President Goolduck Jonathan on Thursday held bilateral talks with the Polish Prime Minister, Donald Tusk, at the State House, Abuja. The visit was at the instance of President Jonathan and the first by any Polish leader to Nigeria.
Addressing a joint press briefing with his guest after the talks that lasted for about 90 minutes, President Jonathan described Poland as a very important European country that Nigeria has had very cordial cooperation with over the years.
He expressed delight that the talks provided them opportunity to review existing ties and explore further areas of cooperation, as well as sign a Memorandum of Understanding on the establishment of mechanism for strategic dialogue.
President Jonathan said: “Poland is a very important European country, which we have had very cordial relations with many years ago.
“We have been co-operating at all international fora that the two countries belong and we have worked together in so many ways.
“This visit today offers us opportunity to exchange views on a number of subject matters, especially those bothering on our economies.
“We reviewed the state of our bilateral relations and acknowledge that we can do more to deepen and uplift our bilateral relations, considered a number of agreements on trade, investment promotion and protection.
“These agreements are vital and necessary to boost our bilateral trade and influx of Direct Foreign Investments into our countries.”
Also speaking, Prime Minister Donald Tusk described his two-day visit to Nigeria as “symbolic and practical.”
He noted that Nigeria remains one of the “most promising economies of the world,” adding that Poland also has economic potentials.
He expressed confidence that trade relations between both countries could be strengthened as well as common issues like agriculture, defence and oil and gas.
The communique issued at the end of the visit reads:
During the visit, the two leaders held talks on promoting and further strengthening the bilateral relations between Nigeria and Poland, and provided guidance and direction at the Bilateral Talks held to further enhance their ties of friendship. They also exchanged views on regional and international issues of mutual interest.
The leaders noted the importance of exchanging visits at the highest levels, and commended the visit to Poland by President Olusegun Obasanjo in 2001. They also welcomed the visit by Prime Minister Donald Tusk.
The two leaders underscored the importance of holding frequent political consultations between their Foreign Ministers, and in that connection welcomed the signing of the Protocol on Political Consultations in 2012. They also commended the establishment of a Mechanism for Strategic Dialogue through the Memorandum of Understanding that was signed during the Prime Minister’s visit.
They noted the significant roles played by each country in their respective regional organizations, notably Poland in the European Union, and Nigeria in the ECOWAS and African Union. They pledged to work through these institutions to support the United Nations in the discharge of its mandate as provided for in the Charter. In that regard, they lauded Nigeria’s exemplary role in contributing to the peace keeping efforts of the United Nations.
Both leaders welcomed the ongoing efforts aimed at reforming the United Nations in order to equip it better to meet the current challenges in the maintenance of international peace and security. In this regard, they called for the urgent reform of the United Nations Security Council to make it more democratic and reflective of the changes in the international architecture since 1946. They agreed to support Nigeria’s candidature for election as a non-permanent member of the UNSC for the period 2014-2015
At the level of economic, trade and investment cooperation, President Jonathan and his guest, “noted the importance of economic and trade cooperation in their bilateral relations and urged their respective Ministers of Trade and Investment, Commerce, and Industry to speed-up their efforts to conclude the on-going negotiations of the Trade and Investment Promotion Agreement for them to be signed as soon as possible.
In the area of social and culture, the two leaders “underscored the need to promote Educational and Cultural Exchange between the two countries. In that regard, Nigerian exchange students may be offered places in Polish Universities to pursue courses in disciplines such as Medicine, Engineering, and the Sciences, while Polish students should be offered places in Nigerian Universities to pursue courses in African studies and related disciplines.
“The two leaders underlined their commitment to promote bilateral technical and capacity building, and cooperation in the fields of agriculture and allied industries, trade and investment, culture and tourism, infrastructure development and public works, defence and combating terrorism”.
On the international scene, both leaders discussed the situation in Guinea-Bissau and Mali, and both “commended Nigeria’s role within ECOWAS in helping to stabilize the fragile situation in Guinea-Bissau, and in the pursuit of the noble objectives of dislodging the terrorist groups from northern Mali and to restore the territorial integrity of the country. In that regard, they commended the efforts of the international community through the African Support Mission in Mali.”
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