556 investors; declared investments for a total of PLN 25.2 billion, over 11,2 thousand jobs and numerous investments in Eastern Poland and medium-sized cities, which currently lose their socio-economic functions - that is the result of 2 years of years of PIZ activities.

• 556 investors; declared investments for a total of PLN 25.2 billion
• over 11.2 jobs;
• Numerous investments in Eastern Europe and medium cities, which lose their socio-economic functions - that is the result of 2 years of PIZ activities.
• over 70% of these companies have Polish capital.

We are not slowing down. We are implementing and preparing additional changes which are going to facilitate investments. The Ministry of Development is already developing the amendment to the Act on supporting new investments. We wish to clarify the quality criteria, which will improve the transparency of regulations. We are going to continue to locate investments is less developed areas, mainly in medium cities which lose their socio-economic functions, as well as in Eastern Poland. In 2020 alone, Eastern Poland has attracted a total number of 41 investments of a total value of PLN 700 billion - says the Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Economic Development Jadwiga Emilewicz.

She adds: - In the current situation caused by the coronavirus pandemic, the greatest success of the Polish Investment Zone is the ability to maintain the existing commitments of entrepreneurs in terms of employment.

The Deputy Minister of Economic Development Olga Semeniuk adds: – Since the beginning of 2020 alone, 139 investment decision with a total value of PLN 4 billion have been issued as part of the PIZ, including a simultaneous declaration of creating 2 348 new jobs. The coronavirus had only a minor effect on the number of decisions on investments in the PIZ. In numerous cases, the investors have only postponed the implementation dates. Taking into account the data published by the Central Statistical Office or the Central Registration and Information on Business we can see that the polish economy is slowly coming back on track. We expect that this trend will be reflected in the investments in our countries.

The Polish Investment Zone has become a magnet for investors - ranging from micro-enterprises to international corporations. Tax breaks, support for innovative, high quality projects or building stable, well-paid jobs are the main advantages of PSI. In 2019, companies have issued over 350 decisions to support new investment projects with a value exceeding PLN 15 billion, contributing to establishing over 6.5 thousand new jobs in the industry and modern business services sector - indicates the Deputy Minister of State Assets Artur Soboń.

2 years of the Polish Investment Zone

The Polish Investment Zone was established on the basis of the act of May 10th 2018 on supporting new investments, thus becoming a single investment area. The Act entered into force on June 30th of 2018. For that reason, since September 5th of 2018, tax breaks have been available in the entire country. And not just solely - as it had been before - in Special Economic Zones. Starting from June 1st of 2019, new investments can only be situated in the PIZ. Special Economic Zones play a key role in the PSI system - they manage its individual parts.
The main idea of establishing PIZ was to encourage entrepreneurs to make investments in the entire country. In 2019, on annual average 54% of investments were located outside of the SEZ, and by July of 2020, that indicator has increased up to an annual average of 71%

• What changes did the introduction of PIZ bring: Tax breaks available throughout the country. This way, SMEs do not have to move to individual Zones and invest away from the main area of their activity.
• More companies, including small and medium ones can now benefit from the tax incentives for investors.
• Tax breaks issued for 10, 12 or 15 years.
• Micro, small and medium enterprises can now easier invest in PIZ.
• Emphasis on well-paid, enriching and stable jobs.
• Bonuses for the investments which have a positive impact on the competitiveness and innovations of local economies, and in consequence for economic development of Poland.
• The new criteria for receiving relief in support of the underinvested regions of the country with high unemployment.

The Katowice Zone is a leader; an increasing number of Polish investments

New investments are launched throughout Poland. This year’s leader is the Katowice SEZ, which has issued 24 decisions on investments. The next positions are taken by: Łódź SEZ (16 decisions), Euro-Park Mielec (15 decisions) and Pomorska SEZ (13 decisions). This year, each zone has issued decisions regarding new investments.
Along with the development of the Polish Investment Zone, the share of the Polish SME sector has been continuing to increase, which was one of the key objectives of the 2018 change. In terms of the number of projects, the share of Polish capital has increased to 81% in 2019 and to 87% in July of 2020. At the same time, the share of MSEs in creating new jobs has also increased. Polish small and medium companies are also responsible for 79% of new jobs created at the PIZ.

Support for PIZ and SEZs during the Covid-19 pandemic

Due to the coronavirus pandemic, we have introduced a number of positive changes for entrepreneurs in the economic zones. They include:

• clarification of legal provisions, and at the same time extending the period of support for the entrepreneur, in the event of investments only partially located on the area of a special economic zone (51%);
• allowing for the possibility to include leasing in the eligible costs also after carrying out the investment (as leasing has a different financing structure in comparison to the majority of the costs incurred by an entrepreneur);
• re-organising information clauses and the rules for using public aid based on notification of projects to the European Commission;
• developing precise definitions of an establishment and an entrepreneur;

Pro-entrepreneurial solutions were also included in other regulations. They aim to increase the investment and business attractiveness of the SEZs. They include:

• clarification of the provisions regarding the commencement and carrying out remote inspections carried out by the zones at the entrepreneur;
• the possibility for the large business owner to rationally postpone payment terms for their counterparties, which improves the liquidity of the entire market; and
• allowing SEZs to purchase agricultural real estate.

Special Economic Zones in a nutshell

Despite the introduction of PIZ, the decisions on investments in special economic zones issued before January 1st of 2019 remain binding.
At the end of 2019:

• The total area of the 14 Special Economic Zones equalled nearly 22.95 thousand ha.
• entrepreneurs held 2 392 valid permits for conducting business activities within the zones.
• the cumulative value of the capital invested in SEZ since their beginning has amounted to PLN 132 billion. The Capital expenditures in 2018 were higher by over PLN 12.8 billion, i.e. 10%.
• by the end of 2019, as part of the zone exemptions, the entrepreneurs have created nearly over 388 jobs. In 2019 alone, 8.9 thousand employees were registered (an increase by 2.4% in relation to 2018).
• over 62% of the capital invested in SEZ came from five countries: Poland, Germany, Netherlands, Luxembourg and the USA.
• businesses in the automotive industry had the largest share in the cumulative value (nearly 25.6%). Next positions were taken by manufacturers of rubber and plastic products (nearly 9.7%) as well as metal products (approximately 7.5%).