An investment window to the world for Poland’s regions. This year’s winners of the “Golden Investment sites” competition have been selected

The ninth edition of the National Competition “Sites worthy of a Medal” – 2021, organized by the Polish Investment and Trade Agency (PAIH) in cooperation with the Marshal’s offices and Regional Investor and Exporter Service Centers has been completed. This year 120 Communes competed for this year’s title of the most attractive investment site, there were a total of 164 offers.

The winners included the following municipalities: Chojnów, Ksawerów, Mińsk Mazowiecki and Żyraków, and the cities of Żnin, Chełm, Nowa Sól, Tarnów, Ujazd, Łomża, Tczew, Dąbrowa Górnicza, Ostrowiec Świętokrzyski, Elbląg, Leszno and Stargard.

The competition was held under the honorary patronage of the Ministry of Development and Technology. The aim of “Grunty na medal”, organized since 2005, is to identify attractive investment sites intended for industrial and production activities and then to promote them widely.

Despite the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, we achieved a better result than in the previous, eighth edition of the event. All the submitted offers, in accordance with the new rules of the competition, enriched the resources of the “Generator of Investment Offers” of the Polish Investment and Trade Agency. In the first place, these sites will be offered on this platform to Polish and foreign investors who are assisted by the Agency. Currently, the database of investment offers has over 1,200 sites – said Krzysztof Drydna, PAIH’s Chairman.

The best of the best 

On December 2 of this year. during a ceremonial gala, PAIH Chairman Krzysztof Drynda, together with the Voivodship Marshals, representatives of the Ministry of Development and Technology and the management of IAC, presented awards to sixteen winners of “Sites worthy of a medal” – representatives of individual Voivodeships.

Experience shows being a winner of the competition significantly increases the chance of an investment contract. It also helps to create a complete investment offer that is able to meet the expectations of even the most demanding customers more than half of all the winners to date have gained an investor – added President Drynda.

The competition was carried out in two stages. The initial selection was made by the Investor and Exporter Assistance Centers – PAIH’s Partners. The task of the Agency and its regional partners (IAC, Marshal’s Offices) was to select, according to strictly defined criteria, the best greenfield investment offer in each voivodeship.

The land should have an area of at least two hectares and be designated in the Local Spatial Development Plan for industrial projects. All Communes could participate in the competition, submitting any number of sites. This year’s edition was the first time that the land belonging to Special Economic Zones participated – explains Mirosław Odziemczyk, PAIH Management Board Plenipotentiary for Cooperation with Special Economic Zones.

In the second stage, PAIH experts conducted an audit of selected plots. The communes also provided the tender committee with presentations on the investment offer. In accordance with the competition regulations, they were prepared on a standardized form prepared by PAIH. The presentations contain complete answers to questions about the potential and development plans of municipalities, the support offered, the available infrastructure and the localization offer submitted to the competition. As a consequence, all presentations will be forwarded to the PAIH Investment Center and in the future they will be attached to investment projects carried out by the Agency.

Poland ready for more investors

“Sites worthy of a medal” competition opens up new opportunities for local governments. This edition of the competition confirmed that the communes are professionally prepared to independently handle the actual visits of delegations from abroad.

The competition is also an opportunity for promotion, and thus development. It is also a chance for the less popular regions of Poland to be redirected to new tracks.

Now, when sites are precisely described and the local administration is ready to talk to investors, we are redoubling our attention to projects that generate high-quality jobs, create R&D centers, increase the level of innovation in the region and ensure the transfer of modern technologies. We count on significant support in this from all Partners of the Polish Investment and Trade Agency. In particular, Investor and Exporter Assistance Centers and Special Economic Zones operating within the Polish Investment Zone. These entities play an important role in strengthening and promoting Poland’s offer in the international arena – sums up Krzysztof Drynda, PAIH Chairman.