Poland in India

Historical view

Between 1935-1945 the Honorary Consulate of the Republic of Poland ran its activities in Colombo, then the Honorary Consulate of the Republic of Poland, subject to the General Consulate of the Republic of Poland in Mumbai. Poland and Sri Lanka established official diplomatic relations on 18 April 1957 at the embassy level. However, at present there is no Polish diplomatic mission resident in Sri Lanka, the Ambassador of Poland in India, based in New Delhi, is accredited to Sri Lanka. Between 1958-1993, the activities of the Polish Embassy in Colombo were run by chargé d'affaires a.i. The mission was financed by the Ministry of Economy and suspended in September 1993. Betwwen 1959-1991, Sri Lankan ambassador in the USSR, with residence in Moscow, was accredited to Poland, and between 1997-1998 Sri Lankan ambassador in West Germany, based in Bonn. In July 1999, the Sri Lanka Embassy in Warsaw was opened. Since June 1995, the Consulate General of the Republic of Poland has been operating in Colombo, headed by the Honorary Consul General. Between 1997-2002, the General Consulate of Sri Lanka was in Warsaw, headed by the Honorary Consul General. In June 2002, the Sri Lankan Consulate was established in Gliwice, headed by an honorary consul who started his activity in November 2002.

Political cooperation after 1989

Bilateral visits: in Sri Lanka: 2015 Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs, L. Soczewica; 2012 Deputy Minister of Foreig Affairs J. Pomianowski; 2005 Prime Minister M. Belka; 1999 President A. Kwaśniewski; in Poland: 2019 Deputy Minister of Strategy for Development and Industry S.T. Kodikara; 2018 Minister of Plantation Navin Dissanayake; 2018 Minister of State in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Vasantha Senanayake; 2016 Minister for extraordinary tasks Sarath Amunugama; 2011 Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs, Neomal Perera

1)Bilateral economic cooperation: Economic relations between Poland and Sri Lanka were established before the establishment of formal diplomatic relations. Bilateral economic cooperation was governed by a free-trade commercial agreement of 1974, a double taxation treaty of 1980, a civil aviation contract of 1982 and a cooperation agreement in the field of maritime transport from 1986. In 1956, the Polish PLO acquired a 20% stake in the brokerage firm “Ceylon Ocean Lines Ltd.”, which it continues to hold today. 

2)Economic bilateral agreements: The following agreements apply between Sri Lanka and Poland: Trade and navigational treaty between the Republic of Poland and the United Kingdom of November 26, 1923;  Agreement on economic cooperation between the Government of the Polish People's Republic and the Government of Ceylon of April 24, 1963;  Agreement between the Government of the Polish People's Republic and the Government of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka on the avoidance of double taxation and prevention of tax evasion with respect to taxes on income and property of April 25, 1980.  

3) Foreign trade: In 2016, Poland's trade with Sri Lanka amounted to USD 124 million, signifying an increase of as much as 39% from 2015. Exports from Poland amounted to USD 30.2 million, and imports to USD 93.7 million (indicating increases by 66% and 32% year-on-year respectively). In mutual trade, the deficit on the Polish side remains, its level in 2016 amounted to USD 63.5 million. In 2016, paper and cardboard with a value of USD 5.78 million had the largest share among exported goods; sugar valued at USD 5.47 million; bulldozers, graders, excavators, road rollers valued at USD 3.2 million; and gas engines and turbines valued at USD 2.2 million. Imports, similarly to previous years, were dominated by materials and textiles worth USD 46.4 million; tea worth USD 15.5 million; as well as plastics and rubber products worth USD 11 million. In the first half of 2017, Polish exports to Sri Lanka increased by 32% compared to the same period in 2016 and amounted to USD 14.9 million. The most important item of export was sugar and confectionery products valued at USD 5.66 million. Imports from Sri Lanka increased in the same approach by 10% to USD 52.63 million, the most important item was taken by textiles worth USD 26.2 million.

4) Investments: The data of the National Bank of Poland do not show that companies registered in Sri Lanka have made direct investments in Poland. The value of Polish direct investments in Sri Lanka in 2015 was USD 0.2 million. 

5) Regional cooperation: Due to the large geographic distance and low intensity of economic contacts, regional economic cooperation is not developed. 

6) Cooperation of self-regulatory organizations: Since 1999, the Ceylon Chamber of Commerce operates the Sri Lanka Poland Business Council in Colombo.  

Links
Ministry of Finance and Planning:
Ministry of Industry and Commerce
Ministry of Agriculture
Ministry of Co-peratives and Internal Trade
Board of Investment of Sri Lanka (BOI)
The Ceylon Chamber of Commerce
International Chamber of Commerce of Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka Business News
Daily FT
Daily News
Lanka Business on-line

The Embassy of the Republic of Poland in New Delhi supports cooperation in the field of culture by organizing events, study visits and supporting joint projects between the two countries.