The first regional economic promotion network in Poland, launched in Lower Silesia, has been launched. Municipal Investor and Exporter Service Centers. It is made up of 10 communes, which participated in a pilot program prepared by the Lower Silesian Agency for Economic Cooperation.

Municipal Investor and Exporter Service Centers - specialized units operating in accordance with the standards of the Polish Investment and Trade Agency - were established in Głogów, Dzierżoniów, Radwanice, Strzegom, Strzelin, Świdnica, Wałbrzych, Wiązów, Złotoryja and Żmigród.

These municipalities have been very actively involved in the process of building their investment competitiveness. Our company has helped them, among others revise the investment offer, indicate the advantages of individual local governments, prepare the team to service the investor, or plan promotion on the national and international arena - says Robert Iwan, vice president of the Lower Silesian Agency for Economic Cooperation sp. o.o.

Certified auditors from DAWG conducted investment audits in municipalities for a year. They indicated the weakest and strongest sides of individual local governments and recommended solutions aimed at improving competitiveness.

- It was a busy time for our Commune Investor and Exporter Service Center, and I assess the program very positively. I can boast that in recent years, we have sold all communal investment land. We want the buyers to find also other land from the area of ​​the city and the Strzelin commune, which is not our property. We have included them in our offer, because every new investor, also the one who will buy a plot from a private person, is an advantage for the whole commune. Participation in the GCOIE project is a new and valuable experience that has helped us to promote investment land better and more effectively. Now, according to the guidelines, we are supplementing the offer of investment areas to make it even more attractive - emphasizes Dorota Pawnuk, the mayor of the city and the Strzelin commune.

One of the examples of the local government that has revised its approach to acquiring new investments is Wałbrzych. The city changes its image and focuses on the BPO (Business Process Outsourcing) sector - one of the fastest and most dynamically developing industries in Poland. Next year in Wałbrzych, the first center of modern business services will be created outside of Wrocław, and specialists in such areas as IT, logistics, finance, HR or accounting will be able to find work there. For Wałbrzych, where many international industrial companies operate, it is a chance for further development in a completely new direction.

The "revolutionary approach" is similarly presented by Złotoryja. This is the first local government in Poland that will build a modular production hall for small and medium-sized companies. The investment is worth PLN 6.5 million net, of which PLN 4.8 million was obtained from the resources of the ROP WD.

- For 20 years I was an entrepreneur myself, that's why I know perfectly well what are the problems facing companies. About 25 percent of the investors we interviewed needed such support. They were not interested in building the plants from scratch, but they wanted to start production in a finished facility. Its construction gives our municipality an advantage over other towns in the region. Investors can simply rent a hall, insert machines, hire people and start production immediately. The hall has space for the work of up to three production companies from the SME sector - says Robert Pawłowski, the mayor of Złotoryja.

An important aspect of creating the Municipal Investor and Exporter Service Centers was to train the staff of officials responsible for the preparation and promotion of investment offers, contacts with investors and institutions involved in investment processes, including employment agencies.

- It is important that in such companies as ours, the municipalities would see an important partner. We serve many investors, and our role is to provide an assessment of the labor market situation in selected locations and help in choosing the best employee solutions for a given investment, assistance in recruitment or employee training. Previous cooperation with local governments has allowed to attract a lot of new investments and promote Lower Silesia as a good place not only to invest, but also to live - says Arkadiusz Więckiewicz, from Randstad Poland, the largest HR industry agency in the country specializing in personnel consulting and temporary work.

According to DAWG experts, the success of stability and economic growth of our region is connected not only with direct foreign investments, but also reinvestments of already existing enterprises. Another important aspect of the development of local self-governments is exports, which is increasingly the share of SMEs.

- Many local governments do not cooperate with local companies, especially small and medium-sized enterprises. Meanwhile, it must be remembered that it is SMEs that drive the economy, and supporting local businesses is in the interest of municipalities. That is why we pointed out how important it is lowering municipal taxes, facilitating access d