Polish businesses set sights on Vietnam’s rising star

What have been the highlights of the Vietnamese-Polish relationship over the past 65 years?

Poland and Vietnam have many important co-operation sectors. In the 65 years of mutual friendship and co-operation, we have succeeded in fostering close relations between the two nations. It is really hard to pinpoint one particular highlight, but definitely we can name a few of the most important ones.

For instance, Poland is one of the most important trade partners of Vietnam in Europe. Our annual bilateral trade is over $1.3 billion and the figure is expected to continue growing. We are closely co-operating in the field of cultural heritage. Polish architects have provided valuable support for the restoration of many famous historical sites in Vietnam, including My Son, Hue, and Hoi An.

Our support in that area resulted in putting the Hoi An and the Hue citadels on UNESCO’s World Heritage List and boosting tourism in that region. More than 5,000 Vietnamese students graduated from Polish universities since the 1950s. Education is one of the best supports for Vietnam that Poland could give.

Currently, we are also offering scholarships in Poland and encouraging students from Vietnam to study in our country.

The recent and very important achievement we have reached in Vietnamese-Polish economic co-operation is the agreement between our phytosanitary services which allow Polish apples to enter the Vietnamese market. We have been working on this document for almost a year and finally it was signed on October 2 in Warsaw. We expect Polish apples to appear on the market before Christmas and – crucially – before the Tet holiday.

The two countries are boosting the establishment of an intergovernmental committee to help expand their investment and trade co-operation. How is this plan progressing?

The topic has been on the agenda for a few months already. We repeated our willingness to conclude the agreement to establish an intergovernmental committee during our vice minister of economy’s visit to Vietnam in April this year. The case is still pending consultation. We would like to use all possible means to strengthen bilateral trade and investment, regardless of the form of consultations and committees. Our governmental institutions and companies work together and reach agreements or gain contracts, like we have just observed in terms of our apples, or are still pending a memorandum of understanding between drug administrations.

How important is Vietnam’s market to Polish enterprises have?

Vietnam is one of the most important markets in Asia. Poland’s trade orientation is now focusing much more on Asia than it was before. It corresponds to the priorities which Poland’s Ministry of Economy has issued for the programme to promote Polish products exported to Asia. Vietnam and Indonesia are the only ASEAN markets which are on the list of our targets.

Because of that, we had a big business mission which came together with the vice minister of economy’s visit. The main sectors involved were agro-food and the mining industry. Two other sectors which are frequently present during business missions, fairs, and exhibitions are the cosmetics and pharmaceutical industries.

If we consider specific investments from the latest pending projects, I can mention a factory in Thanh Hoa province used by Poland’s biggest chemical group for the manufacture of pharmaceuticals. The other sectors in which Polish companies have invested are IT, manufacturing (textiles), and hospitality. I am aware that we are far from our full potential, and I hope that we will develop our investment co-operation significantly, especially after the European Union Free Trade Agreement (FTA) comes into effect.

How will this FTA impact the two countries’ bilateral investment and trade co-operation?

I believe the FTA will be beneficial for all stakeholders including Vietnam, Poland, and the whole European Union. Vietnam’s entrance into the World Trade Organization in 2007 has helped improve the country’s business climate, and thus has accelerated Vietnam’s co-operation with the EU. The FTA is the next step and it will play a crucial role in our economic co-operation.

I believe the FTA is a form of promotion for Vietnam among European citizens and companies. I hope the FTA will also open new opportunities for Polish investors, since the investment regulations have been quite restricted so far.

There are some areas where we expect improvement in trade co-operation, especially in the agro-food sector. Of course, we will have to compete with other EU members, but we believe that our chances are relatively high for several reasons.

Our companies are getting stronger, more creative, and innovative. At the same time, they are often more competitive from a financial point of view.

Last but not least – we have great support from the Vietnamese alumni of Polish universities. Many of them are successful business people and their sentiment to Poland helps us in terms of business contacts.