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Representatives of the Polish delegation who arrived in Armenia to participate in the Armenia-Poland Business Forum have positive expectations regarding strengthening business ties with Armenian business circles and conducting business activities in the Armenian market.
Łukasz Januszewski, Vice President of the Management Board of Polish bank Pekao, told Armenpress that there is very good chemistry between Armenian and Polish businesspeople as they try to identify areas where they can engage in business activities together.
At the same time, he emphasized that it is very important for the governments of the two countries to also support this process.
“It is also important for our bank to support our clients who want to expand their activities outside Poland, which is why we are here. We are trying to find ways with Armenian banks to see how we can support our clients in starting business activities in Armenia,” Januszewski said.
Asked what expectations he has from the Armenia-Poland Business Forum being held in Yerevan, Januszewski emphasized that he expects effective contacts to be established both between businesspeople and between banks of the two countries.
Klaudia Baszniak-Kozlowska, Deputy Director of Foreign Assets Business Development at mining company KGHM, told Armenpress that the business forum opens up new opportunities for them.
“I am grateful that we have been invited to this event. We feel that this is the first but very important step toward laying the foundation for future cooperation between our company and the Armenian side. Such meetings show the bridges between countries, and we truly see that Armenians want to work with us. We decided to give this cooperation a chance,” she said.
In her assessment, the Yerevan forum could be the first step toward starting cooperation with Armenia in the mining sector.
“Being here opens doors for discussions. We still don’t know how rich Armenia’s geological potential is, but we have high expectations. That is why we came, and I think that any major cooperation starts this way. So, this is the first step. I think this is a very important step toward getting to know each other and starting discussions that will lead us toward potential future cooperation,” Klaudia Baszniak-Kozlowska said.
Maciej Legutko, Director of International Cooperation at Employers of Poland association, also noted that they truly appreciate the fact that the Armenian side has prepared a very interesting program for the visit of the Polish delegation, especially the B2B meetings.
“As a business association, our role was to bring companies together and encourage them to visit Armenia. Here we see that every company from every sector can meet its partners during the B2B sessions. The synergy between policy and business is also important to us, because today our business delegation arrived in Armenia with the support of Secretary of State Marcin Bosacki at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Poland. Thus, we believe that the business mission, with strong political support, will lead to effective contacts. I expect the B2B meetings to lead to effective contacts in the future, as a result of which, I hope, Polish companies will enter the Armenian market. But not only that, I hope that as a result, opportunities will also open up for Armenian companies to enter the Polish market, which is a very important part of the European Union market,” Legutko concluded.
The Armenia-Poland Business Forum kicked off at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Trade of Armenia on September 9. The forum participants were welcomed by Vahan Kostanyan, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Trade of Armenia; Arman Khojoyan, Deputy Minister of Economy of Armenia; and Secretary of State Marcin Bosacki at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Poland, after which B2B meetings were held between Armenian and Polish business delegations.