Union Minister of Ports, Shipping & Waterways Sarbananda Sonowal delivered a keynote address at the India-Poland Business Forum, attended by Poland's Prime Minister Donald Tusk, where he actively invited Polish companies to move beyond simply selling to India and instead build, innovate, and invest directly in the country. He positioned India as offering the scale of a large growing market, the skills of a young workforce, and the trust of a reform-oriented democracy, arguing that the two economies are complementary. Sonowal recalled that relations were elevated to a Strategic Partnership during Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to Poland in August 2024, with a clear conviction that the relationship must be strong in business, technology, investment, and innovation, not just diplomacy.
Sonowal specifically proposed three initiatives to deepen ties: a Startup Bridge, an Innovation Corridor, and an AI and Quantum Dialogue to link businesses, researchers, and innovators in both countries. He cited the existing strong economic foundation, noting that bilateral trade has reached $6.36 billion and that Indian investment in Poland exceeds $3 billion, with Indian IT companies employing about 10,000 people in the country as a base for European operations. The Minister stated that the ambition should be larger than the existing goal of merely doubling trade by 2030.
A significant portion of the pitch focused on India's clean energy transition. Sonowal cited India's ambitious target to generate 500 GW of non-fossil fuel power capacity by 2030, estimating the required investment at roughly 280 to 300 billion euros. He highlighted openings for Polish companies in areas like equipment manufacturing, energy storage, power grids, green hydrogen, recycling, and environmental technology, noting that Poland's experience in mining, critical minerals, and clean energy could be particularly valuable.
On technology, Sonowal urged moving beyond the current IT services collaboration into next-generation fields like artificial intelligence, quantum computing, 5G applications, digital infrastructure, smart manufacturing, and space. He also framed the pending India-EU free trade agreement not just as a trade pact but as a 'partnership multiplier' that would open a larger window into the Indian market for Polish firms and widen European opportunities for Indian companies. The Minister concluded by describing India’s philosophy of 'Power to Empower,' emphasizing that the power to collaborate is greater than the power to compete.