The Bengal Chamber of Commerce and Industry organized B2B Interaction (Poland-India Business Forum) with the Delegation from the Indo Polish Chamber of Commerce and Industry (IPCCI) on 15th January 2018 in The Bengal Chamber premises.

The Delegation of IPCCI also participated in the Bengal Global Business Summit on 16th and 17th January 2018 at the Biswa Bangla Convention Centre.

The meeting in the Bengal Chamber was addressed by Mr. Marek Magierowski, Hon’ble Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of Poland who was accompanied by Mr. Grzegorz Tobiszowski, Hon’ble First Deputy Minister of Energy of Poland and Mrs. Małgorzata Ocheduszko-Ludwik, Hon’ble Deputy Chief Minister of the Silesia Province, Poland. His Excellency Adam Burakowski, Ambassador of Poland to India also graced the occasion.

Other dignitaries gracing the session were, Mr. Maciej Falkowski, Deputy Joint Secretary , Department of Economic Cooperation, Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Poland; Mr. Krzysztof Dobrowolski, Deputy Joint Secretary (Asia-Pacific Department), Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Poland; Mr. Bartomiej Pawlak, President, Polish Development Fund; Mr J J Singh, President, Indo Polish Chamber of Commerce and Industry; Shri Prasanta Kumar Barai, Joint Secretary, Industry, Commerce and Enterprises Department, Government of West Bengal and Ms. Kuhuk Bhushan, IAS, OSD, West Bengal Industrial Development Corporation Ltd.

It was a high profile delegation with majority of the representatives from energy and mining sectors. The objective of the programme was to create a platform to facilitate dedicated B2B Meetings with the delegate members of IPCCI. It was the first B2B of the Polish Delegation to BGBS, hosted by The Bengal Chamber of Commerce and Industry. There was a positive feedback of taking the relationship forward by organizing a return business delegation to Poland.

The session commenced with the addresses by Mr. Indrajit Sen, President Designate, The Bengal Chamber of Commerce and Industry and Mr. J J Singh, President, Indo- Polish Chamber of Commerce & Industry, Poland. Ms. Kuhuk Bhushan, IAS shared insights on “West Bengal –Emerging growth engine of India”. She focused on the opportunities of doing business in West Bengal.

Mr. Marek Magierowski, Hon’ble Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of Poland addressed on Poland-India Business and Economic Relationship. Mr. Magierowski highlighted the importance of mining and its contribution to the economic growth of Poland. He showcased Silesia in Poland, famous for its Coal and Industry, as a potential region for economic partnership with Bengal. He also mentioned that mining, coal, food processing, power, academic, medical, information and communication technologies were the potential sectors for bilateral collaboration between Poland and India.

Mr. Grzegorz Tobiszowski, Hon’ble First Deputy Minister of Energy of Poland addressed on Economic collaboration between Poland and West Bengal.

Mr. Maciej Falkowski, Deputy Joint Secretary, Department of Economic Cooperation, Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Poland addressed on “Poland and India- towards a business partnership.” His address covered topics like Poland-India economic cooperation’s state of play, Poland-India trade dynamics, Poland’s GDP- past and present, the reasons for investment in Poland, Poland-foreign trade, Poland as an attractive investment market, Poland with a stable financial sector, sound banking system in Poland, Poland-India- perspectives for economic partnership and Poland-India- possible cooperation in the environmental protection sector.

Mr. Daniel Ozon, President, JSW presented an overview of JSW Group. He mentioned that JSW was the largest producer of high quality coking coal and the key independent producer of coke in the European Union. JSW’s coking coal was used mainly to produce coke, which in turn was an important element in the steel production process. He also highlighted the investment opportunities in Poland.

Mr. Miroslaw Skowron, President, PeBeka shared his perspectives on PeBeka, one of the largest specialist construction companies in Poland. His address included, galleries and Chamber working; shaft works; infrastructure construction engineering; industrial construction engineering; surface drilling work; innovation directions- mechanical excavation of galleries in hard rock conditions, construction of mining central air conditioning system, utilization of drilling holes as alternative way of connecting surface and underground infrastructure; 22 completed international contracts- wide spectrum of operations from the comprehensive execution of Shaft Sinking through the construction of hydro technical, road and railway tunnels, to construction project in domestic areas; PeBeka’s potentiality in Shaft, Tunnel and Horizontal Work.

Mr. Jan Bondaruk, Assistant General Director, GIG shared information on GIG-Central Mining Institute in Poland.He spoke about the basic areas of GIG activity- mining and geoengineering, occupational safety in the industry, environmental engineering, material engineering, socio-economic studies, certification, attestation, integrated management systems, training and education; R&D staff and infrastructure; Experimental Mine “Barbara”- a unique place for mining investigations in a real scale; Clean Coal Technology Centre; Environmental Engineering Centre (EEC); Silesian Centre for Environmental Radioactivity; International Centre of Excellence on Coal Mine Methane; Location of Polish coal basins and coal production in Poland in 2016 and Polish hard coal mining industry in 2016.

The meeting included a very vibrant B2B session during which the local business participants interacted with the Polish participants.