(LANKAPUVATH | COLOMBO) – State Minister of Foreign Affairs Tharaka Balasuriya and Poland’s State Secretary Pawel Jabłoński co-chaired the Third Round of Bilateral Political Consultations in Warsaw on 14 June 2023. Both sides reaffirmed the commitment to further advance and consolidate the 66 year bilateral engagement.
Sri Lanka and Poland identified new avenues for increased institutional cooperation in the sectors relating to digital, agriculture, fisheries, pharmaceutical, shipping & ports, defence, tourism and cyber security. A combination of public-private and G2G partnerships was envisaged, in advancing results-oriented cooperation in the above areas.
As a new initiative, collaboration between the Colombo and Gdańsk/Gdynia Ports to streamline containerized cargo operations between Poland and Sri Lanka, was identified to generate and increase direct exports and imports.
State Minister Balasuriya and State Secretary Jabłoński also exchanged views on regional and international issues of mutual interest. Both parties recognized the importance of coordinating efforts in multilateral fora to promote shared interests and address common challenges.
During the visit, State Minister Balasuriya also met with Poland’s Secretary of State for Economic Development & Technology Grzegorz Piechowiak, and welcomed new initiatives to revitalize the bilateral economic portfolio. Recognizing the need to diversify the export baskets of both countries, and further catalyze bilateral trade and investment flows, focus was mainly on identifying and maximizing existing synergies with business-to-business contacts. State Minister Balasuriya invited Polish investors to avail of the investment opportunities in Sri Lanka’s agriculture, tourism, renewable energy, including green transportation, niche IT enabled services, pharmaceuticals and automobile component manufacture areas.
Given Poland’s increasing potential as a tourism source market, State Minister Balasuriya met with the Lot Polish Airlines senior officials to discuss travel to Sri Lanka for the upcoming winter season. Assurances were given by the Polish side that direct flights and cargo operations will commence during the winter season.
State Minister also met with the Sri Lanka community representatives and discussed their active participation in the economic recovery and reconciliation processes currently underway in Sri Lanka.
Sri Lanka’s Ambassador to Poland Dhammika Semasinghe and the officials of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Embassy along with Ambassador Barbara Szymanowska, Director of the Asia-Pacific Department and other senior officials from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Poland participated in the meetings.
