Capital of Poland. European window on the East
Location: Central Poland
Population: 1,702,000
231,000 students
70 universities and colleges
Investor focus: retail, IT, finance, banking, food sector, BPO, R&D, high-tech
Biggest investors: Metro Group, Vivendi, Vattenfall, General Motors, France Telecom, UniCredit
BPO/SSC sector in Warszawa: ABN-AMRO, Avon, Citigroup, HP, IBM, SITEL, Tchibo, Thomson, TNT, Transcom, GE Engineering Design Center, Oracle, Samsung Electronics
The origins of Warszawa, today's capital and the largest city of Poland, date back to the 12th century. In its history, the city witnessed both times of prosperity and nearly complete destruction. Today Warszawa, especially the Śródmieście district, is one of the major business centres in Central Europe.
In our view, Warszawa is a very favourable place for investment. Though the city area covered by land development plans is relatively low and accounts for 16%, there are many hotels and relatively many people speak English.
Among the large Polish cities Warszawa is a leader in terms of economic and social development. This, however, may be much too little for the capital of Poland: its fast development depends largely on whether the city is able to win the position of a regional, and not only a local economic centre, for which it is effectively competing with Budapest or Prague.
Did you know that...
- After World War II, following Adolf Hitler's decision to raze Warszawa to the ground, over 85% of the city lay in ruins. Today's image of Warszawa is a consequence of the intensive reconstruction work undertaken after the war
- The first tram line was opened in Warszawa on 11th December 1866
- One of David Bowie's songs from the Low album is called "Warszawa" and the first name of Joy Division, the British cold wave band, was "Warszawa".
