During the past five years, the value of Warsaw's development projects has surpassed $ 5 billion. Most of them were made possible by the involvement of foreign capital. Large buildings erected by foreign investors have become permanent features of the cityscape. Representative offices and headquarters are being built not only by major banks and insurance companies of international reputate operating in Warsaw, but also by consortia active throughout Poland even in the neighbouring countries. They choose Warsaw for its central location in Europe, convenient international travel connections, a developed telecommunication network, as well as economic and political stability.

Those investing in Warsaw can be sure of a very high rate of return on capital invested - a rarity in large cities, and a developed, absorbent consumer market.

Yet it is the city's people who are its real asset.

Warsaw, a city with a population of nearly 2 million, is the country's largest university and research centre with an enormous and highly skilled workforce. Therel are also 10,000 to 20,000 Western managers, specialists working in the capital, deployed by consulting and development companies recognised world-wide, along with the hundreds of Western businesspeople visiting the city daily. Foreigners working here appreciate good working conditions and a favourable attitude of the people of Warsaw.

I am pleased to invite you to Warsaw, the city that is also attractive in cultural and tourist terms. A number of well-known cultural events of international importance are held here. The extensive repertoire of scores of theatres, numerous concert halls and cinemas will satisfy even the most exacting audiences.

Finally, I would like to invite you to the Warsaw of numerous historic buildings and reminders of its glorious past, the capital that is changing rapidly from a drab city into a modern metropolis, as young as the people who live here, and becoming more beautiful by the day.