Biuro Polskie w Tajpej

Celebrating 231 years of the Polish constitution

By Cyryl Kozaczewski, Director of the Polish Office in Taipei

On the occasion of the Constitution Day of the Republic of Poland, I would like to extend my greetings and pay respect to the people of Taiwan. In Poland, we celebrate our National Day on May 3rd to commemorate the ratification of the basic legal act by the parliament of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth in 1791 that created Europe’s first and the world’s second modern constitution.

Today, Poland is a successful Central European economy with a rich history and culture. While strongly anchored in the European and transatlantic institutions, along with other allies and democratic partners, it is forced to face the consequences of Russia’s invasion on independent Ukraine. This unprovoked aggression must be resisted and Poland stands side by side with Ukraine and its people in this bitter hour of truth.

Poles and Taiwanese value solidarity and mutual support in difficult moments, as best evidenced by our joint efforts to tackle the pandemic outbreak and provide humanitarian aid to Ukraine and Ukrainian refugees in Poland. I want to strongly underline how much we appreciate Taiwan’s last year’s donation of one million face masks. In a reciprocal gesture of gratitude and solidarity, Poland donated 400,000 doses of COVID-19 vaccine to Taiwan. Meanwhile, I am proud to see that Poles and Taiwanese have shown extraordinary generosity towards the people of Ukraine. As it stands now, more than 3 million refugees have fled from Ukraine to Poland in the wake of Russia’s aggression. We are trying to allevitate the suffering of Ukrainians in any way that we can to provide them safety they need.

When it comes to the cooperation between Poland and Taiwan, I’m happy to see important developments and new initiatives on the horizon. A parliamentary friendship group was recently established at the Legislative Yuan, which I am sure will add a lot to our mutual exchange. Looking ahead, I am firmly convinced that economic cooperation will be one of the most important dimensions of our partnership. We expect Polish business delegations to visit Taiwan in the near future to explore new business opportunities.

Poland benefits from its strategic location in the center of Europe and developed infrastructure, combined with big internal market and strong consumption, talented professionals, and high quality services. It is certainly a great destination for Taiwanese companies willing to expand in Europe.

Poland attracts a lot of foreign investors with vast opportunities in various sectors, including automotive and electromobility, electronics, ICT or green technologies. It also develops into new electromobility hub as the biggest supplier of lithium-ion car batteries or their components in Europe.

On a sectoral level, Poland can boast very competitive companies in fintech, biotechnology, e-commerce or gaming industries. Polish programmers and engineers with cutting-edge skills are regarded as one of the best in Europe. Our start-ups develop advanced products and solutions that attract the attention of the global companies.

Culture plays a vital role in fostering people-to-people contacts. The Polish Office in Taipei arranged a number of cultural activities for the local communities in Taiwan. We have recently co-organized a special charity concert in Taipei to express solidarity with Ukraine and raise funds for those in critical need. The concert featured some masterpieces of the Polish and Ukrainian classical music jointly performed by Taiwanese and Polish artists.

Among Polish cultural events taking place in the coming months, I would personally recommend very popular Frederic Chopin outdoor piano recital in Taipei, which will take place in November. Furthermore, Poland will be the Guest of Honour of the Taipei International Book Exhibition (TIBE) at the beginning of 2023. All this puts strong wind in the sails of Polish and Taiwanese cooperation. I have no doubt that our new initiatives will greatly contribute to the enhancement of our mutual contacts. Let them succesfuly flourish!