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The Economic Profile of Pomerania

Update: 2009-11-04

The Economic Profile of Pomerania

Macroeconomic situation in the voivodeship

• The gross domestic product (GDP) generated by the Pomorskie Voivodeship in 2007 amounted to PLN 67.073 billion, which places the region on the seventh position in the country. In the years 2000-2007 the average annual GDP growth rate in Pomerania stood at 7% and exceeded the national level.
  
  
• The 2007 average GDP per head in the Pomorskie Voivodeship was PLN 30 396, which gives the fifth position in Poland.
  
  
• Over 47% of the voivodeship's GDP is generated by the Tricity (Gdańsk-Gdynia-Sopot). In figures for 2007, this amounted to the total of PLN 32.964billion. In terms of GDP per head the Tricity comes seventh among all Polish sub-regions with the ratio standing at PLN 44 151.

Major trades

• The economic potential of the region is founded on traditional industries on the one hand (shipbuilding, oil refining, food products, machines, furniture, and tourism), and the developing trades on the other hand (information technology, electronics, and biotechnology). The region builds its developmental perspectives on the latter.
  
  
• Shipbuilding continues to be the leading industry of Pomerania and the largest employer, and is represented by building yards, repair yards, and the cooperating companies whose offers go beyond the industry to include services available to other trades.

• The Pomorskie Voivodeship accounts for the major part of the Polish shipbuilding. In the year 2009 the yards of the Pomorskie Voivodeship built 16 vessels (mainly car and container carriers), which represented 80% of the entire Polish ship production. The order book of the Pomorskie yards at the end of November 2008 consisted of 46 vessels (72% of all orders placed with the Polish shipbuilders).
  
  
• The largest shipbuilding company in terms of income on sales (both regionally and nationally) is the Repair Capital Group headed by the Gdańsk Ship Repair Yard.
  
  
• The Repair Group offers services consisting of repairs, conversions, and new, fully fitted ships. The new build line is located in the Northern Yard which specializes in building vessels to the designs developed by its own design office. The vessels are tailored to the shipowners' individual needs and typically represent niche builds generally outside the scope offered by the yards in Asia (e.g. boats for the excavation industry). The Northern Yard also builds passenger boats, passenger and car carriers, gas carriers, container carriers, and multipurpose vessels.
  
  
• The group is made up of 28 enterprises pursuing business lines closely related to shipbuilding: from the Northern Yard which builds various types of vessels, through the Famos Ship Furniture Factory, or Hydroster-both manufacturers of ship fixtures, up to IT-REM which specialises e.g. in IT solutions for the maritime trade.
  
  
• Gdańsk Shipyard SA underwent privatisation in 2007. Donbas Industrial Association (ISD) has become its strategic investor and the major shareholder. Quoting after the world shipbuilding market analysis and the projections for the nearest years (the analysis was conducted by McKinsey), the Gdańsk Shipyard SA is to base its production on three pillars:
  1. building ships of the offshore type to service oil rigs,
  2. manufacturing wind power station towers,
  3. constructing various steel structures (e.g. bridges and viaducts).
  
  
• Apart from the giants, there are many other shipyards operating in the region. Their special area is building modern yachts and boats. A vast majority of their production (about 90%) is exported.
  
  
• Pomerania would not be the same without oil refining. The trade is represented by the largest enterprise in the region and one of the largest companies in Poland- the LOTOS SA Capital Group. LOTOS deals with oil extraction and processing, and trading in oil products. The Group employs over 5000 people. Its 2009 consolidated income added up to PLN 14.32 billion and its net profit was in range of PLN 894,3 million.
  
  
• The improving results do not end the list of good news. The LOTOS Group is currently pursuing the largest investment project in Central and Eastern Europe, called 'Programme 10+'. The project will equip the Gdańsk refinery with a number of new, technologically advanced installations which will enable improving the effectiveness of manufacturing the oil products sought for in the domestic and foreign markets. The project will also increase the country's energy security.
  
  
• Today, the refinery in Gdańsk belonging to the LOTOS Group processes 6 million tonne of crude oil per annum. The strategy up to the year 2012 envisages increasing in the processed oil volume to 10.5 million tonne per year. Gaining direct access to oil fields abroad is to assist it in reaching the goal.
  
  
• Another sector of high economic significance for the region (and the country) and, most importantly, a sector facing good developmental perspectives, is the building industry. The construction and erection projects completed in the Pomorskie Voivodeship in 2008 amounted to PLN 4.7 billion, which was more than 20% higher than the result achieved the year before. Works related to the construction of motorways, double carriageways, streets, and other roads had the largest share in the output (PLN 1130.7 million). Semi-detached houses and multi-family blocks come second (PLN 884.5 million), and industrial and warehousing structures third (PLN 537.2 million).
  
  
• The food industry has a traditionally strong position in the voivodeship economy. The trade generates about 10.6% of Pomerania's industrial production sold and employs 21.5 thousand people.
  
  
• The largest share in the regional sales achieved in food processing has for several years remained with the fish processing line. The income of the sub-sector accounts for over 28% of the local sector's entire sale. Meat processing comes second with a 24% share in the sector's sale and is followed by oil and fat production, which generates 11% of the sector's turnover.
  
  
• High technologies represent the swiftest developing sector in the voivodeship. Most firms here are small and medium size enterprises. The high-tech sector finds a good human resource base among the graduates of the local schools of higher education, which safeguards its future development. The establishments of tertiary education include: the Gdańsk University of Technology, University of Gdańsk, Maritime Academy, and Polish Naval Academy, all offering studies in the field.
  
  
• The best known companies operating in the trade are: Intel Technology Poland (research centre), Lufthansa Systems Poland (outsourcing centre), IBM (implementation centre), Young Digital Planet (lead manufacturer of educational multimedia), Compuware (lead provider of IT applications for businesses), Zensar (outsourcing centre).
  
  
• The electronic trade is represented by e.g.: Flextronics International Poland (supplier of electronic subassemblies), DGT (provider of modern communication systems and comprehensive tele-information solutions), Jabil Circuit Poland (supplier of TV set baseboards), Gemalto (leader in digital security), Platan (lead manufacturer of subscriber telephone exchanges and integrated alarm systems, radio signalling and communication for emergency rescue services), Radmor (the largest Polish manufacturer of mobile radio-communication gear, UKF FM), Satel (manufacturer of modern electronic devices-alarm control panels, sirens, detectors).
  
  
• The high-tech sector further includes the developing cosmetic and pharmaceutical industry. To exemplify businesses of the type let us mention but Ziaja and Oceanic. The leaders of the Polish pharmaceutical industry include the local Polpharma SA. Alongside those companies, many smaller businesses are formed dealing in both production, and research connected with biotechnology. The possibility to tap the rich scientific research resources and qualified staff recruited from among the graduates of the Biotechnology Faculty of the Gdańsk University of Technology and the Intercollegiate Faculty of Biotechnology run together by the University of Gdańsk and the Medical University of Gdańsk, is a major support pertaining to the development of businesses implementing innovative projects in the field.
  
  
• Tourism occupies a major position in the developmental strategy of the Pomorskie Voivodeship. To quote the estimates of the Institute of Tourism, the Pomorskie Voivodeship hosted about 3.7 million domestic visitors in 2007. Among them, 2 million came for longer stays (min. 4 nights), which puts the voivodeship in the top position in Poland. Their number of foreign visitors in 2007, stood at 1.076 million. The prevailing group was German, then came the British, Swedish, Russians, Norwegians, French, Italian, and Americans.
  
  
• The accommodation base the Pomorskie Voivodeship had to offer in the year 2008 consisted of 216 hotels and 606 other facilities (leisure centres prevailing). The total number of beds amounted to 85.3 thousand, out of which 19.6% were hotel beds.

Foreign trade

• In the year 2007, companies of the Pomorskie Voivodeship generated the export totalling EUR 7554.7 million, while import amounted to EUR 8225.4 million. The value of export and import in the voivodeship is steadily growing. Pomerania's 2007 export per capita amounted to USD 4670 and was much above the average all-country ratio.
  
  
• Growing openness is a characteristic feature of the Pomorskie economy, and export is strengthening its position over the local demand in determining the production of the Pomorskie firms. The significance of export for the Pomorskie economy is reflected in the share of export in the total production sold by the voivodeship's industry (54.9% in 2006, which is more than 20% up the 1995 level). The Pomorskie Voivodeship is the leader in Poland in this aspect, and the ratio exceeds the average national level.
  
  
• The voivodeship's share in the national export amounted to 7.5% in 2007 (6.9% of the national import).
  
  
• Ships and boats represent the largest cargo group exported from the Pomorskie Voivodeship. Their share in the 2006 exports was 29.8%. The ratio reflects the region's high specialisation in foreign sales. The second line of export in terms of volume and share in total sales abroad comprises TV and radio sets, sound and picture recording and playing devices and their accessories (13.2%). These goods are classified as products of high technological intensity, which is of particular importance in the perspective of the voivodeship's economic development. As concerns the significance of high-tech products in exports, Pomerania ranks among the all-country leaders. The voivodeship contributes 23% of the national export of high-tech goods. The third export group consists of oil refining products (9.9% of the exports).
  
  
• Germany is the prime buyer of the Pomerania-manufactured products. 18.6% of the 2006 export from the voivodeship was purchased by that market. Norway, the second largest buyer, purchases 13.8% of the products the region sells abroad, and Sweden accounts for 8.7%.