, the government is yet to sign into law much-awaited amendments to the Special Economic Zones Act designed to make life easier for investors, for example by permitting job cuts.