Sri Lanka-Poland Biz Council to boost bilateral ties

The Sri Lanka-Poland Business Council (SLPBC) has made significant progress this year, not only in terms of business awareness amongst the business community, but also strengthened relationships with the Polish Embassy in New Delhi and Sri Lanka’s Embassy in Poland.

Even though there was no exchange of business delegations between the two countries, total exports from Sri Lanka to Poland increased from $ 25.7 million to $ 39.9 million during 2011, thus resulting in a positive contribution to the balance of trade in favour of Sri Lanka.

Total imports from Poland to Sri Lanka have shown an increase from $ 9.6 million to $ 11.1 million during 2011, although it is important to note that in 2011 tourist arrivals decreased marginally.

Poland is among the world leaders in the production of many industrial goods. It belongs to the world’s top 10 producers of refined copper, nitrogenous and phosphate fertilisers, sulphur, hard coal, and brown coal.

The main focus of the SLPBC is to grow business potential between the two countries and to promote members’ business interests and strengthen the financial position of the council through various revenue generating initiatives to boost bilateral trade and investment.

“We understand that discussions have identified great potential for us to transfer technology and intelligence sharing which would benefit both countries” said SLPBC President Kumara Semage.

Unfortunately, the council noted that there were no inward trade delegations from Poland to Sri Lanka during the period under review. The year ahead will see a delegation from Sri Lanka visiting Poland in the summer.

The road ahead is an exciting one with the Government of Sri Lanka looking to further strengthen their relationship with Poland. This was evident with the recent visit to Poland by Secretary to the Ministry of Defence Gotabaya Rajapaksa.