An investment window for regions to the world. We have chosen the winners of "The Golden Site Contest"

We have concluded the Eighth edition of the "The Golden Site Contest", organized by the Polish Investment and Trade Agency in cooperation with Marshal offices and Regional Investor Assistance Centers. The event took place under the honorary patronage of the Ministry of Entrepreneurship and Technology. The goal of this initiative, which takes place every two years, is to identify existing attractive investment locations dedicated to industrial and production activities. As a result of this event, the distinguished areas are prioritized in presentations to potential investors that PAIH serves on a daily basis. For the laureates, winning recognition in the competition means they will receive more promotion and therefore have a larger chance of attracting valuable investment projects to the commune. In addition, they gain the opportunity to use "The Golden Site Contest" logo in all promotional materials. Attracting an investor to their site may turn out to be a real gold mine for the commune, transforming its profile and guaranteeing new jobs.

Initiatives such as the "The Golden Site Contest" bring about long-term effects. Above all they provide an educational value through the improvement of investment services for the coming years. The list of recipients of this years title of the most attractive production plot, and thus the newfound attention of foreign investors, was made up of 81 communes representing a total of 103 offers, of which 64 are new offers that will enrich the current PAIH database. All of the awarded locations will also be included in the new PAIH tool, the Electronic Investment Offer Generator, which will officially debut in January 2019. They will also be the first offers presented to Polish and foreign investors assisted by the Agency. Currently, the investment offers database already has about 2,000 entries.

At the official conference, held in Warsaw on December 4th 2018, PAIH President Tomasz Pisula, together with Provincial Marshalls and the management of COI, awarded prizes to the 16 winners of the "The Golden Site Contest", representing each of Poland’s Voivodeships. Victory in this competition often opens the gate and provides a chance for an investment contract that comes along with an official distinction. PAIH statistics show that more than half of the previous competition winners have subsequently attracted an investor. In total, 70 out of 112 previous winners eventually managed to develop the areas. The competition gives local governments an opportunity to listen to the business environment, build a pro-client attitude, develop competencies in relationships with foreign partners or search for sites that are able to meet the expectations of even the most demanding investors.

The competition occurs in two stages. The initial pre-selection is performed by the Investor Service Centers. The task of PAIH and our regional partners (i.e. Investor Service Centers, Marshall offices) is to select in each province the best undeveloped investment areas (greenfield sites) according to strictly defined criteria. The land should have an area of at least two hectares and should be allocated in the Local Spatial Development Plan for an industrial project. All municipalities may participate in the competition and submit any number of plots, provided that they are no included in one of the Special Economic Zones. Next, the "baton" is handed over to PAIH, which handles the audit of selected plots, a visit to the commune by our experts and a professional presentation of the offer before the competition commission. The presentation then engages in simulated meetings and talks with a potential future investor. Local government authorities face detailed questions about infrastructure as well as commune/media development plans. Thanks to these "tests", PAIH is confident that local authorities will not miss out on any future opportunities.

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