Poland is Slovakia's fourth major trade partner and the second within CEFTA. Trade turnover between 1993-1998 increased by 250% ranking Poland 5th in Slovak export and 8th in import.

In 1997 Slovakia exported to Poland goods in volume of USD 484m and imported at USD 286m. With total turnover at 770m Slovakia reached active balance at USD 198md. Slovak export growth index in 1997 was 124.3 and import 115.9. Preliminary statistics on 1998 suggest increase in trade volume to USD 900m active for Slovakia.

In spite of major dynamics in mutual trade, the current level doesn't reflect the actual potential of both economies. Fortunately neither country leaves the development to political and economic statements of under-utilised potential of the economies and the need to eliminate the deficit in economic cooperation. Since 1996 Slovak Polish and Polish Slovak Chambers of Commerce operate actively supporting the economic contacts. The Slovak chamber is located in Zilina and its Polish counterpart in Bielsko-Biala. That reflects the interest of both countries to support the role of cross border regional cooperation.

"The firms have already found out that it is more expensive to export goods to Holland or the UK than some 200-300km up to Poland," suggested Frantisek Lach, Commercial Attaché at the Slovak Embassy in Warsaw.

Regional Office of the Slovak Chamber of Commerce in Zilina is very active in field. One of the recent contributions to development of border cooperation was the 7th economic forum Slovakia-Czech Republic-Poland at the end of last November in Zilina. It brought together 30 Polish, 5 Czech and 40 Slovak businesses. The topic was trade between SR, CR and PR along with gradual liberalisation within CEFTA, new customs regulations in SR and certification of goods. Contracting forum marked the highlight of the event.

Long-term interest in cross border co-operation is illustrated by the three countries rotating in organisation of the forum, said Jan Mišura, Director of the Zilina Regional Office. The dominant number of local and Polish businesses showed interest in elimination of gap in cooperation. "Low participation by the Czech businesses was caused by the traditional ties between CR and SR. Thus the need to bridge the gap is not so eminent as in case of CR and PR and Slovakia and Poland," said Misura.

Another activity of the Zilina Regional Office was a poll among businesses on needs, methods and tools for the improvement of the cooperation. The Office carried out the poll at the end of December within the framework of CREDO project on Cross Border Business between Slovakia and Poland in the regions of Zilina and Bielsko. The EU has allocated ECU 68 thousand dividing the funding between the Zilina Regional Office and its partner in Bielsko-Biala.

J. Mišura suggested that the project continued this year with a visit of the Slovak media to Poland, a publication for business sector with specific offers for the bilateral cooperation, development of information electronic database with contacts in trade, services and production, and an analysis of both border regions executed by the EU experts.

Slovak Trade FORUM