Development Factors
Kraków is also a thriving research centre. A large number of seats of higher education and a great diversity of fields of study provide tremendous research potential. The intellectual potential of the city owes its prestigious stature to 23 seats of higher education, where academic staff currently numbers almost 12,000 individuals, including 2,400 professors), and some 130,000 students (undergraduate, graduate, post-graduate, and extramural). The large highly qualified workforce in all key sectors of the national economy rounds off the current situation and effectively attracts a diversity of investors.
The large number of research-and development facilities catering specifically for the needs of modern industry, all successfully completed development projects to date, and a highly qualified workforce constitute the assets which make the city of Kraków widely deemed the right venue for the pursuit of business endeavours. The city’s development strategy is highly conducive to bringing together a wide spectrum of business partners from a diversity of environments, with a view to making them co-operate on a variety of local (be that the municipality itself, the neighbouring communes or regional structures) pro-investment initiatives, inclusive of promotional endeavours.
One of the key determinants of Kraków’s business attractiveness is the Polish Investment Zone located within the city, which offers a diversity of business incentives. New conference facilities are presently under development so as to significantly enhance the city’s potential for holding all sorts of conferences and symposia in the near future. A Kraków Convention Bureau has been established whose principal task is the promotion of the city as the perfect venue for all sorts of business and academic gatherings, also of international stature. Kraków has become the perfect platform for fostering effective co-operation between academe, business and local government. This is mostly facilitated by a network of business clusters.