Poland’s Minister of Agriculture Mr. Krzysztof Jurgiel

Poland’s Minister of Agriculture Mr. Krzysztof Jurgiel hosted a Working Breakfast for the ambassadors of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) based in Poland last 07 December and discussed opportunities for cooperation between ASEAN and Poland in the field of agriculture and rural development, which the agriculrure official said have not been fully tapped.

Minister Juergiel said, In his letter-invitation to the ASEAN ambassadors, Minister Jurgiel said: “From our perspective, ASEAN has a great potential to become one of the largest economically integrated markets in the world, being now the large market with the growing importance to the global economy... (however) the potentials in economic and trade cooperation (are) not fully tapped.”

During the Working Breakfast, Philippine envoy to Poland Ambassador Patricia Ann V. Paez said that the promising sectors for cooperation are the dairy, food processing and preservation, agricultural machineries and post-harvest technology sectors.

An official from the Chief Veterinary Office Mr. Krzysztof Jazdzweski said that Polish pig meat producers are very interested in expting their products to the Philippines and have submitted their application documents to the Department of Agriculture. He requested for the assistance of  Amb. Paez in following up on them. He also said that his office is inviting a delegation from the relevant agency in the Philippines to conduct on-site inspection of Polish establishments who are keen in obtaining the necessary permits for exportation.

The other ASEAN ambassadors who participated in the Working Breakfast were: Ambassador of Indonesia H.E. Mr. Peter Frans Gontha, Ambassador of Malaysia H.E. Mr. Ahmad Fadil Shamsuddin, Ambassador of Vietnam H.E. Mr. Pham Kien Thiet, and Ambassador of Thailand H.E. Mr. Manasvi Srisodapol.

Other participants from the Polish side were: the President of the Agricultural Market Agency Mr. Lukasz Holubowski; Chief Veterinary Officer of the General Veterinary Inspectorate Mr. Wlodzimierz Skorupski; Main Inspector of the the Pland Health and Seed Inspection Mr. Andrzej Chodkowski; the Head of the Office of the Department of International Cooperation Ms. Magdalena Jozelecka; Deputy Head of Office of the Department of International Cooperation Mr. Tomasz Zmiejko; and Referent of the International Cooperation Unit Ms. Marta Syrek.