The Polish ministry of development is launching a new trade and investment agency aimed at supporting Polish businesses expand abroad, with a focus on Asian and African markets.

The Polish Agency for Investment and Trade (PAIH) will operate within the Polish Development Fund(Group PFR) which implements financial instruments aimed at the development of Polish businesses. The agency itself will not offer financial instruments, but help to get the support for international expansion from other financial institutions belonging to PFR.

“The aim of the agency is to support Polish expansion abroad, both in the form of export as well as in investment,” advisor to the board for Polish Investments Abroad, Aleksander Libera, tells GTR.

In terms of exports, the Polish government is focusing on several sectors ranging from information communications technology (ICT), biotechnology and pharmacy to cosmetics, fashion and food. Poland is seeking for advanced foreign direct investment (FDI) for sectors including the automotive and aerospace industry, business services sector and medical devices, says Libera.

Geographically, the agency has set its sights on Asia and Africa.

“Asia and Africa are among our top priority markets. Asian countries, especially Japan, Korea and Vietnam, are the recipient of Polish food products which have become very popular and well appreciated,” says Libera.

“As for Africa, we are focusing on the agri-food sector, including agricultural machinery. Polish companies [can also] target contracts for infrastructure, construction or energy projects.”

A trade report on Poland, published by HSBC in December last year, forecast that given Poland’s major role in European and German supply chains, transport equipment and industrial machinery will continue to be the primary source of export revenues and growth, contributing over 40% of expected total export growth in the period 2016-20.

Over the longer term, Poland is expected to move further up the value chain and diversify its export structure, with ICT equipment continuing to gain importance. Meanwhile, the report says that it expects the role of labour-intensive products, such as textiles and wood manufactures, to “moderate”.

Geographically, growth rates between developed and emerging markets are expected to continue to diverge. Europe is expected to remain Poland’s largest export market with fastest growing markets expected to include Vietnam, China, India, Turkey and the UAE in the period 2015-30, according to HSBC.