Pretoria - South Africa has acknowledged the importance of Poland not only as a trading partner in Europe but as a crucial market for South Africa’s tourism industry.
Deputy President Kgalema Motlanthe, who held discussions with visiting Polish Prime Minister Donald Franciszek Tusk in Pretoria on Thursday, said South Africa regarded Poland as a key player in Pretoria’s on-going bid to attract more foreign investors from the European market.
Polish-SA relations have entered a new phase since the fall of apartheid in South Africa. Poland is regarded as one of the countries in central Europe with great strategic importance to SA. Poland is not only one of the strongest role players in the political and economic arenas in central Europe, but also an emerging power in the European Union.
The two told reporters at a joint press conference that the discussions on Thursday covered a range of issues. This included transport, agriculture, rural development, energy and telecommunications.
“What was most pleasing about the discussions is that we were able to share similarities between the two countries and discussed cooperation in our areas of strength.
“We’ve also looked into maritime, in terms of exchanging skills in ship building and we agreed to cooperate in all of these areas,” Motlanthe said.
The sentiment was echoed by Franciszek Tusk ,who said South Africa remained a model for the world in terms of transformation of its society and economic progress. Speaking through an interpreter, Franciszek Tusk suggested that Poland and South Africa were somehow connected by history.
“The large community of Poland in South Africa is proof of our historic similarities, common political interest and the ties we have always shared with this country,” he said.
Trade between Poland, SA
Trade between South Africa and Poland grew from R2.6 billion in 2006 to R6.3 billion in 2012.
Imports from Poland increased from R1.3 billion in 2006 to R4.6 billion in 2012. South African companies have shown considerable interest in the Polish economy, with significant investments in Poland’s beverages, paper, furniture, manufacturing/retail and distribution sectors, including media and communications, amongst others.
A number of Polish companies are investing and exploring investment opportunities in the aviation, cosmetics, glassware, hospitality, heavy industrial equipment, mining and pharmaceutical sectors.
But at least one minister believes the numbers could be increased tremendously, considering Poland’s solid economic position in Europe.
“There is still more we can do to promote trade. From our point of view, our interest is promoting more South African exports to Poland,” said Trade and Industry Minister Dr Rob Davies.
He told SAnews that South Africa has not been particularly impressed with the fact that trade with Poland has not only been volatile recently but that there was an imbalance which favoured Poland.
“One of the issues and challenges that we face is establishing proper transport logistics and proper shipping line connections because at the moment, too many of our products are dependent on middlemen in other countries.
“We think that also business-to-business contacts are very important. So this agreement that we have sighed today gives us an institutional structured way of enhancing our cooperation,” Davies said.
He said two other agreements will be signed between the investment promotion and development finance institutions from both countries to build stronger trade and investment cooperation.
The Prime Minister is due to pay a courtesy call to President Jacob Zuma later in the afternoon before he joins a Poland-South Africa Business forum gathering in Midrand, north of Johannesburg. – SAnews.gov.za
