India, Poland sign pacts to cooperate on tourism, medicine

India and Poland today signed two key agreements in the fields of medicine and health and tourism on the sidelines of President Pratibha Patil's ongoing visit to that country.

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

The agreement envisages facilitation of border and customs formalities, tourism exchange and support for entrepreneurs and organisations of both countries taking part in the development of international tourism.

The two countries would also support formation of joint ventures in the tourism sector and facilitate the exchange of experts and assistance in the training of tourism personnel.

The agreement was  signed by minister of state for commerce and industry Ashwini Kumar and under secretary for sports and tourism Katarzyna Sobierjska.

The agreement on health care and medicine covers areas like mother and child health, family planning, public health, nursing, communicable diseases.

Meanwhile, the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) said India and Poland should target a trade turnover of $5 billion in the next five years.

Poland`s historical interest in India's ancient civilisation has been reinforced with India`s economic ascendancy. Bilateral trade has grown by close to seven times since 1992, according to CII.

Total trade between India and Poland was close to $1 billion in September 2008, while India's exports to Poland grew 50 per cent compared to 2007.

CII has identified IT, software development, pharmaceutical, healthcare, manufacturing, infrastructure development, and biotechnology among others, as the sectors of future collaboration.

Besides conventional sectors, both economies can engage in emerging sectors like environment, climate change and renewable energy, it said.