Building Bridges

Although Poland and Pakistan established diplomatic relations in 1962 but since 1948, Pakistan and Poland have shared deep-rooted political and business relations. Very few people are aware that one of our Air Commodore Mr Wladyslaw Turowicz was a Polish and together with 30 Polish high rank air force officers and technicians were helping Pakistan in constructing Pakistani Air Force. Also during the early days of shipping, we had several Captains and Chief Engineers from Poland.
In addition to the above, it is worthwhile to mention that both the nations shared a very close and cordial relationship with each other in the early days. Poland by force used to be a member of the Soviet Block, but Poland was an ardent supporter and a close ally of Pakistan amongst the Soviet Block countries.
Poland has always stood by Pakistan in good and bad times. Pakistan and Poland were active trading partners, especially in barter trade, till the downfall of communism. Pakistan mainly used to import chemicals, milk powder, paper and engineering goods such as tractors, etc from Poland. In return, Pakistan exported gray cloth, yarn and cotton products such as raw cotton jointly with Afghanistan.
One of the greatest examples of Pakistan and Poland's friendship is the fact that Polish flag vessels heartily participated in Pakistan's trade. It is not very long ago when 30% berth occupancy of Pakistani Ports was by Polish vessels.
In 1951, Polish Ocean Lines established their own office in Pakistan. During the early years the top management consisted of 2 to 3 personnel from Poland and 2 trainees were deputed at the Karachi Office.
There is no doubt that Polish Ocean Lines has contributed a lot in carrying import/export trade of Pakistan. During this period of time, our main trade was with Europe. With this aspect in mind, along with the port activity and past history, we need to develop such a platform between our countries that should help in consolidating and developing a solid and durable business relationship.
In my opinion, Poland can be used as an economically viable hub for Europe, Baltic and Russian Federation countries. Poland itself has a border along with excellent road connections to Germany, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Ukraine, Belarus, Russian Federation and Lithuania. Poland also has excellent connections by sea to all the Scandinavian countries and Baltic Republics such as Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Finland, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania.
Pakistan exporters can use Poland for Warehousing and Distribution for all the countries mentioned above as a most cost effective trade route in the whole of Europe. With this system, goods can be moved either by road or rail within one or two days, up to Mediterranean and to European region. Since last year, Poland has become an active member of European Community; thus, there are no border barriers or duties involved for trade transaction with any country in EEC block.
Polish government has developed Gdansk Port, as a fully containerised Port apart from break-bulk and conventional cargo. Ghdnia Port is already established and maintains full-containerised Port in Baltic.
My personal association with Poland is 20 years old, as around mid 80's, my firm Hussain Trading Agencies (Private) Limited got involved in carriage of break-bulk cargo from Pakistan to Europe on Polish Ocean Lines vessels. Due to this, I travelled very frequently to Poland which enabled me to explore and acquire good knowledge about this great country. During early 90's, my firm also got the distinction of becoming General Agents for Polish Ocean Lines in Pakistan.
As a result of my long association and my travelling to Poland, I have had a chance to visit almost all the main cities like Warsaw, Sopot, Gydnai, Gdansk, Lodz, Poznan and Krakow and learnt a great deal about their culture, economic and industrial activities. Needless to say, Poland has always had a very vast industrial base and since the end of communism there, country has witnessed tremendous growth which is further aided by the inclusion of Poland in EEC Block.
In my personal capacity, I would try my best to encourage and promote person to person and commercial interaction between our great countries. As with my experience and knowledge of Poland, I feel both countries can benefit greatly from each others strengths and infrastructure.
Polish Consulate in Karachi is doing the best to boost trade and economic relations between Poland and Pakistan and is always available to provide any assistance with regards to any commercial inquiry. It is imperative that our trade delegations visit Poland especially Warsaw, which is a capital and cosmopolitan city of Poland and Lodz, which is significant for textile industry as well as Pozanan, the centre of International Fairs where we can present Pakistani goods. For the future, we should develop such strategies that could jointly promote socio-economic development of both countries.
In the end I wish the Government and the People of Poland prosperity and a happy future.
(The writer is Managing Director, Hussain Trading Agencies (Pvt) Ltd)