Poland seeks 'closer cooperation' with Kingdom

By Jakob Jessen

AMMAN - Krzysztof Bojko, head of mission at the Republic of Poland’s embassy in Amman, said he wants to use his country’s EU membership as an “opportunity” to “make Polish-Jordanian cooperation closer”, noting that Jordan could use “many of our experiences... for its benefit”.

“We Poles are very happy” about the “excellent” relations between Jordan and the EU,” which Poland became a full member of in 2004, he told The Jordan Times in a recent interview.

Bojko noted that a conference last week, where a delegation of Polish diplomats and scholars met with Jordanian counterparts to discuss further cooperation between the EU, Poland and Jordan, was the first step towards strengthening bilateral economic, educational and cultural ties.

Last Wednesday’s conference titled, “Poland. Jordan. European Union: Future Aspects”, covered a broad range of aspects such as intercultural communication, aviation technology, the potential for enhanced trade and lessons Jordan can learn from the modern history of Poland.

“There is a lack of information in Poland about Jordan and in Jordan about Poland. So, inviting good panelists from Poland to speak about Poland, you could show to the Jordanian people that Poland is a country of very great potential,” the diplomat said.

Bojko added that only when “you learn more about the other country” is it possible “to make the economic exchange between the countries higher”.

In his address at the conference, Artur Dabkowski, who heads the office dealing with non-EU countries at the Polish ministry of economy, presented recent figures on trade between Poland and the Kingdom.

In 2008, bilateral trade amounted to $95.71 million, while in 2009 the figure was $27.69 million, which Bojko described as “not a satisfactory level”.

The conference, however, did not only touch upon matters of economic and diplomatic cooperation. Several speakers, Jordanian and Polish alike, emphasised the lessons to be learned from the reforms Poland has undergone since the collapse of communism in Eastern Europe.

Following World War II, Poland was ruled by the pro-Moscow Communist Party, but since the peaceful revolution in 1989 that ousted the Communist regime and put in place liberal democracy, Poland has undergone a sweeping political and economic transition and in 2009 it enjoyed the highest GDP growth among all EU states.

Bojko also pointed to the obstacles on the road towards enhancing the level of economic, political and cultural exchange.

“One of the obstacles in this cooperation is the lack of... Jordanian representation in Warsaw. So I try to let Jordanian officials understand that it is a very good idea to open an embassy in Warsaw,” he said adding that the absence of direct flights between Amman and Warsaw was another obstacle.

The Kingdom recently obtained so-called “advanced status” relationship with the EU giving the country “new opportunities in economic and trade relations”, according to the EU communications department.

19 December 2010

Source: The Jordan Times.
Link: http://jordantimes.com/?news=32733.