Arranged every two years by PAIiIZ, Marshals of all Polish Voivodships and Regional Investor Service Centres (COI), the Golden Site contest is held in each of sixteen Polish provinces. It aims to select and awards the best greenfield sites in each region that has at least 2 hectares and is under the Local Development Plan is dedicated to industrial project. The competition is open to all Polish municipalities that can submit any number of offers. There is, however, one exception. The plot should not be covered by the programme of Special Economic Zones or Technology Park.
The Golden Site Contest has been divided to two parts. In the first part, representatives of the Investor ServiceCentres in each province, made a pre-selection among 179 applications submitted for the competition. Due to that, 81 investment plots (45% of all applications) entered a group of the semi-finalists. All semi-finalists went through a comprehensive audit. They were also visited by the contest’s jury consisting of PAIiIZ and COI experts as well as representatives of local marshal offices. Competitors were also asked to present the site during a short, one-hour presentation to simulate initial talks with a potential investor. After assessing the level of preparation of all areas for future investments, the jury has selected one, leading investment site in each province to complement it with the Golden Site Award.
The list of this year’s winners is dominated by small plots up to 5 hectares. There are seven of such finalists. According to PAIiIZ data, those type of sites have the biggest chance to win investors, as the companies supported by the Agency are mostly interested in such offers. One of the winners from this group is Krapkowice (Opole province).
