Google plans to open an operations center in the Polish city of Wroclaw later this year, creating 200 new jobs and boosting the city's efforts to become a technology hub, officials said Thursday, reported post-gazette.com.

Google, the Mountain View, California-based Internet search company, said it will open the „center of innovation” in Wroclaw in the coming months and begin hiring workers immediately. Officials in Wroclaw, one of Poland's most economically dynamic cities, welcomed Google's decision. „With Google, we can practically be attractive for any large company that is in the innovation sector, because they always go in herds,” said Pawel Panczyj, who heads an office that promotes foreign investment in Wroclaw.

Wroclaw has already attracted a number of foreign investors in recent years, including Hewlett-Packard Co., General Electric Co., Siemens AG and Nokia Corp. Google said it expects the center to employ more than 200 people within the next year or two. It said it chose the city for reasons that include „the availability of highly qualified graduates, the country's economic stability and strong infrastructure.” Google is already operating a research and development center in Krakow. That site will work closely with the Wroclaw center, Panczyj said.