Polish business tycoons to visit Pakistan

ISLAMABAD: With expectations of resolving concerns of existing players on account of clearing outstanding amounts of circular debt, Poland’s nine leading private sector companies will be visiting Pakistan next week to explore joint ventures in various fields.

Currently, the volume of bilateral trade is surplus in favour of Pakistan mainly because of GSP Plus due to which Pakistan’s exports to Poland were higher than imports. The total bilateral trade between the two countries stood at $922 million and is approaching $1 billion. Pakistan’s exports to Poland stood at around $666 million while imports hovered in the range of $150 million on an annual basis.

Talking to a select group of reporters in the Diplomatic Enclave on Thursday, Ambassador of Poland to Pakistan Maciej Pisarski said a business delegation will be visiting Karachi and Lahore from May 20 to May 24 to hold talks with their Pakistani counterparts, particularly members of the chambers of commerce and industries. They will be exploring joint opportunities in green technologies, renewables, energy savings, water, waste management, air, green building and smart cities.

Dwelling upon various challenges being faced by the companies here in Pakistan, the Polish ambassador said that Polish companies were already working in Pakistan in the oil and gas sector. He said they were in contact with Pakistani officials and were quite confident that an enabling environment would be provided to boost bilateral trade and investment opportunities. He said that SIFC was working to improve the investment climate.

It would be premature to raise expectations that Polish companies might be interested in SEZs being established under CPEC.

He said that one company has been working in Pakistan for the last two decades but is facing problems related to the repatriation of profit and recovery of outstanding dues because of the circular debt. However, the ambassador expressed the hope that the issue will be resolved as the embassy is in talks with the authorities to address the issue. He added that the issue was also discussed with the previous PDM government as well as the caretaker government. To a question, he said that agriculture is a very important sector and Poland is a major exporter of agricultural products in the EU. He added that Pakistan can benefit from the expertise of Polish companies working in the agriculture sector in the shape of transfer of technology. The business delegation will comprise nine leading Polish companies seeking first-hand information about the available investment opportunities in their respective sectors of expertise.