Poland wants to further enhance bilateral trade with Pakistan – Envoy

  • November 28, 2019
H.E. Piotr A. Opaliński, Ambassador of Poland in Pakistan said that his country wanted to further enhance bilateral trade with Pakistan as both countries have good potential to conduct trade in many items with each other. He was addressing business community during his visit to Islamabad Chamber of Commerce & Industry. He said that bilateral trade between Poland and Pakistan has increased to over half a billion euros, however, there was great scope to further enhance it. He said that around 90 percent of Pakistan’s exports to Poland were comprised of textiles products and stressed that Pakistan should focus on diversification of its exports to Poland to achieve better results. He said that both countries have good potential to cooperate in IT sector as Polish companies wanted to contribute towards growth of 5G and telecom infrastructure in Pakistan. The envoy said that Poland was located in central Europe and could become a hub for Pakistani exports in EU. He said that Polish companies have been doing business in Pakistan’s oil & gas sector for the last 20 years and more could invest in Pakistan. He said CPEC was a game changer for Pakistan and Polish companies have also been encouraged to invest in this project. He said that Poland have created good conditions for foreign investors and a Pakistan businessman has opened first Halal restaurant in Poland while more Pakistani investors could invest in his country. He said that Pakistani business community should develop contacts with Polish Investment Agency and Polish National Chamber of Commerce to explore business opportunities in his country. He said that ICCI should consider taking a delegation to Poland and he would try to connect them with right Polish partners. Speaking at the occasion, Muhammad Ahmed Waheed, President, Islamabad Chamber of Commerce & Industry (ICCI) said that vast scope for bilateral cooperation in many fields existed between Pakistan and Poland that could be realized with more efforts from both sides. He said that both countries should encourage regular exchange of trade delegations to explore all untapped areas of mutual collaboration. He said that many Pakistani products were selling at higher price in Europe after getting third country label due to which Pakistan was losing real value of exports. He stressed that Polish investors should setup JVs in Pakistan in textile and other sectors that would enable Pakistan to realize actual value of its exports. Tahir Abbasi Senior Vice President, Saif ur Rahman Khan Vice President ICCI, Muhammad Shakeel Munir, Kashif Zaheer and others also spoke at the occasion and shared ideas for further increasing bilateral trade and economic relations between Pakistan and Poland.