At the FDI Awards Gala on 17 October in Warsaw (Hotel Intercontinental), 15 companies were distinguished for their leadership and direct investment in Poland.

A Jury of 22 Chamber of Commerce chairmen and Commercial Counselors from Embassies voted Wednesday night to award the following companies.
Their decisions were based not only on the amount of investment and number of employees in Poland, yet also on the firm's innovativeness, strategic importance to the Polish economy and leadership within its industry.

Nearly 200 guests attended from a wide range of industries including Aviation, Manufacturing, Food, IT, BPO/Outsourcing,Transportation, Retail, Consumer Goods, Real Estate development, and Pharmaceuticals.

In a tough competition (78 firms were nominated) among world-class firms, the following firms took first place:

Top Technology Park of the Year
Bydgoszcz Industrial and Technological Park

Top Special Economic Zone (SEZ):
Katowice Special Economic Zone

Top Investor of the Year - Rest of World:
DCT Gdansk SA (Australia)

Top Asian Investor of the Year:
Toyota Motor Manufacturing

Top Iberian (Spain, Portugal) Investor of the Year:
Jeronimo Martins Polska S.A. (Biedronka)

Top French Investor of the Year:
Hutchinson

Top Italian Investor of the Year:
WSK PZL Swidnik (Agusta Westland)

Top Benelux Investor of the Year:
Philips

Top Scandinavian Investor of the Year:
IKEA

Top Swiss Investor of the Year:
Nestle Polska

Top German or Austrian Investor of the Year:
METRO

Top British or Irish Investor of the Year:
GSK (GlaxoSmithKline)

Top Canadian Investor of the Year:
Bombardier Transportation Polska

Top American Investor of the Year:
IBM

Overall Award: FDI Investor of the Decade: Intel

* * *
The inaugural event, MC’ed by Thom Barnhardt of BiznesPolska and Ewa Kotlewska of Onet, attracted a multitude of international guests, including from the United States, Canada, Mexico, the United Kingdom, Ireland, United Arab Emirates, China, Taiwan, Japan, Germany, Austria, Holland, Belgium, France, Switzerland, Finland, Sweden, Denmark, Hungary, Latvia, and Israel.

Firms attending included KPMG, LOT Airlines, Immofinanz, the City of Knurow, Energa, Espirito Santo Investment Bank, Veolia, CFE Polska, PZL Swidnik (Agusta Westland), Miedzi Copper, Rathdowney Resources, IBM, Itella, Atos, Credit Suisse, Compensa, Netto, PolskiBus.com, Miss Polonia, Novostrat, Clariant, Infosys, Neinver, Roche Polska, Pratt&Whitney, HSBC, P&O Ferrymasters, 3M, Pittsburgh Glass Works, WSKRZ, Bank BGZ, Citibank, CEC Government Relations, PAIZ, Warimpex, Onet, Lionbridge, Extor, PKP Cargo, TPA Horwath, and many more.

Audit Partner: TPA Horwath

For more details and full Gallery of pictures from the event:
www.FDIPolandAwards.pl