Lower Silesia

Regional Profile

Located in south-western Poland and occupying 6.4% of its area, Lower Silesia is one of the country's 16 provinces.

The Lower Silesia Province (Województwo Dolnoslaskie) borders on the Czech Republic in the south and Germany (Saxony) in the west. The neighbouring provinces are the Lubusz, Great Poland and Opole Provinces.
The capital of the Province is Wroclaw, one of the country's main economic, scientific and cultural centres.

According to analysts worldwide, Lower Silesia ranks among Poland's fastest-developing regions. The factors making it attractive to business are the following: Lower Silesia is one of Poland's border provinces, it has very good domestic and international rail, road and air connections, its local market is large, while at the same time the potential of the local industry is significant and the human resources are ample and varied.

Area of Region	19 948 sq.kms
Area as % of State	6,4 %

Population in 2006
State	38,170,000
Lower Silesia	2,891,200
As a % of State Population	7.7%

Region	In  Employment	Unemployed	Unemploy- ment rate (%)
Lower Silesia	875,865	207,700	18,50
State	12,681,600	2 487,600	16.00

Number of registered companies	228,244
Aggregated income per capita in EUR	5,585
Tourism (2005)
Total no. of Tourists	17,019,700
Domestic Tourists	6,931,700
Foreign Tourists	10,088,000

 

Advantages

• Location in the pan-European transport corridor, proximity of the Czech Republic and Germany, as well as Prague, Berlin and Warsaw,
• Traditionally well-developed electro-mechanical industry,
• Well-developed, multi-sector economy,
• Large educational, scientific, research and cultural potential (Wroclaw is the third largest scientific-academic centre in Poland),
• Developed technical and transport infrastructure,
• Large pool of highly qualified staff,
• Low labour costs,
• High index of business initiatives, a dynamic sector of small and medium enterprises and for the development of financial services,
• Large possibilities for health service development (in-patient/health spas) and tourism (recreation centres) in Sudeten mountains,
• High index of region's urbanization.

People

Lower Silesia is inhabited by almost 3 million people, or 7.7 % of Poland's population.

For the past 50 years, Lower Silesians have been perceived as an exceptional 'melting pot' of different nations, whose mixing led to the creation of a completely new culture. This is due to the fact that the region was settled between 1945 and 1947 by completely new inhabitants. Immigrants came to Lower Silesia from different regions of pre-war Poland, mostly from its eastern territories, which after the new political division of Europe after World War II became part of the Soviet Union (nowadays Lithuania, Belarus and Ukraine). Thus, the present-day Lower Silesians form a relatively young, well-educated, open and enterprising community.

Most of them inhabit the 89 towns of the Province. More than 30% of the region's population inhabits its four biggest cities, with an equal percentage living in the region's 2,930 villages. The region's capital, Wroclaw, is Poland's fourth most populated (640,000 inhabitants) and fifth biggest (292,000 square km) city. Other major cities of the region include Legnica (109,000 inhabitants), Walbrzych (137,000 inhabitants) and Jelenia Góra (93,000 inhabitants). The towns of over 50,000 inhabitants include Glogów (74,300 inhabitants), Lubin (82,700 inhabitants) and Swidnica (65,000 inhabitants). There are 11 towns in the region populated by more than 20,000 people. Smaller settlements are particularly numerous in the Sudeten foothills and the Sudeten mountains themselves, where there are many towns with fewer than 20,000 inhabitants in the inter-montage valleys. Many of these towns are famous spas and holiday resorts.

Human Resources

The high qualifications of the Lower Silesians are one of the driving forces of the region's economic development.

Lower Silesia is characterized by a high percentage of people with college and university diplomas (7.1%), while approximately 55% of its inhabitants are secondary school graduates. There are 26 schools of higher education in the Province, with over 131,000 students (8.3% of the total of students in Poland). With its 21 schools of higher education and 96,000 students, Wroclaw is the most significant academic centre of the region and one of Poland's most important academic centres. Wroclaw's universities employ 6,500 full-time lecturers, including 1,150 professors. The biggest higher education schools are the University of Wroclaw, the Wroclaw University of Technology, the Wroclaw School of Economics and the Medical School. The most significant achievements of the Wroclaw scientists include pioneering research on strong magnetic fields, low temperatures and the phenomenon of superconductivity as well as immunology and experimental therapy. Higher education schools in other cities and towns of the region can be found in Legnica, Walbrzych, Swidnica, Klodzko and Jelenia Góra.

Largest universities in the voivodeship:

Wroclaw University

Selected faculties: biology, biotechnology, chemistry, economics, physics, geology, information technology, mathematics, environment protection, law, psychology, sociology.

Wroclaw University of Technology

Selected faculties: automatics and robotics, biotechnology, construction, electronics and telecommunication, electrical engineering, technical physics, mining and geology, information technology, chemistry and process engineering, materials engineering, mechanics and machine construction, chemical technology.

Academy of Agriculture in Wroclaw

Selected faculties: biology, biotechnology, geology and cartography, environmental engineering, agriculture, fish culture, agricultural and forestry technology, food technology and human nourishment, veterinary medicine, animal husbandry.

Physical Education Academy in Wroclaw

Selected faculties: physical education, sport, truism and recreation

Wroclaw Medical University

Selected faculties: medicine, dentistry, pharmaceutical, medical analysis, nursing, obstetric, public health

Witelon University of Applied Sciences in Legnica

Selected faculties: administration, IT, management and production engineering, political sciences, tourism and recreation, management and marketing

Academy of Fine Arts in Wroclaw

Selected faculties: interior design, industrial design

University af Business and Commerce in Wroclaw

Selected faculties: finance and banking, information technology and econometrics, political science, management and marketing.

Economy

In terms of economy, the Lower Silesia Province is one of Poland's best developed regions.

Since Lower Silesia is also one of the country's most industrialized regions, its contribution to Polish GNP has for some time been at a constant and relatively high level. The companies located in Lower Silesia are numerous and the scope of their business activities is very diversified. The region's leading industry sectors include automotive, electrical machinery, electronics, motor vehicle, power, construction, chemical and food-processing industries, while the traditional industries include coal, copper ore and mineral resources mining and the production of clothes, fabrics and china. The Lower Silesia Province is Poland's leading supplier of many types of industrial goods. The region ranks: - 1st in the production of electrical turbo-machines, domestic refrigerators, deep freezers, washing machines, spin-driers and cookers, table porcelain and china, and crystal glass; - 2nd in the production of cotton and cotton-like fabrics, machinery and tools for the construction industry, machinery and tools for road construction and land improvement industries, as well as detergents and washing-up liquids.

Tourism also plays an important role in the region's economy. Thanks to favourable natural conditions, high incidence of historical buildings and the relatively well-developed infrastructure, Lower Silesia is one of Poland's main tourist regions.

Foreign Investment

The Lower Silesia Province is among Poland's leading regions in terms of the number of companies with foreign capital and the amount of the foreign capital invested.

Over 4,600 companies with foreign capital are registered in Lower Silesia; they account for over 30% of all commercial companies registered in the Province.

The biggest investors in Lower Silesia come from:

• Great Britain, (e.g.: Cadbury Schweppes, Cussons Group Ltd., Coca Cola, Tesco, Shell, BP)

• USA, (e.g.: PepsiCo, Cargill, McDonald's)

• Germany, (e.g.: Siemens, Röben, Tonbaustoffe, Bayerische Hypo und Vereinsbank AG, Metro, Mercedes, Flessner, Volkswagen, HIT, Makro, Selgros, OBI, Aral, Schöller, Schneider, DEA, Real, Auto- motive, Petri, Mini Mal;

• France (e.g.: Castorama, Carrefour, Géant, Alsthom)

• Sweden (e.g.: ABB, Volvo, IKEA, SCA)

• The Netherlands

• Ireland

More: http://paiz.gov.pl/index/?id=d2ddea18f00665ce8623e36bd4e3c7c5

Transport

Lower Silesia's strategic location and excellent transport network provide a perfect business and investment environment.

There are four major international routes passing through Lower Silesia: the E40 from Calais, via Brussels, Aachen, Dresden, Legnica, Wroclaw (the A4 motorway) to Opole and Cracow, and further east to Lviv and Kiev; the E36 to Berlin, which joins the E40 near Legnica; the E65 from Malmö via Ystad, Swinoujscie, Legnica and Jelenia Góra to Prague, Brno and further south to Athens; the E67 from Prague via Wroclaw and Warsaw and further north to the Baltic States (Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia).

There are also international railroads crossing Lower Silesia. These include the E30 from Germany to Ukraine and the E59 connecting the Szczecin- Swinoujscie ports (offering connections to Scandinavia) with the south of Europe. The well-developed Lower Silesian railroad system makes Wroclaw Poland's biggest rail communications centre for passenger and goods trains.

There are also regular flights from the Wroclaw International Airport to Frankfurt am Main, Munich, London, Copenhagen, Vienna and Berlin, as well as regular domestic flights to and from Warsaw. The airport has modern navigation equipment which makes it possible for both passenger and cargo flights to land and take off in any weather conditions.

More: http://paiz.gov.pl/index/?id=d82c8d1619ad8176d665453cfb2e55f0

Administrative division

The Lower Silesia Province is divided into 30 counties (powiat), including four municipal counties, and 169 communes (36 municipal communes, 54 communes of mixed municipal and rural character and 79 rural communes).

Lower Silesia: http://www.umwd.pl/informator/index/index2.htm

More: http://paiz.gov.pl/index/?id=a684eceee76fc522773286a895bc8436

Special Economic Zones

The authorities of Lower Silesia have been striving to provide investors with favourable business environment through the creation of special economic zones and districts of economic activity. At present, there are three Special Economic Zones and the Wroclaw Technology Park. Investors in any of those areas are offered tax allowances and simplified administrative procedures while setting up their activities.

More: http://paiz.gov.pl/index/?id=a3f390d88e4c41f2747bfa2f1b5f87db

More Information

Polish Information and Foreign Investment Agency
http://www.paiz.gov.pl

Marshal Office
http://www.umwd.pl

Voivodship Office
http://www.duw.pl

Wroclaw City Hall
http://www.um.wroc.pl

Investor Assistance Centre
http://www.warr.pl

Others
http://dolnyslask.pl

Poland:
http://poland.gov.pl
http://what-where-when.pl
http://www.poland.pl
http://www.polishworld.com/index.php