By NNN-KUNA
Kuwait : Polish Ambassador Janusz Szwedo said it was the scope of his mission to maintain the excellent political relations between his country and Kuwait, but also to strengthen economic ties.
In an interview with KUNA, the ambassador, who presented his credentials to His Highness the Amir of Kuwait on January 9, hoped that his tenure would further “the excellent relations that have existed between Poland and Kuwait since 1963.”
He noted that contacts between officials of the two countries had been “quite dense and active in recent years.” On the Polish side, the president visited Kuwait in 2004, and two premiers came in 2003 and 2004, as well as a visit paid by the foreign minister in 2003, and the most recent visit of the minister of treasury in 2005.
As for official visits on the Kuwaiti side, Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Sheikh D. Mohammad Sabah Al-Salem Al-Sabah made an “important” visit to Poland in October 2003, during which he inaugurated his country’s embassy in Warsaw.
The ambassador explained that parliamentary relations we “quite active” with delegations from both sides making several exchange visits since 1994, and these resulted in organizing the “Polish Days” here in August 2006, which was attended by the president of the Polish Senate.
He hoped from more high-level exchanges by officials of the two countries to take place in the future.
At the economic level, Szwedo said, “I see it as the scope of my mission to maintain the excellent political relations between my country and Kuwait, but also to strengthen economic ties … It is my opinion that we have not exhausted all potentials and I see many possibilities for boosting commercial exchange.” Trade exchange, he said, was growing but had not yet reached the aspired level. The volume of trade exchange was at USD 30 million in 2007, up 40 percent from 2006.
He explained that Polish goods imported by Kuwait — constituting USD 29.6 million in 2007 — included vehicles, ships, maritime vessels, foodstuff and beverages, paper products, mechanical and electronic appliances, and metal products.
Kuwaiti exports to Poland in 2007 stood at USD 40,000, comprising mostly of plastics.
There is also good military cooperation between Kuwait and Poland, the ambassador said, noting that his country supported Kuwait’s sovereignty during the 1990 invasion by Iraq and maintained a medical contingent in the Gulf.
Moreover, Kuwait has been assisting the Polish military contingent in Iraq since 2002, he said.
Szwedo added that the Polish Embassy in Kuwait became the NATO focal point for 2007-2008, further increasing contacts with the country’s security authorities.
As for culture, he said this “needs no interpreter or translator” and the Polish Embassy was quite active in its contacts with the National Council for Culture, Arts and Letters, the Higher Institute for Music and Dar Al-Athar Al-Islamiya.
He noted his country’s archeological mission, which visited Kuwait to assist authorities in surveying the area of Subbiya, northern Kuwait, where a city is set to be constructed.
“I see many fields for cooperation,” he reiterated, citing tourism, health care and sports as examples.
Ambassador Janusz Szwedo holds a degree in Arabic language and literature and worked as a translator of Arabic in Libya and Iraq. He instructed in the Arabic language in Krakow, before joining the Foreign Ministry in 1990. He served in diplomatic posts in Libya, Morocco and now in Kuwait.