Foreign direct investments in the Podkarpackie voivodship until the end of 2003

The aim of the article is to present the basic regularities concerning the structural and spatial differentiation of foreign direct investment (FDI) in the Podkarpackie voivodship. At the end of 2003, the value of foreign capital inflow to Podkarpackie voivodship reached the value of USD 2.05 billion. It meant the amount of USD 973 per inhabitant, which placed the region in the 9th position in the country, much higher than its rank in the GDP per capita (15th place). Companies with foreign capital employed 48.5 thousand people in 2003, the equivalent of 6.5% of all working population in the region apart from agriculture and forestry. More than 7.5 thousand new workplaces were created by the companies from abroad. The United States was the largest single source of inward investment in the Podkarpackie region (46%), followed by Germany and Austria. Sector structure of cumulative FDI showed the dominant role of manufacturing (81%). Major investments in the trade and services sector were clustered in Rzeszów, except solitary hypermarket outlets in Tarnobrzeg and Mielec. The bulk of foreign capital was concentrated within large and medium-size towns. Rzeszów (the capital of the region) alone attracted 17% of the total FDI. Mielec, the industrial town where the first Polish Special Economic Zone was established, was equally successful. In total, 67% of the FDI was concentrated in the largest 10 towns. Greenfield investment constituted 36% of all FDI. The influence of FDI on the local and regional development is generally regarded as positive. Foreign companies contributed to the development of the existing or new industries, for example the aircraft (Pratt&Whitney, Goodrich), the automotive (Lear, Kirchhoff) the wood-processing (Kronospan) and the power-generating industry (Enron). The problem in this regard is the weak involvement of foreign investors in the food-processing industry, or even withdrawing of capital from this sector