Positioned in the heart of one of the most populated agglomerations in Central Europe that inhabits two million people, Katowice has become the most important economic, academic and cultural centre in the central part of southern Poland. Bogumil Sobula, First Deputy Mayor of Katowice, discusses the City’s recent developments and favourable FDI opportunities.
European Times: What are the milestones of your mandate as First Deputy Mayor?
Bogumil Sobula: Considering our slogan “Katowice for a change”, we focus our activities on two important milestones. Our main aim is the city’s transformation, referring to the changes in the city’s infrastructure, the quality of life and green environment, directly influencing the citizens’ perception of their city. The second milestone is tightly connected to the promotion of Katowice as an investment hub, presenting the city as a favourable investment alternative.
European Times: What are some of the City’s current activities?
Bogumil Sobula: Katowice is a very dynamic city, which undergoes many changes, due to simultaneous execution of various key projects, such as the construction of the International Congress Centre and the transformation of the City Centre, a project supported by the city’s budget and the EU funds. We are currently working on a transport development projects, including investments such as the creation of transfer hubs or the expansion of a bicycle route network etc.
European Times: Why should foreign investors target Katowice?
Bogumil Sobula: Katowice is a very attractive investment destination, considering the convenient location, positioned on the junction of two important European transport corridors, from Berlin in Germany to Lviv in Ukraine and from Gdansk in Poland to Vienna in Austria. Three international airports are located within the radius of 100 km from Katowice, including one of the most dynamically developing airports in Europe, the Katowice Airport.
It is also worth mentioning that the city became an important business tourism centre, having facilities (the Spodek ‘Saucer’ arena and International Congress Centre) for approx. 25.000 persons in one place. Katowice hosts many well recognized international events such as the European Economic Congress, which is one of the biggest business events in Central Europe.
Katowice is the centre of the Silesian Voivodeship, which counts more than 4.5 million inhabitants. In this context, the skilled human potential is one of the region’s strong assets, considering that approximately 95.000 students are educated every year. The city provides well developed transport infrastructure, favourable business environment, convenient conditions, great offer of office space and wide range of possibilities for leisure activities. Katowice also offers optimal conditions for the investors, referring to the investment incentives and the creation of special investment department that provides professional staff assigned to support each investor.
When investors try to invest in new areas they look for those cities that are well recognized and thought to be most attractive, such as Warsaw, Wroclaw, Krakow and Gdansk, but this period has finished. Today the investors focus on cities like Lodz, Poznan and Katowice. We encourage the investors to invest here, because we offer stability, local authorities full of respect for investors and high potential of educated people.
