Leszek Brenda, Consul General of the Republic of Poland said his country is keenly watching developments in India. They are highly encouraged with recent investment announcements and plans of both the Central and Maharashtra government as they are eager with the prospective infra-structure projects, smart cities and industrial corridors. Addressing an interactive meeting on ‘Doing Business in Poland – Discover Easter Poland’, Brenda expressed hope that Poland would find its rightful place in some of these projects. India and Poland can work together and as a first step, both countries must begin the process of understanding each other’s markets. Indian companies can choose Poland as an investment destination because of its strategic location, political and economic stability, availability of skilled human resources and encouraging policy support including EU funding. This investment dialogue was organized by World Trade Center Mumbai, All India Association of Industries, Polish Information and Foreign Investment Agency and Indo-Polish Chamber of Commerce on April 27th, 2015, at the World Trade Center Mumbai.

Mr. Y. R. Warerkar, Executive Director, MVIRDC World Trade Center Mumbai, Mr. Leszek Brenda, Consul General of the Republic of Poland to Mumbai and Mr. Arkadiusz Tarnowski, Deputy Director for the Bureau for Eastern Poland Economic Promotion Program, Polish Information and Foreign investment Agency

Deliberating on the investment climate in Eastern Poland, Arkadiusz Tarnowski, Deputy Director for the Bureau for Eastern Poland Economic Promotion Program, Polish Information and Foreign investment Agency, highlighted the priority sectors namely luxury cars, yacht, aviation, medical equipments, furniture, timber, IT, bio-economy, food processing, aviation, automation, metallurgy, construction, plastics processing and others. Poland, the fastest developing country in Europe, has a very young and highly skilled population. He mentioned that Poland has remained free from the economic crisis largely due to its strong 40 million internal consumer market. The region is one of largest hubs of BPO services and enjoys the 13th rank as the most attractive FDI destination. A series of presentations highlighted the regions of Eastern Poland namely Lubelskie, Podkarpackie, Bialystok, Swietokarzyskie and Olsztyn showcasing their investment potential. Earlier in his welcome address, Y.R. Warerkar, Executive Director, MVIRDC World Trade Center Mumbai said that the year 2014 marked the sixtieth year of the establishment of Diplomatic relations between India and Poland. This historic event was commemorated with a series of activities reflecting the strong economic, political and cultural ties existing between both countries. Bilateral trade between both countries reached nearly $2 billion during the first 10 months of 2014. Indian investments in Poland total over $3 billion. Many prestigious Indian companies have presence in Poland, like Reliance Industries, Arcelor Mittal, Escorts, Infosys, etc. While many large companies have established their presence in both countries, he hoped that there would be greater cooperation among firms in the SME sector. Queenie Nair, Director, All India Association of Industries, proposed the vote of thanks.