Trade between Poland and the UAE has increased more than 13 per cent, from $400 million in 2011 to $453 million in 2012, the Polish Information and Foreign Investment Agency (PAlilZ) said ahead of a major investment congress in Dubai.

In order to capitalise on the robust trade and investment relations, a delegation from the Eastern Poland Macroregion will take part in the Annual Investment Meeting (AIM), an initiative from the UAE Ministry of Foreign Trade, running from April 30 to May 2 at Dubai International Convention and Exhibition Centre.

Last year, Poland imported goods worth $88 million from the UAE while it exported products worth $365 million, PAlilZ stated.

Key exports included metallurgic, ceramic and chemical products, machines and mechanical devices, and food products.

“Poland has always enjoyed friendly trade and investment relations with the UAE. We are happy to participate  in the AIM, which provides the perfect platform to establish new contacts and present the opportunities we have in Poland to potential investors in this region,” said Bozena Czaja, deputy president of PAIiIZ.

Czaja said the participation of Poland in this year’s AIM is part of its efforts to take forward the cooperation process with the UAE under the Eastern Poland Economic Promotion Programme. In this regard, Czaja pointed out that PAIiIZ has been actively participating in other trade and investment events in the UAE, such as Gulfood in Dubai and SIAL in Abu Dhabi for the last three years.

“At the same time, the Macroregion holds immense potential as an attractive investment destination. Business and local government representatives from Eastern Poland are keen to utilise the event to introduce their new products to this market and attract new investments,” said Czaja.

The delegation aims to utilise the AIM platform to highlight the region’s major assets, including its location, special economic zones and industrial parks as well as pure green-fields.

The region also has access to EU funds, and has educated citizens, cheap labour, natural resources, natural health centres and spas, and favourable conditions for developing tourism and agro-tourism, Czaja said.

“The UAE is a major customer for luxury goods manufactured in the eastern part of our country. Luxury yachts manufactured in Podlasie and Warmia and Mazury as well as Leopard cars produced in Mielec are particularly popular,” said Agnieszka Lukaszewska-Wojnarowska, director of the Regional Development Department of PAIiIZ.

“Poland is also a popular destination for citizens of the UAE looking for health as well as recreational tourism. Realising this huge potential, we have a large representation at the AIM from the hotel and luxury goods industries,” added Lukaszewska-Wojnarowska.

The Polish pavilion at the AIM will have representations from various key industries, including food, luxury goods and yachts as well as hotel industry.

This is the third time that representatives of companies and local government units from Eastern Poland are participating in the AIM, under the Eastern Poland Economic Promotion Programme of PAlilZ. The delegation will also utilize the event to meet key trade and investment entities in the UAE such as Hamriyah Free Zone Sharjah and the Ras Al Khaimah Investment Authority (RAKIA).

Since 2011, with the help of PAIiIZ, representatives of the Macroregion’s business and local government participated in eight important economic events organised in the UAE. As many as 76 businessmen and 19 government representatives took part in two trade fairs, two investment missions and four economic missions.

During this period, as many as 10 contracts worth 2,492,000 Polish zloty ($780,653) were signed while Macroregion’s companies saw production and the exports growing by 30 per cent, and the sales by 14 per cent.

The friendly relations between the two countries has been further consolidated through the annual UAE-Poland Business Forum which has become a major initiative in identifying new areas for cooperation as well as to expand existing trade and investment partnerships. – TradeArabia News Service