14 April 2014 - The Philippine Embassy in Warsaw conducted a trade, investment and tourism promotion seminar last April 09 in Katowice, Province of Silesia, to draw more participants to the Polish Economic/Business Mission to the Philippines slated for November of this year.

The Economic/Business Mission is being organized by the Embassy, together with the Polish Chamber of Commerce (PCC), the Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PCCI), the Philippine Economic Zone Authority (PEZA),  the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) and the Department of Foreign Affairs’ Office of the Undersecretary for International Economic Relations (DFA-OUIER).

The Seminar was hosted and organized by the Silesian Voivedeship Office in Katowice, which is the capital of the Silesian Voivodeship since its formation in 1999. Today, Katowice is “the 16th economically powerful city by GDP in the European Union, with an output amounting to US$ 114.5 billion.”

During his opening remarks, Deputy Governor Andrzej Pilot recalled how the project of sending a Polish Economic/Business Mission to the Philippines began. He said that Ambassador Patricia Ann V. Paez first visited the Silesian region in  April 2013 and that they met again during the “investment roadshow” of PEZA Director General (DG) Lilia de Lima in Warsaw last October 2013  which was a joint activity of the Embassy and the PCC. In her presentation then, DG De Lima stressed the need for Poland to send a Business Mission to the Philippines to which key PCC officials gave its commitment during a dinner-meeting with her and Ambassador Paez. In a separate lunch-meeting among DG De Lima, Ambassador Paez and Deputy Governor Pilot, the latter agreed to help in  the sending of Polish Economic/Business Mission to the Philippines by stirring up interest about it among the members of Katowice’s private sector. The seminar on April 09 was the outcome of his initiative.

Deputy Governor Pilot said that it is important to establish the “economic convergence” of Poland and the Philippines because, at present, the main channels of supplies of Polish goods in the Philippines are foreign companies and that economic contacts are rare between the two countries’ private sectors.

In her presentation, Ambassador Paez gave an overview of the Philippines, its strategic advantages, its global trade profile, the profile of bilateral trade between the Philippines and Poland, the Philippines’ key export sectors, and the trade opportunities for Polish products in the Philippines.

The video “It’s More Fun in the Philippines” was played during the seminar and its brochures, as well Philippine dried mangoes, were given to the guests. The CDs of the presentation of Ambassador Paez as well as that of DG De Lima, in both English and Polish versions, were likewise distributed to the seminar participants.

Ambassdor Paez enjoined the audience, composed of representatives from 31 companies, to participate in the Economic/Business Mission to the Philippines this November 2014.

PCC Director for International Relations Katarzyna Kaniewska discussed the main outlines of the Economic/Business Mission to the Philippines. She pointed out the need to establish trading cooperation with Filipino partners and cited the potentials for joint foreign investments or joint ventures between Poland and the Philippines. END