The BPCC’s chief advisor Michael Dembinski was among the large number of participants in this year’s Providers’ Meeting, which took place on 9 May 2024 in Gdańsk’s Cube Office Park.
“I picked up some fascinating insights from the meeting,” he said. “It’s said that the centre of gravity of Polish manufacturing is shifting northward, with new investments are being attracted here by the prospects of green energy.” Another factor that is currently attracting new industrial investment to Pomerania is the presence of existing shared-service operations; we are seeing synergies between business services with manufacturing, R&D and logistics. “One good investment attracts others from the same company but in different business sectors.”
As was the case across most of the Polish economy, 2023 was a slow year for Invest in Pomerania. This year is looking better, particularly the second half. Invest in Pomerania announced one new project in Q1 2024, with four new investment projects due in Q2, and a further five investment and reinvestment projects in the pipeline. A total of 583 full-time-equivalent jobs are to be created. The new investors represent mainly firms with European capital, though Asian investors are interested in the maritime sector.
Swedish firm Northvolt announced in January a global services centre for Gdańsk, alongside its new battery factory and R&D centre that opened there last summer.
Global turbulence means that some firms are moving out of one country and into Poland, but they are not communicating their relocation yet.
Shared service centres generate more jobs than highly-automated manufacturing plants; finance hubs and IT had been in the lead in terms of number of projects landed by Invest in Pomerania, but attracting manufacturing to the region helps to diversify the economy and ensures the lasting presence of engineering skills in the region’s workforce.
Invest in Pomerania shared the results of a poll conducted among its investors, looking at how the post-pandemic return to the office looks in practice. The largest group of respondents, 33%, works two days from the office and three days from home; 23% work three days in the office and two days from home, and a further 18% work one day in the office and four days from home.
Invest in Pomerania is active in integrating investors present in its region, organising regular series of meet-ups, breakfasts and job-title focused events for HR and IT managers, as well as social gatherings for Tri-City expats.
The primary industrial sectors represented in Pomerania include:
- Electromobility
- Renewables, focusing on offshore wind, hydrogen and nuclear
- Specialised vessels /maritime engineering
- Semiconductors
