Launch of direct flight service from Mumbai will boost bilateral ties, says Mr. Irzyk
Poland can partner with India in mining, food processing and digital technologies
“Poland established its consulate office in Mumbai as early as 1933, envisioning a promising outlook for India-Poland business relation. The Polish consulate office in Mumbai is working with All India Association of Industries (AIAI) and WTC Mumbai for the last two decades. Maharashtra, which is as large as Poland has huge potential for trade and investment with Poland. In recent years, there has been tremendous growth in visa applications from Indians to visit Poland, which reflects increasing partnership in trade, tourism, film production, services, education and other areas of cooperation. Already, Poland is one of the preferred destinations of Bollywood for film production. The launch of the direct flight service by Polish Airline LOT between Warsaw and Mumbai in May 2022 has given renewed momentum to people to people ties,” said Mr. Damian Irzyk, Consul General, Consulate General of Poland in Mumbai at an interactive meeting on ‘Trade Opportunities between India and Poland’. The event was jointly
organized by All India Association of Industries (AIAI) and WTC Mumbai.
The Consul General suggested the members of the business delegation to consider business opportunities in Maharashtra, which is as a large as Poland in geographical size. He also pointed to the strong bilateral ties in service sector, especially in software and business process outsourcing services.
Mr. Irzyk expressed satisfaction about the growing commercial ties between both the countries in mining and emerging technology areas. He said, “Poland is closely working with West Bengal in the area of coal mining technology. Indian IT companies such as TCS and Infosys are partnering with Poland in emerging sectors such as artificial intelligence, Research and Development. I am confident that commercial relation will grow further with the launch of direct flight service from Mumbai.”
Earlier in his welcome remarks, Dr. Vijay Kalantri, President, All India Association of Industries (AIAI) and Chairman – MVIRDC World Trade Center Mumbai pointed out, “AIAI and WTC Mumbai were the first to lead one of the biggest trade delegation of 178 members to Poland in
2005. Around 100 Indian companies participated in the delegation and we also conducted exhibition, which was one of the biggest trade fairs by a foreign country in Poland. Of these 100 companies, 11 firms established commercial presence in Poland. Today, there are 11 Indian IT companies having operation in Poland and of them three were part of our delegation. AIAI was instrumental in establishing Indo-Polish Chamber of Commerce in 2001, which led to remarkable growth in bilateral trade and investment. Bilateral trade has grown from a mere USD 1.5 billion in 2010 to more than USD 4.5 billion last year.”
Dr. Kalantri raised hope that the current trade volume can be doubled in the next few years if we exchange business delegation regularly. Highlighting other areas of collaboration, Dr. Kalantri mentioned, “Food processing, mining technologies, digital technology and defence manufacturing are other areas of collaboration in the industrial sectors. Recently, Government of India has auctioned several coal blocks for mining, which presents huge opportunity for Polish companies to partner with Indian miners on mining technology. Apart from this, both the countries need to strengthen ties in cultural exchange, tourism and film production. One of the symbols of our cultural ties is the statute of Dr Harivansh Rai Bachchan, Amitabh Bachchan’s father, in the historical city of Wroclaw in Poland.”
During the event, Mr. Yogesh Joshi, Consultant, Tata Group made a presentation about the history of, Tata Group, which is one of India’s oldest Corporate Houses.
The event was also addressed by Ms. Iwona Jabrzyk, Uczelnia ASBIRO, which is a private university established in Poland 20 years ago by entrepreneurs for entrepreneurs. All the members of the faculty of this University are entrepreneurs or business practitioners. Ms. Jabrzyk led a 33-member business delegation to India and the members of the delegation represent IT, software services, road signage devices, infrastructure, medical devices (including radiology equipments), online education, automobiles, consumer products, amber products and other sectors.
In her remarks, Ms. Rupa Naik, Executive Director, MVIRDC WTC Mumbai suggested that WTC Mumbai can collaborate in the area of entrepreneurship and skill development with Uczelnia ASBIRO, the private business University of Poland for Entrepreneurs.
The event was followed by B2B networking session between the members of the Polish trade elegation and Indian delegates.
Mr. Damian Irzyk, Consul General, Consulate General of Poland in Mumbai (right) being felicitated by Dr. Vijay Kalantri, President, All India Association of Industries (AIAI) and Chairman – MVIRDC World Trade Center Mumbai at the interactive meeting on ‘Trade Opportunities between India and Poland’ held at WTC Mumbai
(From left to right) Ms. Rupa Naik, Executive Director, MVIRDC WTC Mumbai, Ms. Iwona Jabrzyk, Uczelnia ASBIRO, Dr. Vijay Kalantri, President, All India Association of Industries (AIAI) and Chairman – MVIRDC World Trade Center Mumbai, Mr. Damian Irzyk, Consul General, Consulate General of Poland in Mumbai, Mr. Yogesh Joshi, Consultant, Tata Group