There are huge opportunities for local companies to do business in Poland particularly in the construction sector. That’s according to Newry businessman Jerome Mullen who launched Ireland’s first Ireland-Poland Chamber of Commerce on Thursday to help build trade opportunities between the two regions. The body aims to promote support and enable business opportunities for its members and encourage investment and joint ventures. At the launch at Belfast City Hall Mr Mullen who is Honorary Counsel for Poland in Northern Ireland, described the launch of the body as an “active and positive development.” He said: “The launch of the Ireland-Poland Chamber is the first all-Ireland chamber of Commerce to be established and is set up to represent the Irish and Polish business communities. It is a not for profit organisation, membership based and designed to support and provide services to businesses both large and small that want to do business in Poland. This launch, which is supported by the Polish Embassy in London and the Polish Embassy in Dublin is an active and positive development in facing up to some of the many problems that exist in the current economic climate.” Joining Mr Mullen at Thursday’s launch was a wide range of business and political representatives including Belfast Mayor Niall O’Donnghaile, Stormont Junior Ministers Martina Anderson and Johnathan Bell and the Honorary Polish Counsels in the Republic Patrick O’Sullivan and Michael Mulcahy. There around 600 companies in Ireland currently doing business in Poland while the total investment in by Irish companies in Poland in 2010 was in the region of £1.5bn. Mr Mullen said there are huge opportunities for companies to do business in Poland especially in the construction sector. He added: “It is estimated that there will be a spend of 90bn Euro over the next five years in Poland involving a wide range of infrastructure projects including the building of schools roads airports and colleges. We are looking at a country of almost 40 million people, so the opportunities for companies in Ireland to do business in Poland will be quite considerable.”
Newry Democrat
1st November 2011
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