Business
Envoy Explains Trade Imbalance Between Nigeria And Poland
The Polish Ambassador to Nigeria, Mr Niesiolowski Przemyslaw has decried the trade imbalance between his country and Nigeria, which stands at about a 100 million dollars annually.
Przemyslaw, who spoke against the backdrop of the bilateral ties between Nigeria and Poland said in Abuja that the imbalance was in favour of his country as 98 per cent of the trade were exports to Nigeria.
He told newsmen in Abuja that the items of trade were machineries, plywood, and scratch cards for telecommunication industries, adding that the businesses were driven by small-scale business.
Reports say that exports from Nigeria to Poland includes ginger, hibiscus flower, gum Arabic and some agricultural products.
The envoy said that the gap in the volume of trade was largely due to the fact that Nigeria was not exporting crude oil to Poland.
He also said that the absence of big polish investors in the nation’s oil sector was also responsible for the trade imbalance.
“We are not importing Nigeria’s main commodity which is crude oil because our businesses only came on fully in the last 20 years.
“So we are relatively new and we are expanding from our local market to the European market.
“From 2001 to date there has been an increase in Polish companies globally, so once we have a major player in Nigeria, we will be able to attract other businesses.”
“There is a growing demand for bio-fuel in Poland in line with EU specification, the raw materials can be sourced from Nigeria.”
Przemyslaw also said that the imbalance could be addressed through person to person diplomacy to promote trade and investment, a system that was practiced globally.
On the recent election in Nigeria, he said that the success of the elections, widely described as credible, would further build the confidence of investors and attract them to explore business opportunities in Nigeria.
The envoy, who described ties between both nations as cordial, however, said that there was no Bilateral Air Service Agreement (BASA) in place.
He said that there were easy flight connections from other European countries.