Witold Smidowski, Polish Ambassador to Saudi Arabia, has stressed the importance of his country's ties with the Kingdom in various political, economic, commercial and cultural spheres. Ambassador Smidowski said the establishment of diplomatic ties between the two friendly countries dates back to the era of King Abdul Aziz, the founder of modern Saudi Arabia. The ambassador was optimistic about the success of the next session of the Saudi-Polish joint committee scheduled for next week in Warsaw and also the Saudi-Polish Joint Business Council. The latter will discuss ways of enhancing cooperation and trade exchange and reaching new horizons of cooperation between the businessmen in the two countries, particularly in the industrial fields. In a statement to SPA about the existing relations between the two countries he said: “Bilateral relations began in 1929 when our country recognized the authority of the unification of Hejaz and Najd by King Abdul Aziz. This was followed by the establishment of full diplomatic ties between the two countries in the various political, economic and cultural fields.” Also, he referred to the historic visit made by King Abdullah to Poland during which he signed several agreements. The ambassador said there were great prospects for widening the scope of cooperation between the two countries in health care and therapeutic tourism which his country is famous for. He said in 2010, the volume of trade exchange between the two countries reached $400 million indicating that the countries are working together to double this amount in the next two years by expanding business partnerships.
