Khetam Malkawi, The Jordan Times

AMMAN — With the Polish embassy celebrating its 50th anniversary in Amman earlier this month, bilateral relations between the two countries continue to grow and expand, Polish Ambassador to Jordan Krzysztof Bojko said.

Poland established an embassy in Jordan 50 years ago for diplomatic reasons only, but relations developed much further over the years, according to Bojko.

Today, “for Poland, Jordan is important for many reasons, including its strategic location, and for being a safe destination in the region”, he said in a recent interview with The Jordan Times to mark the golden jubilee of the establishment of his country’s embassy and its national day on May 3.

“The Polish business sector is also very interested in having business with Jordan because they see it as a stable country and I hope to see these relations growing in the future,” he noted.

According to the diplomat, initial figures showed the trade volume between Amman and Warsaw stood at around JD46 million, nearly 50 million euros, in 2012.

In an attempt to encourage trade between the two countries, the embassy, in cooperation with the Jordan European Business Association, is organising a business forum on Sunday in Amman with the participation of 50 Polish companies, including 20 operating in the military sector.

“Every year we see more Polish products in Jordan. Some companies decided to open branches here,” the ambassador said.

In addition, the embassy organised an international scientific seminar in cooperation with Al Rai Centre for Research on Saturday that tackled relations between Poland, Jordan and countries of the region.

As for tourism, the diplomat said Jordan is one of the favourite destinations for Poles, with more than 20,000 Polish tourists visiting the Kingdom in 2012.

He said having a direct flight between the two countries will help increase the number of Polish visitors to Jordan as well.

“Jordanian officials will visit Poland soon to discuss tourism relations,” the envoy noted.

Poland as a country is also engaged in financial support for Syrian refugees through the EU and direct assistance through Jordanian partners.

“Polska Humanitarian Action provides financial assistance to Jordanian associations to help Syrian refugees in Jordan,” Bojko said.

He added that his country is also interested in helping Jordan economically “as much as we can, as the increased influx of Syrians to Jordan is on the rise and this is challenging”.

Poland is also supporting Jordanian schools and cooperating with universities, according to the envoy.

“We will establish two computer labs in June in two schools in Amman and Aqaba.”

“We have opened six labs so far,” he said.

In addition, five to six Polish universities have signed agreements with Jordanian universities

“I am sure relations will be better in the future,” he said.