Opening speech of the Consulate General of the Republic of Poland in Guangzhou

“Dear Excellencies, honorable hosts and participants of 2020 Guangzhou International Imported Food & Agricultural Products Exhibition,

Ladies and Gentlemen,

It is my great honour and pleasure to represent the Consulate General of the Republic of Poland in Guangzhou at this esteemed event. Poland considers food industry as one of the major platforms of cooperation with China and we deeply believe that moments like this bring our countries closer with bilateral relations.

This year is a very special, unusual year. Almost every country in the world is facing huge difficulties resulting from pandemic. In the first half of the year many events around the world have been postponed or cancelled. Unprecedented travel restrictions on international borders have been implemented. This all negatively affected business activities in many countries. But we must not give up. We have to stand side by side to fight the pandemic and to revive the economies of our countries. For sake of our future common prosperity and cooperation.

Honourable Hosts, Ladies and Gentlemen!

Dear Friends!

We meet today at Guangzhou International Imported Food & Agricultural Products Exhibition. It is a proof, that things gradually come back to normal. I am convinced, that we will meet again after pandemic during next year’s edition of this exhibition. I wish all participants a very fruitful event.

Thank you.”

Mr. Krol Peczak Vice Consul

Polish booth

Promotion of economic cooperation between Poland and China is one of the main tasks of the Consulate General of the Republic of Poland in Guangzhou. We are like a bridge between Polish and Chinese companies looking for opportunities for mutual cooperation. We are monitoring market trends and follow the interesting events here in Guangdong and other provinces in our range of activities. We encourage Polish and Chinese companies to study each other, to get to know each other and to cooperate in various business areas.

1.       The trade between China and Poland? Trends?

Trade volume between China and Poland exceeds EUR 30 bln, but just EUR 2,6 bln accounts for export from Poland to China. As far as food industry exports is concerned it amounts to EUR 207 mln, so we see a huge potential in bilateral trade in this area.

2.       Why China should buy from Poland?

There are several hot items we already sell to China such as: milk, whey or beer. However I must admit, that we are good in many, many more areas, such as dairy products, including cheese, confectionary products, meat products, fruit and vegetable preserves, beverages, including juices and mineral water, alcohol products, such as vodka, meads, etc. Our food industry products are well recognized in Western European countries for their great taste and in many cases natural methods of production. This gives our products a great advantage. And at the same time our food is generally cheaper than the food from Western countries. Chinese customers should have bigger choice which cheese, chocolate, cereals or juice they want. And I am convinced that many of them would choose tastes from Poland.

3.       Future expectations?

Purchasing Power Parity Gross Domestic Product (PPP GDP) of Poland is around half of the PPP GDP of Guangdong province, which means that the GDP of Poland is somewhere between GDP of Sichuan and Henan. In these terms Guangdong is bigger than Mexico or Italy. In terms of population Guangdong province, with 111 mln citizens, is bigger than Philippines. Poland, with 38 mln, is a little bit more populated than Shaanxi province. Nevertheless there is a huge potential of cooperation between Poland and China in food industry and this exhibition is a great chance to show that. We hope for more companies from both sides involved in mutual exchange in this field. The most important is to get to know each other, that is why we opt for organizing more and more business missions from Poland to China and from China to Poland.