Cooperation between Taiwan and Poland has grown in various directions, ranging from economics and technology to culture, Polish Representative to Taiwan Cyryl Kozaczewski said on Friday last week in his first interview with Taiwanese media since taking office in December 2021.
Relations between Taiwan and Poland are “growing” in a “multifaceted” manner, Kozaczewski said.
On the economic front, he said that he had seen growing interest on the part of Taiwanese partners to invest in Poland and expects to announce new projects early next year.
Photo: CNA
About 30 Taiwanese companies operate in Poland and some are seeking to expand their businesses in the central European nation, Kozaczewski said.
Poland is hoping to attract Taiwanese enterprises specializing in semiconductors, machinery and other advanced technologies, he said, adding that the nation, as a member of NATO, provides a secure investment environment.
Western Poland, bordering the eastern German state of Saxony where the world’s largest contract chipmaker Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co plans to build a new chip fab, could also be a potential destination for related suppliers, he said.
Poland, a member of the EU, is prepared to provide incentives, such as EU recovery and cohesion funds, to support foreign investors looking to establish a presence in the nation and expand into central Europe, he added.
Taiwanese businesses have invested more than US$25.8 million in Poland since the two sides signed an agreement in 2018 to promote two-way investment, representing an increase of 122.8 percent, government data in June showed.
Kozaczewski said his office is also working to attract more Polish entrepreneurs to Taiwan for scientific and technological collaboration.
Taiwan and Poland have since last year signed two memorandums of understanding to facilitate collaborations on research and development into semiconductors and hydrogen power.
Through these agreements, the two sides have established working groups to “streamline” communication between research institutes, he said, adding that he hopes such mechanisms can soon be expanded to include the business sector.
Kozaczewski said that his office does “not concentrate solely on economic development,” but is also seeking to expand exchanges with Taiwan in a range of spheres, including culture and tourism.
Poland in February was the “guest of honor” at the Taipei International Book Exhibition, which hosted more than a dozen events with Polish authors and illustrators.
That was a successful example of “introducing Poland to Taiwan,” he said.
Kozaczewski said that he would work to strengthen cultural connections between the two sides through the sister-city agreement inked between Taipei and Warsaw, without providing details.
Establishing direct flights between Taiwan and Poland would further promote “direct communication” between the two sides, he said, adding that such efforts would likely take “several years,” drawing on his past experience in pushing for direct flights between Tokyo and Warsaw in his previous capacity as Polish ambassador to Japan from 2012 to 2016.
‘DENIAL DEFENSE’: The US would increase its military presence with uncrewed ships, and submarines, while boosting defense in the Indo-Pacific, a Pete Hegseth memo said The US is reorienting its military strategy to focus primarily on deterring a potential Chinese invasion of Taiwan, a memo signed by US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth showed. The memo also called on Taiwan to increase its defense spending. The document, known as the “Interim National Defense Strategic Guidance,” was distributed this month and detailed the national defense plans of US President Donald Trump’s administration, an article in the Washington Post said on Saturday. It outlines how the US can prepare for a potential war with China and defend itself from threats in the “near abroad,” including Greenland and the Panama
A wild live dugong was found in Taiwan for the first time in 88 years, after it was accidentally caught by a fisher’s net on Tuesday in Yilan County’s Fenniaolin (粉鳥林). This is the first sighting of the species in Taiwan since 1937, having already been considered “extinct” in the country and considered as “vulnerable” by the International Union for Conservation of Nature. A fisher surnamed Chen (陳) went to Fenniaolin to collect the fish in his netting, but instead caught a 3m long, 500kg dugong. The fisher released the animal back into the wild, not realizing it was an endangered species at
The High Prosecutors’ Office yesterday withdrew an appeal against the acquittal of a former bank manager 22 years after his death, marking Taiwan’s first instance of prosecutors rendering posthumous justice to a wrongfully convicted defendant. Chu Ching-en (諸慶恩) — formerly a manager at the Taipei branch of BNP Paribas — was in 1999 accused by Weng Mao-chung (翁茂鍾), then-president of Chia Her Industrial Co, of forging a request for a fixed deposit of US$10 million by I-Hwa Industrial Co, a subsidiary of Chia Her, which was used as collateral. Chu was ruled not guilty in the first trial, but was found guilty
DEADLOCK: As the commission is unable to forum a quorum to review license renewal applications, the channel operators are not at fault and can air past their license date The National Communications Commission (NCC) yesterday said that the Public Television Service (PTS) and 36 other television and radio broadcasters could continue airing, despite the commission’s inability to meet a quorum to review their license renewal applications. The licenses of PTS and the other channels are set to expire between this month and June. The National Communications Commission Organization Act (國家通訊傳播委員會組織法) stipulates that the commission must meet the mandated quorum of four to hold a valid meeting. The seven-member commission currently has only three commissioners. “We have informed the channel operators of the progress we have made in reviewing their license renewal applications, and
RSS