Szczecin - an investor - friendly city

Szczecin is the richest and most industrialised area in the Westpomeranian Region. Szczecin is located at the intersection of routes in all types of transport. The City is an important international transport hub along the trans-European International North-South Transport Corridor, from southern Scandinavia, to the Oder waterway, the Czech Republic, Austria and ports on the Mediterranean Sea. It is located on the route connecting Russia and Finland to Western Europe via the Baltic.

In addition to its perfect location, Szczecin is characterised by unmatched natural conditions, a broad selection of attractive investment land and substantial potential in terms of educated and highly qualified workforce. All this makes the City a good place to live in and a dynamically developing metropolis. Szczecin is in an investor-friendly city!
This is confirmed by:

• its BBB+ rating, as announced by Fitch Ratings, remaining at this level since 2008. The rating reflects prudent financial management, operational expenditure rationalisation, good debt ratios and a moderate debt level,
• two Special Economic Zones: The Euro-Park Mielec Special Economic Zone, operating in Szczecin since 2010, and the Kostrzyn-Słubice Special Economic Zone established in 2013,
• its “one-stop shop” effective investor assistance, provided by the Investor and Business Service Department of the Szczecin City Office,
• the support provided by the District Labour Office to entrepreneurs in relation to recruitment and training processes, including financial support,
• its young and dynamic society and the availability of qualified workforce proficient in foreign languages,
• the fact that Szczecin is the largest academic centre in the Westpomeranian Region.

STRATEGIC SECTORS

LOGISTICS: What distinguishes Szczecin is its unique location and perfect connection and access to both sales and supply markets in Poland, Europe and the world. Its close proximity to Scandinavia and Germany, excellent connection to the rest of Western Europe and access to the Baltic Sea through waterways, all translate into the City’s unparalleled potential, which has been successfully growing in recent years. The City’s strategic location, coupled with qualified its workforce and access to warehousing space and production areas, make Szczecin an incredibly attractive location for the establishment and development of companies operating in the field of logistics. The latest surveys carried out by consulting companies forecast an increasing demand for warehousing space in Szczecin.

The following companies have already chosen Szczecin as the location of their headquarters: Unity Line, the Szczecin and Swinoujscie Seaports Authority, the Westpomeranian Maritime Cluster Association, C.Hartwig, Macsped, Baltchem, North-West Logistic Park, Magemar, V4L, Raben, PKS Szczecin, DB and OT Logistics.

INDUSTRY: In Szczecin you will find perfect conditions for the development of maritime companies. The City’s strengths include its attractive industrial areas and a dynamically developing warehousing-space market. Szczecin boasts qualified specialist resource, which includes the graduates of the West Pomeranian University of Technology and Maritime University. Undoubtedly, what makes the City unique is its exceptional location, long-standing ship-building tradition, and the presence of the Szczecin and Świnoujście Seaports, which make up one of the biggest port complexes in the Baltic Sea region. The Szczecin and Świnoujście Seaports are the nearest seaports for western and south-western Poland. The close proximity to eastern Germany, and especially the Berlin region, is also of significance. Furthermore, for many years these ports have served as transit ports for the Czech Republic and Slovakia. The Szczecin and Świnoujscie Seaports have a well developed system of road and rail connections.

The ship-building industry has always been an important industry for Szczecin. The revitalised areas in the northern part of the City and on Ostrów Brdowski and Gryfia Islands constitute attractive development areas, occupied by modern companies, such as: Bilfinger Mars Offshore, Elwiko, Morska Stocznia Remontowa Gryfia, Finomar, Teleyard and Stocznia Partner. Szczecin Industrial Park is located in a 45-ha area of the former Nowa Szczecin Shipyard. The Park’s assets constitute attractive property facilitating business operations, especially in the offshore sector and the steel industry.

MODERN SERVICES: Szczecin is a city of young and active people, dynamically developing office- space market and innovative technologies. The City is open to science, entrepreneurship and investors. It is also a rapidly developing IT services centre. Cutting-edge technologies are the basis for the economic and competitive development of Szczecin. Therefore, the City is investing in research centres, IT infrastructure and business-support institutions. Recently, Szczecin has become one of the most popular locations for BPO, SSC and ICT centres. In addition to the accessibility of superior office space and the large number of well-qualified employees, investors can also benefit from low labour costs, knowledge of foreign languages and the high professional integrity of Szczecin residents. Companies operating on the Szczecin market include: METRO SERVICES PL, Coloplast, Brighton, Dansk Supermarked, Convergys, DGS Business Services, Tieto, Asseco Data Systems, UniCredit Business Integrated Solutions and Arvato Polska.

Over the last three years, the Szczecin office market has been developing at a record-breaking pace. Projects with a total area of 110,900 sq. m have been put into use. The current situation is attractive for tenants, who can pick and choose from a plethora of newly finished projects. It is important to note, however, that this free space is being gradually absorbed by the market.

Thanks to the Western Pomerania ICT Cluster, companies can easily share their knowledge and engage in networking. The following innovation centres are operating in Szczecin:

TECHNOPARK POMERANIA: is a place in Szczecin, where the idea of supporting innovative entrepreneurship is being put into practice. This is where companies and new technologies develop. Owing to state-of-the-art and well-developed infrastructure and comprehensive support programmes, we can create the best conditions for the dynamic development of ICT companies – from incubation and start-ups, to reinforcing the enterprises already operating on the market and associated under the auspices of the Western Pomerania ICT Cluster.

SERVICE INTER-LAB: a Centre for the Transfer of Knowledge and Innovation for the Service Sector combines the functions of a scientific unit, educational institution, R&D centre, knowledge and technology transfer centre, business incubator and a business support institution.

REGIONAL CENTRE FOR INNOVATION AND TECHNOLOGY TRANSFER: is a unit of the West Pomeranian University of Technology operating in the fields of technology commercialisation and transfer, and supporting companies and academic entrepreneurship.

The City of Szczecin, Investor and Business Support Department