Poland sees considerable potential to strengthen cooperation with Taiwan, especially in the fields of trade and technology, Poland’s top envoy to Taiwan said.
“Taiwan is an attractive trade partner for Poland and, I believe, for other countries in central and eastern Europe,” Bartosz Rys, acting head of the Polish Office in Taipei, said in an interview with the Central News Agency.
Poland could be a great fit for Taiwanese companies looking to relocate their manufacturing or business operations to Europe due to its strategic location, good infrastructure, large domestic market, strong consumption and highly skilled workers, Rys said.
Photo courtesy of the Polish Office in Taipei via CNA
The potential for cooperation between Poland and Taiwan on electric vehicles (EV) could be particularly fruitful, he said.
“Poland is the biggest supplier of lithium-ion car batteries or their components in Europe. Overall, the prospects for cooperation between Polish and Taiwanese companies in the EV industry look very promising,” he said.
Rys also suggested that Taiwan could participate in the Three Seas Initiative and the Three Seas Initiative Investment Fund to strengthen its cooperation with nations bordering the Adriatic, Baltic and Black seas, in the development of infrastructure in the energy, transport and digital economy sectors.
The initiative is a forum of 12 EU states — Poland, Austria, Bulgaria, Croatia, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Romania, Slovakia and Slovenia.
The initiative welcomes nations and enterprises that share the same basic values and principles to participate in specific projects, Rys said.
The acting representative also sees potential for Polish products in the Taiwanese market, ranging from beverages to chocolates and cosmetics to ceramics.
“Taiwanese consumers have shown great interest in Polish products and we are also receiving more queries from Polish companies on doing business in Taiwan,” he said. “I hope this growing mutual interest will result in new trade opportunities and ultimately more Polish products being available in Taiwan.”
In the areas of education and people-to-people exchanges, Rys said that more than 1,000 Taiwanese students are enrolled at Polish universities.
In addition, as many as 1,000 Taiwanese doctors who graduated from Polish medical universities have been on the front line fighting the COVID-19 outbreak in Taiwan, he said.
Poles are also now more aware of Taiwan’s rich culture and beautiful landscapes than they were several years ago, when most primarily saw Taiwan as a manufacturer of computers and consumer electronics, he added.
Rys also announced that Poland would be the Guest of Honor at the Taipei International Book Exhibition in 2023.
“This will be a great opportunity to delve into Polish culture and literature, and hopefully meet Polish writers in person,” Rys said. “We also expect a high-level delegation from Poland at the opening ceremony.”
Rys said Poland’s donation of COVID-19 vaccine shots to Taiwan “reflects our solidarity and desire to help those in need.”
A shipment of 400,000 doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine donated by Poland arrived in Taiwan on Sept. 5, making the European nation Taiwan’s third-largest vaccine donor after Japan and the US.
“I personally hope our donation will help Taiwan speed up the vaccination rollout” and ensure more people are protected against COVID-19, he said.
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