According to a ranking describing BPO connected investment inflow tendencies prepared by Outsource Sri Lanka, Poland clearly stands out in the CEE region. Among the most attractive destinations Cracow classified 5th. The report “50 outsourcing cities” confirms that Poland ranks the 1st in Europe and 5th in the world in terms of outsourcing investment attractiveness. The criteria on which the ranking was based regarded the quality and amount of human resources, education, costs of running business , business-related risks, investment climate, infrastructure and the quality of life. Two Polish cities, Cracow and Warsaw, ranked high in the ranking. Cracow classified on the 5th position (in 2007 the city ranked 16th) and Warsaw on the 28th. It is worth emphasizing that Cracow outflanked all cities from the CEE region included in the ranking. By comparison, the Czech Prague ranked 14th, Budapest - 25th, Bratislava – 35th, Bucharest – 38th, Sofia – 40th and Tallinn 46th. Poland owes its leader position in the field to over 10 thousand specialist employed in the sector; the group comprised mainly of accountants, economists, IT specialists, personnel managers and logistics specialists. In fact, investors do appreciate the quality of Polish human resources and also emphasize the country’s attractive location in the centre of Europe as well as the availability of scientific aid on the part of Polish academic centres. Poland is the only country with two cities classified among the first 30 BPO investment locations. Cracow’s exceptional performance is to a large extend connected with the city’s excellent reputation as a big academic centre constitution a scientific support for possible investors. Not only is the seat of the oldest Polish university and a place gathering over 180 thousand students but the city and it agglomeration as well as the region’s special economic zone are strongly oriented towards service sector development. It is worth emphasising that there are many other cities liable to attract BPO investments in the country e.g. Poznań, Katowice, Gdańsk or ŁódĹş. This kind of investment creates workplaces for highly-qualified employees which do generate added value for the Polish economy. This kind of initiatives rank high also among the projects managed by PAIiIZ, e.g. the India ZenSar’s EUR1.8 million worth investment in Gdańsk (350 employees) or the German MAN’s project worth EUR560 thousand in Poznań (360 to be employed) to mention only a few. In the first half of 2008 out of the 32 finalized project 9 were form the BPO sector. As of the end of September this year, another 12 have been opened. (PAIiIZ)