Poznań attracts foreign investors from all over the world. Every 20th dollar invested in Poland by the largest foreign investors is invested in Poznań. Estimates show that every fourth company registered in the city makes use of foreign capital.

The estimated cumulative value of foreign direct investment in Poznań from 1990-2004 is $4.3 billion. Compared to data from the end of 2003, the FDI has grown 25 percent. Poznań's share of FDI in Poland has increased to over 5 percent of total. Since 1990, the per capita value of Poznań's foreign investment adds up to $7,600. This means that every 20th dollar invested in Poland by the largest foreign investors is invested in Poznań. As of 1997, Poznań ranks second among Poland's large cities (after Warsaw, which benefits from its status as a capital city) in terms of the amount of invested foreign capital per capita. The value of foreign investment in 1990-2004 was one-third higher than in Cracow, more than a quarter higher than in Wrocław and three times higher than in Łódź, Szczecin and Gdańsk.

Investments of $1 million or more have been made in Poznań by 130 foreign investors from 25 countries. The largest foreign investor in the city is Volkswagen. German investors in Poznań also include Metro and Beiersdorf, the manufacturer of the Nivea cosmetics. Large investments have also been made by GlaxoSmithKline from Great Britain, Allied Irish Bank from Ireland, Bridgestone from Japan, Wrigley and Exide from the United States, Alcatel, Pernod Ricard and Dalkia Termika from France, SABMiller from South Africa and Nestlé from Switzerland. It needs to be remembered, though, that aside from the great multinational corporations, about 50 percent of foreign companies are micro-businesses, or entities employing up to nine people. Over four-fifths of the invested capital has come from six countries: Germany (37 percent), the United States and Great Britain (11 percent each), France (9 percent), Japan (7 percent) and Sweden (5 percent).

Services and industry
The largest investment sector is industry, whose share of investments since 1997 exceeds 60 percent. The main sectors of interest to foreign investors include automotive (38 percent), foodstuffs (23 percent) and pharmaceuticals (15 percent). Other areas with a substantial share include trade (13 percent), general services and financial services (6 percent each).

The greatest amount, one-third, of investment in services is linked to real estate trade and corporate services. The first foreign investments related to services provided with the help of global IT networks have now appeared, for example the Arvato Bertelsmann call center. More centers will start operations this year and several are in the planning stages. The investors include the European financial services center of the Danish company Duni, an analytical and IT service center of the German company Analyx and a center for remote control of the IT processes for GlaxoSmithKline's European companies. The new Carlsberg Financial Services Center will start operating in November. It will provide services to companies in Poland, and, as of March 2007, in Germany as well. The new center will employ 70 high-class specialists. Poznań was chosen as the location for this kind of facility because of its good transportation links, the relatively short distance from the German border, the potential offered by its academic community and its relatively low labor costs.

The structure of trade investments is changing. Foreign investors are no longer interested only in building huge hypermarkets, but large multifunctional centers where shopping chains take up just some of the space. Four such centers run by foreign investors operate in Poznań at present: M1, King Cross Marcelin, Poznań Plaza and Centrum Auchan. The number of foreign supermarket chains offering cheaper goods is growing. These are primarily the German chains Lidl and Kaufland, Denmark's Netto and the Portuguese chain Biedronka.

Neinver Polska, a subsidiary of the Spanish real estate developer company, will be entering the Poznań market. The company's plans for 2005-2007 feature three new projects, including one in Luboń, near Poznań. A 4.8-hectare plot will be the site of an Outlet Factory shopping center that will offer 15,200 sq m of retail and service space for 120 stores. The Luboń center will cost about 23 million euros. About 500 people will find jobs there. Neinver Polska was the first company on the Polish market to introduce the outlet concept, having opened its Outlet Factory shopping center in Warsaw's Ursus district in December 2002. An outlet is where brand-name manufacturers sell surplus goods, inventories, samples, ends of series, last season's clothing and collection models, while maintaining control of both distribution and brand image. The key to the success of this form of sales is to guarantee year-round prices that are 30 to 70 percent lower than a customer will find in a retail store.

After the boom of the 1990s, the gas station market is becoming saturated. Poznań now sees between two to five new stations owned by foreign corporations opening every year. New investors have appeared on the retail fuel market. For example, large foreign shopping chains are now opening gas stations under their own brand next to their shopping centers. The Finnish fuel company Neste is locating its self-service gas stations next to large shopping centers, too.

Automotive basin
In recent years, Poznań has grown to be one of the larger automotive centers in Poland. The largest foreign investor in Poznań is Germany's Volkswagen, which appeared on the Polish market in 1991. That year, the company Kulczyk Tradex was established in Poznań to import Volkswagen and Audi cars to Poland, and from 1996 Porsches as well. May 1992 marked another chapter in the Polish production of Volkswagens. It was then that Volkswagen Poznań was set up, initially assembling and then later manufacturing various car models. The flagship product of the Poznań factory is the Volkswagen Transporter, produced here since 1994. Today, both the VW Transporter T5 and the Caddy are made in Poznań.

The second-largest automotive company in the area is Japan's Bridgestone. This is one of the largest tire corporations in the world, whose brands include Dayton and Firestone. It is also a sponsor of Formula 1 races. The company invested in Poznań's Stomil a few years ago, but that is not all. Bridgestone Corporation of Japan has invested 12 million euros to build a factory making rubber caterpillar tracks for earth moving machinery in Żarów, near Wałbrzych. Production is due to start before the end of this year.

Apart from these world giants of the automotive industry, U.S. companies have also invested in Poznań. These include Exide, a manufacturer of car batteries, and Kimball Electronics Group, a manufacturer of electronic systems for cars. Groclin Auto, a leading manufacturer of car accessories, is also based in Poznań.

Medications from Poznań
The British corporation GlaxoSmithKline, a world-leading innovator, is the largest investor in Poland's pharmaceutical sector. In 1998, Glaxo Wellcome acquired 80 percent of the shares of the privatized Poznańskie Zakłady Farmaceutyczne Polfa SA. After Glaxo Wellcome merged with SmithKline Beecham, a new company appeared in Poland-GlaxoSmithKline Pharmaceuticals SA. At present, this company employs almost 1,700 people in Poland, and takes in 100 trainees every year. Sixty specialists work in the Poznań-based research and development center.

To date, GSK has invested $400 million in the acquisition, modernization and development of its pharmaceutical factory in Poznań. During that time, 100 new medications were introduced, including 52 products developed at the Poznań R&D laboratory. This year Poznań's GSK will begin production of four new innovative medicines (Pylorid, Imigran, Naramig and Lamictal tablets) and will take over production from the corporation's other branches that supply world markets with medications used in HIV/AIDS therapy. In Poland, GSK currently offers 358 products, and this was the first company in Poland to introduce a nicotine-free medication that effectively helps smokers give up the habit.

The importance of the Poznań-based GSK facility is reiterated by the fact that two regional centers have been located there: the Regional Customization and Distribution Center with a modern high-bay warehouse that deals with the distribution of drugs to Central and Eastern Europe; and the Regional IT Support Center that provides remote technical support for the IT systems of the company's European operations. Furthermore, a specialized cooling warehouse for storing vaccines was built for the needs of the distribution center. Between 2006-2007, the company plans further investments in Poznań, including in the development of its manufacturing and IT capacity, the modernization of its quality control laboratory and its modern warehousing systems. These undertakings will create nearly 70 new jobs. The Poznań factory supplies its products to several dozen countries around the world, and this number will soon grow to 50, including 43 new export markets, in this number EU member states, Mexico, South Africa and Australia. This will increase production by 21 million packets, to 106 million packets per year.

Foodstuffs
Nestlé, a world leader in the foodstuffs sector, is also present in Poznań. This is a multinational corporation with global reach, with its main headquarters in Vevey, Switzerland. The company started operating in Poland in 1993. Since 2001, Nestlé companies have operated as single entity under the name Nestlé Polska SA, after having adopted a uniform organizational and legal structure. The company offers a wide range of foodstuffs, including Nescafé coffee, Nesquik chocolate drink, Nałęczowianka mineral water, Cornflakes breakfast cereal, Schöller ice-cream, Nestlé chocolate, Princessa wafers, and Lion and KitKat chocolate bars. The corporation now includes the well-known producer of culinary products, Winiary, offering a complete range of soups, sauces, desserts, mayonnaise and seasonings. Nestlé also makes baby foods in Poland.

Unilever is yet another multinational investor in Poznań. The corporation was present in Poland before World War II, and returned in 1991 when it acquired shares in the Pollena company in Bydgoszcz and set up its first Polish company, Lever Polska. Pollena 2000, the factory's flagship product, quickly won a leading position among Polish laundry powders. Unilever is the owner of such brand names as Domestos, Omo and Cif. In 2001, Unilever expanded its foodstuffs business in Poland. As a result of a global merger with the foodstuffs producer Bestfoods, Unilever's food portfolio now includes such well-known brands as Knorr, Amino and Hellmann's. Unilever also makes Algida ice-cream. Today, Unilever has four production divisions in Poland: a production plant in Poznań making culinary products, a detergent and cosmetic division in Bydgoszcz, a plant in Katowice that makes margarine and packages tea, and a division making ice-cream and frozen goods in Baniana, near Gdańsk. To date, Unilever has invested over $200 million in Poland and employs a total of some 2,800 people.

Lisner of Germany also has a factory in Poznań. Present in Poland since 1991 and currently employing 800, Lisner produces almost one-fourth of the herring products in Poland. The output of the Poznań factories is exported to European countries, including Germany, the Netherlands, Hungary, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Austria as well as Canada. The company offers traditional herring-based products, such as herring in a vinegar marinade or in vegetable oil, and herring fillets in different sauces, herring a la matjas and salted herring. Additionally, it produces a wide range of vegetable, meat and fish salads sold under the Lisner Salads brand, as well as the Lisner Smako sandwich pastes. The Lisner brand is the most widely recognized brand of all the producers of fish products and salads in Poland.