India, Poland ink two pacts to cooperate in tourism, medicine

Priyanka Tikoo

Warsaw, Apr 24 (PTI) Seeking to enhance bilateral ties
and people-to-people contacts, India and Poland Friday signed
two key agreements in the fields of medicine and health and
tourism as part of President Pratibha Patil's ongoing visit
here.

The agreements were signed after Patil held talks with
her Polish counterpart Lech Kaczynski.

The agreement on tourism cooperation envisages
facilitation of border and customs formalities, tourism
exchange and support for Indian and Polish entrepreneurs and
organisations taking part in the development of international
tourism and undertaking investments in the sector.

It will also enable formation of joint ventures in the
tourism sector and facilitate the exchange of experts and
assistance in the training of tourism personnel.

The agreement, signed by the Minister of State for
Industry and Commerce Ashwini Kumar and Under Secretary for
Sports and Tourism Katarzyna Sobierjska, is valid for five
years, also calls for the establishment of tourism information
centres in both countries.

The second agreement on health care and medicine signed
between Kumar and the Secretary of State for health Jakub
Szulc, will cover areas like mother and child health, family
planning, public health, nursing, communicable diseases.

The pact provides for exchange of delegations of health
and medical specialists for up to 30 days per annum and
delegation of specialists to attend international meetings
held in either country.

The agreement, valid for five years, also proposed to
have joint working group every year alternatively in India and
Poland to discuss issues of cooperation.

The President arrived here Thursday from Spain on a
three-day state visit on the final leg of her two-nation
European tour.

Addressing the Indian community at a reception hosted by
Indian Ambassador C M Bhandari, Patil expressed happiness over
the growing interaction at the people-to-people level between
the two countries.

"The strong interest in Indology amongst the Polish
people is most gratifying and we should help sustain it," she
said.

"Several universities in Poland are offering Indology
courses at undergraduate and post-graduate levels. Sanskrit
studies started in Jagiellonian university in 1893," Patil
noted.

She also stressed the need to tap the potential in the
economic front to boost bilateral trade ties.

The trade between India and Poland last year stood at USD
1.27 billion, registering an increase of 48 percent over the
previous year.

Indian exports to Poland amounted to USD 976 million
while the country imported USD 299 million worth of goods from
the east European nation.

"The presence of Indian companies and investments by
them in Poland in expanding, Polish companies are also having
an increasing presence in India.

"But the potential for us to do more with Poland remains
and there are many opportunities which both sides can
exploit," the President said at the reception which was also
attended by many NRI businessmen. PTI