Radom, a City with Great Prospects

Radom covers an area of 112km2 and has a population of 232,000. It is the second largest city in the Mazowieckie province. It is located at the junction of major routes: the shortest route between Berlin and Kiev and the intersection of five national roads, including two of international importance. The reconstruction of the road linking Gdańsk, Warsaw, Radom and Krakow, which will turn it into an expressway, is the main priority of the National Transportation Development Strategy in 2000-2006. The investment will shorten the time it takes to travel from Radom to Warsaw to one hour.
The railroad junction in Radom connects two important routes between Warsaw and Krakow and Lublin and Łódź. Both routes provide a means of long-distance passenger and goods transportation between Poland's largest cities, i.e. Warsaw, Kraków, Łódź, Poznań, Wrocław, Gdańsk, Szczecin, Lublin, Kielce, Rzeszów and Przemyśl.
Radom's military airport is to provide facilities for a civilian airport, which will relieve the work of the Warsaw airport. Military officials have already given the required permission and an agreement has been signed with Przesiębiorstwo Państwowe "Porty Lotnicze". At present, authorities are preparing technical documentation and looking for a strategic investor. This year the airport will host the International Air Show for the second time, the largest event of its type in Poland.
Radom maintains dynamic contacts with cities in Poland and abroad, actively participating in the process of European integration. The city attracts investors who appreciate the business opportunities its location offers. The number of foreign investors is continuously increasing. The town's potential has already attracted numerous retail chains including Metro AG, E'Leclerc, Billa Polen, Ahold and Selgros, as well as various industries such as consumer goods production (Marc Shoes, B&M Clothing and Mustang Jeans), processing (Ahadis) and chemistry (Global Cosmed GmbH). Other companies operating in Radom include Dürrpol, International Tobbacco Machinery (industrial automation), Pilicka Telefonia (telecommunications), Shell, Statoil, British Petroleum, Conoco, Esso, and Plaza Centers (service sector).

Radom maintains official contacts with partners, such as the Latvian city of Daugavpils, Homel from Belorussia, Tarnopol from Ukraine and the Lithuanian Vilnius Region. Radom and its partners have signed letters of intent regarding cooperation in the field of culture and education, as well as the development of commerce between the cities and regions.
For a year, Radom has been a party to an agreement with the Villeurbanne-Lyon network of partner cities. The agreement holds great potential for the development of contacts with members of the network, such as Abanilla in Spain, Vilnius in Lithuania, the British West Midlands and the Italian Lombardy. The Slovakian city of Banska Bystrica and Stara Zagora in Bulgaria have recently expressed their interest in establishing an economic relationship with Radom.
Numerous Radom schools cooperate with other schools on an international level. Zespół Szkół Budowlanych, Zespół Szkół Przemysłu Spożywczego and Zespół Szkół Samochodowych (technical colleges) work with the Sheffield College and Barnsley College in Great Britain in the field of running workshops according to the British National Vocational Qualification Standards. These standards allow students to obtain international qualification certificates, which will be of great importance when Poland becomes a member of the European Union.
In the years 1996-1999, the Radom Technical University organized training for volunteers from the American Peace Corps. To commemorate the effort and as an expression of gratitude Robert B. McClendon, Manager of the Peace Corps in Poland, honored the city with a special certificate