The Minister for Plantation Industries, Navin Dissanayake, visited Poland from September 11th to 13th, 2018. The purpose of the visit was to explore new methods and means to promote the Ceylon Tea Market share in Poland and to strengthen economic relations between the two countries.
During the visit, Minister Dissanayake met with Mr. P. Gizynski, State Minister of Agriculture, with the aim to intensify cooperation in the agriculture sector between the two countries. They had detailed discussions on a range of issues, including ratcheting up the level of trade with agri-food products, signing a MOU for the field of agriculture, improving scientific and technological cooperation in agriculture, assisting in water management technology in Sri Lanka, and supporting specialized potato farms in Sri Lanka.
The Minister also had a productive meeting with Mr. Marcin Ociepa, Deputy Minister of Entrepreneurship & Technology, to explore the possibility of developing trade and technology services to benefit both Poland and Sri Lanka. The discussions focused on expanding cooperation in the sectors of rural development, agriculture, tourism, education, and water management, technical assistance for boat manufacturing, exchanging trade delegations, and opening of the Polish Trade Agency in Colombo.
In addition, the Minister met with a leading Polish investor, Mr. Andrzei Zarajczyk, Chairman of URSUS, a manufacturer of tractors, agriculture machinery and buses in Poland who played a crucial role in the development of agriculture in Poland and other countries in the twentieth century. At the meeting, Chairman Mr. Zarajczyk stated that he is willing to start detailed discussions on the implementation of either an Agriculture Mechanization Project (tractors), or an environmentally friendly Public Transportation Project (electric buses) or possibly both projects in order to provide Sri Lanka with modern solutions in the agriculture and public transportation sectors. Both parties agreed to consider different and flexible methods and solutions to suit the Sri Lankan people.
Since Poland has amongst the highest rate of tea consumption in Europe, the Minister met with major players of the tea trade in Poland both individually and at a business meeting held at the Embassy of Sri Lanka to discuss details of the tea trade. The meeting included representatives of Dilmah, Basilur, and Impra tea companies.
Mr. Tissa Wijeratne, Ambassador of Sri Lanka to Poland, Ms. Wickramasinghe, Addl. Secretary of the Plantation Ministry, and Mr. Hasitha de Alwis, Director Sri Lanka Tea Board, accompanied the Minister during the visit.
Embassy of Sri Lanka
Warsaw
17/09/2018