Until 2015, Qatari exports of goods to Poland included mainly polymer materials, and the balance of trade between Qatar and Poland remained negative. Recent years brought intensification of trade relations with increased deliveries of liquefied natural gas (LNG) to Poland starting from 2015.
For over 30 years Poland has enjoyed unsurpassed success in terms of inbound investment attractiveness. Foreign investors value high-qualified workforce, large internal market, and good location. Since the beginning of the 1990's, Poland’s economy has been growing not only quickly but also very steadily, as it was the only EU country not to be affected by recession during the previous global crisis. In 2009, at a time when the entire European Union saw a decline of over 4%, Poland’s gross domestic product rose by 2.8%. In 2020, because of the COVID-19 pandemic, Poland recorded a recession of 2.5%, which was still one of the best results in the EU.
With the beginning of supply of liquefied natural gas from Qatar to Poland in 2015, the value of goods sold to Poland clearly exceeded Qatar’s import from this direction. The record level of nearly USD 893 million value of export was achieved in 2018, and in the pandemic 2020 it was 538 million, 28% less than in the previous year. LNG is of strategic importance for Polish natural gas supplies diversification efforts, and Qatar continues to be the country’s main source of this supply. On the other hand, Polish export to Qatar is diversified in its structure. Among goods delivered to Qatar from this direction worth USD 90 million in 2020, 85% were manufactured goods, especially electrical machinery and apparatus, furniture, paper, and paperboard. Poland is the world’s 22nd biggest exporter, delivering mainly processed goods, rather than raw materials.
Along with the exchange of goods, trade in services between Qatar and Poland is under development. In 2020, services sold to Poland by Qatar amounted to USD 29 million, and nearly USD 19 million flowed in the opposite direction. Doha has maintained positive balance in trade in services with Warsaw since 2017. According to the data from Statistics Poland (GUS), there were only four companies with Qatari capital operating in Poland. The value of foreign direct investments (FDI) made by entities located in Qatar is still insignificant. Yet, in 2020 Poland received about USD 600 thousand worth of FDIs and the total FDI liabilities position to Qatari investors stood at USD 1.5 million.
