Sri Lanka has become an attractive destination for trade, investment and tourism in the world due to the its strategic location in the center of international sea and air routes said Hon. Basil Rajapaksa, Senior Adviser to the President and Minister of Economic Development in participating at a discussion with H.E. Jerzy Pomianowski, Undersecretary of state for oriental policy of Poland held at the Ministry of Economic development today. Now Sri Lanka has peace and political stability. There are easy access to Middle East, Europe and other countries through Sri Lanka. The country has free trade agreements with India, Pakistan and all south Asian countries. Therefore international traders and investors have taken a keen interest in investing and developing trade relation with Sri Lanka he further said.

Mr. Pomianowski said the Economy of Poland is a high income economy and is the sixth largest in the EU and one of the fastest growing economies in Europe. Polish economic growth rate was one of the best results in Europe. Poland has pursued a policy of economic liberalization since 1990 and today stands out as a success story among transition economies. It is the only country in the European Union to avoid a recession through the 2008-09 economic downturns.

He said he started his Foreign Service career first in Sri Lanka as a UNESCO official and participated in research projects in Mahawali area. He loves this country and he will devote his time to start a new era of Polish – Sri Lanka relationship. Poland is going through a completely different economic system after ending the decade old socialist economic system. Sri Lanka is also experiencing a new economic life after ending the 30 years long terrorism. Now both countries can enjoy benefits of this new order by improving trade and investment relations between the two countries.
Mr. Pomianowski said Poland is a part of the global tourism market with constantly increasing number of visitors, particularly after joining the European Union.   Tourism in Poland contributes to the countries overall economy at large and therefore this is identified as the one of the most important sectors of Polish economy.
Polish people are now reluctant to visit traditional tourist destination such as Middle East after the political destabilization of these countries.  Therefore Polish tourists are interested in visiting in new attractive destination like Sri Lanka he said, Sri Lanka is a multi religious- multi cultural country. Tourist can enjoy beautiful sceneries, good environment, heritage and clean beaches within a short span of time. he said.
Both parties agreed to exchange trade and investment delegation in order to revive the bilateral relations and review the progress of the new projects between the two countries.

Responding to a question posed by the Poland under Secretary Hon. Basil Rajapaksa said majority of the Tamil Diaspora gradually understands the real situation of Sri Lanka and they are happy with the outcome of the resettlement and reconstruction works and peace building efforts of the government. Now most of the Tamil expatriates are visiting Sri Lanka, helping their families and relatives and buying real states in Sri Lanka. But some members of the Diaspora still go against the Sri Lanka, some hardcore supporters of the LTTE, some who wants to remain in those countries. However situation will change when these Diaspora members see new developments in North Eastern provinces themselves. he said.  Minister and under secretary agreed to have separate arrangements to promote Sri Lankan interest in Poland during the Waraw Fair 2012. Sri Lanka will participate in this fair with government and privet sector institutions. Therefore it is easy to organize some events related to investment, trade and tourism promotions of Sri Lanka.

Mr. Piotr Opalinski, Minister – Counselor, Deputy Head of the Mission, Embassy of the Republic of Poland, Mr. Ken Balendra, Honorary Consul General of the Poland in Sri Lanka, Prof. Sunanda Madduma Bandara, Director General of Development and Communication,  Bashwara Senanka Gunaratna, Chairman, Sri Lanka Tourism Promotion Bureau, Sunil Hettiarachchi, Director General of Investment and Tourism and W.A.D.A. Wijesooriya, director (Investment) also participated at this discussion.