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A lot can be said about the capital of the Wielkopolska region in recent times, and not always are these flattering words. The infrastructural changes necessary for the city's further development often overshadow many achievements such as the title of European City of the Future which Poznań got recently. It's worth paying attention to them to see how much the city has to offer!

Welcome aboard!

Since the beginning of 2022, we have welcomed as many as eleven new companies to Poznań! These are investors from all key sectors of the city. The IT sector is growing steadily - such companies as Finland's BestCoders and Tietoevry, Germany's IVU Traffic Technologies and Sigma Software - a Swedish-Ukrainian consultancy which moved to the Polish market after the Russian aggression against Ukraine, have joined Poznań's business family. SIS, an ERP software provider, has also trusted Poznań. The new office will become SIS's main European service centre supporting its American team in global project implementations.

The development was noticed in the modern services sector, too. The market was enriched by FIS, a world leader in payment processing, financial software and banking solutions. Meanwhile, at the beginning of the year, Beiersdorf opened in Poznań its first Beiersdorf Shared Services branch office outside Germany. The entire team in Poland already consists of almost 1,000 people, who take care of the development of leading brands in many markets, such as NIVEA, Eucerin and Bambino. Meanwhile, ROCKWOOL Group's competence centre has expanded into the R&D sector.

- Companies appreciate Poznań's convenient location, allowing them to reach both Eastern and Western European markets. An additional advantage of the city is the stable investment climate. Regardless of the pandemic, which had a huge impact on the economy, Poznań remains one of the cities with the lowest unemployment in the country and records a year-on-year increase in GDP. The stable development of the Poznań economy is confirmed by independent international rankings. In addition, they maintain a stable forecast for the city, which means that in the near future, the financial credibility of Poznań should not change - says Jacek Jaśkowiak, Mayor of Poznań.

Live in Poznań, work in IT

In addition to hosting such events as the IT Corner 2022 Members' Congress, 4Developers or PHPers, for the fourth time, Poznań organised its own conference - Pozitive Technologies. This unique event for the IT industry attracted over 1,000 registrations. Participants had the opportunity to take part in as many as six thematic tracks and listen to more than 50 speakers. The presentations were provided by well-known personalities such as Eric Qualman, Kristin Luck and Hazel Savage. In addition to these speakers, the audience listened to experts from companies such as VISA, Żabka, IT.integro, Capgemini, and Fandom.

After two years of online meetings, this year's edition of the conference was held in a hybrid format. The stationary part took place in eN Studios in the form of a POZytywne Afterparty, which was an opportunity to meet people from the industry live. The evening was full of attractions: from interesting speeches to the entertainment and networking part. Nearly 90% of the participants plan to attend the event in 2023. The next edition will undoubtedly be special, being the fifth-anniversary edition!

The icing on the IT cake was the premiere of a unique guide dedicated to the sector. Together with local IT companies - STX Next, summ-it and Verseo - the City has prepared a compendium of knowledge entitled "Poznań, the City of IT", which was created for people coming to the capital of Wielkopolska in search of a job in the IT sector. It is a guide to Poznań, which will not only provide strategic data in the area of IT services or the real estate and housing market but will also offer some lifestyle tips. The publication is available for download on the website of the Investor Relations Department - poznan.pl/invest.

Conquering the real estate market

The past year has seen potential and growth in new areas. The capital of Wielkopolska has one of the country's fastest-growing industrial and logistics real estate markets - tells us the report prepared by CBRE in cooperation with the Investor Relations Department of the City of Poznań. It was inspired by the dynamic changes on the real estate market, which began during the pandemic. The aim of the report was to analyse Poznań's industrial and logistics market in comparison with other cities in Poland and with similar levels of warehouse space stock. Only modern facilities for lease and facilities built for tenants were included in the analysis.

According to the report, the industrial and logistics market in the Poznań region is growing dynamically. The capital of Wielkopolska has the 3rd highest development potential in the country. It is determined on the basis of the target warehouse space in relation to the existing and under construction space. In Poznań, it is +53%. Taking into account the facilities under construction and the plans to build more in the future, the size of the Poznań industrial and logistics market may increase by more than half, i.e. by 1.8 million m2.

The report also highlights that between 2021 and 2022, space in logistics facilities delivered in the capital city of Wielkopolska was four times bigger comparing to 2020.

- A very optimistic picture of the in - dustrial and logistics real estate market in Poznań emerges from the report. It shows that the City belongs to the group of strategic players in this area on the na - tionwide arena - notes Bartosz Guss, Deputy Mayor of the City of Poznań.

Currently, Poznań ranks 5th in Poland with a total existing industrial and logistics space of 3.0 million m2. This is 12% of Poland's warehouse space and 16% comparing the other markets of the so-called "big five", i.e. the largest markets - Warsaw, Katowice, Łódź and Wrocław.

Poznań's presence was also spotted at the biggest events in the real estate industry. Firstly, Poznań attended the annual MIPIM international property fair. The distinctive dark blue colours attracted new investors with varied real estate offers. Among the plots for sale, there were both larger and smaller locations. Properties for residential and commercial development remain dominant in the city's offer. It also included real estate that can be used for the construction of warehouses and storages, production facilities or car parks. Urban investment areas were also presented in Munich during the Expo Real trade fair.

Jubilee five

Returning to the theme of anniversaries, the other important anniversary should be mentioned. This year marked five years since Katja Lozina became Head of the Investor Relations Department. It has been a busy time, which had a big impact on the city's development. How much has changed since 2017?

Poznań has become home to as many as 50 new investors! The companies not only ensured further growth for the city but also offered as many as 5,000 new job places to its residents. The modern services sector recorded an increase of as much as 45% of centres over five years, resulting in a further 10,000 working places. Office space has also expanded by the same percentage.

Investor Relations Department has successively promoted the city's plots at international real estate fairs and national and international industry conferences, such as the mentioned earlier MIPIM and Expo Real. During these years, 44 of the promoted sites with a total area of almost 370,000 m2 were sold. The area of individual properties often exceeded 1 ha!

The office has been repeatedly re­­cognised for its achievements, winning more than 70 awards. Among the particularly important awards won this year was the title of European City of the Future 2022/23 in the fDi Intelligence ranking and Business Friendly City of the Year at the Future of Emerging Europe Summit and Awards 2022 gala - the award given for support of the local government. This is a confirmation of the excellent business performance and gratification of the efforts invested in the development of the city.

Poznań is never stopping with its ambitious plans and ongoing investments, accumulating success after success. Don't be fooled - this city is as stubborn as the legendary goats themselves! For more details on current projects, visit poznan.pl/invest.