Poland’s former President Lech Walesa, left, seen with Dr. Fahad Al-Sultan.

RIYADH, 22 March 2005 — With the balance of trade tilted heavily in favor of Poland, Saudi Arabia has decided to activate the Saudi-Polish Business Council and take other export promotion measures once the council is up and running.

This was one of the action programs formulated at a meeting that Poland’s former President Lech Walesa had yesterday with senior officials of the Council of Saudi Chambers of Commerce and Industry.

Besides Walesa, Poland’s Ambassador Adam Kulach, embassy officials and representatives of the Polish media were also present. The Saudi side was represented by Dr. Fahad Al-Sultan, secretary general of the Council of Saudi Chambers of Commerce and Industry, Hussein Al-Athel, secretary general of the Riyadh Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Khaled M. Al-Otaibi, assistant secretary general for foreign affairs, and some Saudi businessmen.

Speaking on the occasion, the former Polish president described it as a ground-breaking meeting that could pave the way for a greater momentum in Saudi-Polish relations. He said the potential for expanding their bilateral ties was huge, since Poland had come a long way during the last 15 years since the break-up of the Soviet Union and its emergence as a free-wheeling economy within the European Union, of which it is a member. Any investment in Poland, therefore, yields the benefit of a 200 million-strong market.

Walesa said there was an immense scope for setting up joint ventures and facilitating technology transfer. The Kingdom could utilize Polish expertise for its human resources and economic development programs. The frontiers of trade and commerce could also expand. However, commercial relations should not be stripped of their moral content as was witnessed at the international level. “We may profess different faiths. But our ethical values are the same,” he observed.

In his welcome address, Dr. Al-Sultan traced the evolution of Saudi-Polish ties since the time of King Abdul Aziz. Since then their relations have developed steadily over the decades leading to shared perceptions on the question of the Middle East and other international issues. “However, the strength of our political relations is not reflected in our economic ties that are marked by trade imbalance, with the balance of trade in favor of Poland.”

Khalid Al-Otaibi provided an overview of the Saudi economy underlining its strength and the directions of growth. Both the secretary general and Al-Otaibi referred to the trade imbalance between the two countries. According to the Saudis, the Kingdom’s exports to Poland stood at SR23 million in 2003, while its imports from that country were valued at SR351 million.

Updating these figures, Ambassador Kulach put the bilateral trade at $170 million (SR837.5 million) last year. Poland’s exports to Saudi Arabia were worth $100 million (SR375 million), while its imports from the Kingdom were to the tune of $70 million (SR262 million).

Speaking to Arab News, Al-Otaibi said the first step toward redressing the trade imbalance was to activate the Saudi-Polish Business Council. Though constituted under a Memorandum of Understanding signed between the two countries last year, the immediate task was to line up members on both sides, so that they could review the bilateral relations and identify economic opportunities on both sides.

The official said the Kingdom had embarked on an ambitious expansion program which required over $600 billion in long-term investments in water, power generation, human resources development, oil and gas, tourism, telecommunications and other sectors.

Asked about the impact of escalating oil prices on Saudi non-oil exports, Al-Otaibi said they posted a 23 percent increase last year to reach the current figure of SR45 billion, or 11 percent of total Saudi exports. “Once the business council starts functioning, we could organize a businessmen’s delegation to visit Poland, conduct a market study, or participate in exhibitions there,” he added.