Ten years of SEZ Lublin Subzone – what is next?

Lublin Subzone consists of 128 hectares of investment areas fully equipped with road and technical infrastructure. The significant efforts of all involved people, starting with the Mayor, ending with the Investor Relations Team, resulted in attracting nearly 60 companies that have fulfilled their plots of land with modern and innovative manufacturing facilities or moved their business into the office buildings located in Lublin Subzone.

Currently, another tender is being held for the sale of undeveloped 3,5 hectares of land in Lublin Subzone. The completion of this procedure will certainly contribute to the growth of the zone. It is worth emphasising that, as of today, the Lublin Subzone attracted companies which employed over 3,700 people and invested almost PLN 1.5 billion. Moreover, not all of the investors have started their activity yet, which in consequence does not give a full picture of the results of the functioning of Lublin Subzone now. It is also noteworthy that the companies that decided to run their business in Lublin Subzone have significantly increased their business potential and productivity. The zone gave companies from Lublin a chance for faster development and internationalisation of their current activities.

The future of Polish SEZs is questionable today, and investors are eagerly awaiting information from Warsaw. The regulations allowing for the inclusion of private land into SEZ expired on July 1st, 2017. Thus, one of the forms that private investors used to increase their economic potential in Poland is currently no longer available. We still do not know much about the new law regulating SEZs in Poland, but all indications are that the companies will be granted financial support regardless of land ownership instead of SEZ permits. Hence, the whole area of Poland will have the Special Economic Zone status. Regardless of the law that will be finally adopted, Lublin is ready for more investors by preparing another 56 hectares of investment area within the administrative boundaries of the city. We want our offer to meet the extremely high standards of the modern industry, which is developing dynamically in our country.

The coming months will be particularly interesting concerning the development of Lublin’s advanced engineering sector. We are sure that this year new representatives of the automotive sector will invest in Lublin Subzone. We are also looking forward to the final decision of a German car parts manufacturer. We cannot forget about Ursus – the company from Lublin – which declared unification of Polish production in one big factory in Lublin and increasing employment to 400 people, thereby light truck production will return to Lublin years later and the production line of the innovative electric light-duty vehicle will be built.

Ten years of development of SEZ Lublin Subzone was a great success, and plans for the coming months and years allow us to look forward to the future with optimism. So I cordially invite you to a conference dedicated to the jubilee of the 10th anniversary of the EURO-PARK MIELEC Special Economic Zone Lublin Subzone. The conference “Lublin Subzone – 10 years of striving for the innovative economy of the city” will take place in the Centre for the Meeting of Cultures in Lublin. We will summarise the decade of dynamic growth of the Lublin economy, and discuss prospects and investment possibilities in Lublin, which opens up to the investors along with the development of the City and the new SEZ regulations.