Malta's ambassador in Warsaw is determined to "keep up the momentum" following the positive outcomes of the trade mission to the Polish capital earlier this week.

After hosting the largest ever business delegation accompanying the President on a state visit, Ambassador Gaetan Naudi, Malta's first resident ambassador to Poland, has pledged to do his part to seek to make the trade mission one of the most successful.

"I will seek to be the bridge which both sides might use to come together more often," Mr Naudi, who presented his credentials in Warsaw in December, told The Sunday Times.

"I would like to have an on-site person who could help our businessmen establish contacts in a timely and effective fashion. I also wish the embassy to be proactive in its approach. I intend to nurture the good relations established with the Polish Chamber of Commerce and the Confederation of Polish Employers as a result of this visit, and will seek to establish a line of first communication between them and their interests in Malta."

The 70-odd Maltese business people held around 100 one-to-one meetings with their Polish counterparts on Monday and Tuesday, after which a number of developments were announced. One language school signed an agreement to teach English to Polish students in Malta, and a textile group strengthened relations with its Polish partner and held meetings with potential new ones.

Representatives of a cross-section of firms were reluctant to divulge details about their meetings, but a few privately acknowledged that the Polish were "very interested" in their products and services. For several, however, Poland turned into a dead end.

A Polish business delegation is now to visit Malta in April, and the Warsaw embassy is to collaborate with Malta's diplomats in Rome on the logistics.

Significantly, former National Euro Changeover Committee officials could be asked to help in Poland's changeover campaign should the country apply to join the Exchange Rate Mechanism (ERM 2) next year on its way to accession to the eurozone in 2012.

Foreign Minister Tonio Borg last week urged Maltese businesses to express interest in Poland's EU structural funds projects. According to the ministry's spokesman Melvyn Mangion, the Foreign Office is committed to help Maltese firms interested in bidding for them.

"This entails the initiation of contacts with foreign companies and government entities," Mr Mangion explains. "Over the past year, embassies abroad have dealt with similar requests and facilitated matters. The promotion of Maltese companies has also featured as one of the services offered by our embassies through the dissemination of information and company profiles."

Ambassador Naudi says his team is to maintain contact with the Polish Agency for Enterprise Development which was involved in the Presidential visit so that projects which Poland undertakes with EU structural funds, and in which the Maltese business sector might be a suitable partner, are identified.

"Projects such as the protection of the environment, human resource development, and research and development should all generate interest among Maltese companies," Mr Naudi points out.

Among other projects, Poland is currently working on upgrading its road and rail networks, partly, too, in the run-up to Euro 2012 which it will co-host with the Ukraine. Poland estimates the value of investment related to the football championship could reach €38 billion.

Last Monday, Air Malta announced it is to launch charter flights to Poland from June.

The route, which will be operated with the support of Polish tour operators, will run to September.

Maltese visitors will undoubtedly find it more pleasant to explore this fascinating city in milder temperatures than the business people negotiated with last week.

Mr Naudi concedes that Warsaw has yet to be discovered by the Maltese and lists a taster of the attractions which await: the faithful reproduction in rebuilding most of the city's former edifices, the old city dominated by the Royal Castle, the Palace of Culture or the Museum of the Warsaw Uprising, Lazienki Park where the statue of Frederick Chopin is a landmark, and the gastronomical wonders of pierogis and duck delicacies washed down with traditional Polish vodka or beer.

But Mr Naudi, who aims to work to encourage more exchanges of students and professors, also has work to do to promote Malta as a tourist destination among the Poles - the sixth largest EU member state knows very little about the tiny island in the Mediterranean.

"There is a close association in Poland of Malta with the Knights of the Order of St John," Mr Naudi explains.

"A very famous landmark in Poznan is Malta Lake, where international aquatic festivals are hosted annually. This resort is so popular that players of the Polish version of Monopoly are able to buy property there at a hefty price. Tasty chocolates sport the name of Malta here. The role of Malta in the evolvement of the history of the Mediterranean is reflected through its connections with the other peoples of the world who arrived, some by default, others by design, in our country.

"With Poles, we also need to advertise our sun and our sea, while we continue to beat our drums how we can assist them in the learning of English, maximising their communication abilities, and helping them open up with more confidence to the ever-growing English-speaking world."

Even though he settled in Poland less than two months ago, the few Maltese dispersed in the enormous country have contacted Mr Naudi, particularly to express their appreciation of the opening of the embassy.

"The Maltese whom I have met so far have tended to prove their worth at varying levels of economic endeavour in this country: a consultant, a journalist, a security technical specialist, teachers of English - even the leader of a successful rock band," Mr Naudi says.

"They have all settled down happily in Poland. 'Put one more cover on the table,' I tell them, 'because I am here to make you feel even more at home.'"

Poland in numbers

• 38 million people

• 9.1% unemployed

• Every third TV set is made in Poland

• 39 major cities

• 70 international banks, one Polish

• Only 1% of mortgages are 'problematic'

• 57% speak at least one foreign language

• World's 13th most popular tourist destination

• Emigrants sent €8 billion back to Poland in 2008

• 130 Poles are resident in Malta

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