UK-Poland Business, Trade and Investment Forum held in Warsaw
The forum took place in on 24 to 25 May in Warsaw, bringing together more than 200 business representatives from both countries.
Minister Greg Hands at the BTI Forum
The new UK-Poland Business, Trade and Investment (BTI) Forum is a unique platform for Polish and British businesses to connect with a broad range of potential partners, clients and investors, and to hear from experts and analysts about the latest trends and challenges.
The forum was called for by the Prime Ministers of both countries at the UK-Poland intergovernmental consultations in December 2017. It aims to promote the best that the UK and Poland have to offer to a wide-ranging audience.
Over 200 high-level representatives of business, government, media and think-tanks took part in a variety of sessions dedicated to business trends and opportunities in the UK and Poland.
The Forum was hosted by Minister of State for Trade Policy, Greg Hands, and Polish Minister of Entrepreneurship and Technology, Jadwiga Emilewicz.
Minister Hands said during the Forum:
Since 2005 Polish exports to the UK have tripled and UK exports to Poland have doubled – that is a trading relationship worth £17 billion a year between our 2 economies.
Also, investment is growing. The UK is the 6th largest investor in Poland. We’re starting to see Polish investment coming into the UK as well.
Minister Emilewicz of Poland added:
Poles in the UK have already established over 60 thousand businesses and this shows that the UK is a growingly important trade partner for us…
This is a crucial year when it comes to establishing the future trade relations between the UK and the European Union. We want these relations to be as close as possible.