I hope you’ll forgive me for taking such a long time to end my blogging as Ambassador in Warsaw. Poland is a great country with great people. It is very different from other countries in Europe which New Zealanders are more familiar with. Its history, for better or worse, has shaped the way that it is. Its future as a country with firm democratic foundations and a strong and growing economy, is bright.

New Zealand and Poland, while geographically separate, are spiritually close. I encourage New Zealanders and Poles to visit each other’s countries to see this for themselves. Through such people-to-people interactions, greater knowledge and awareness will come. This is my contribution to strengthening the ties between New Zealand and Poland.

Do widzenia

On Sunday 9 January I attended the opening of an exhibition of photographs of New Zealand at the Asia Pacific Museum in Warsaw. They were the winning photographs of a competition run on line by a Polish language website devoted to New Zealand: naszanowazelandia.pl. They are the centrepiece of a number of events being held at the Museum this week on New Zealand. The initiative, which the Embassy was very happy to sponsor, came from enthusiastic supporters of Polish-New Zealand links. The website is well-worth a look.

At the opening I met a number of people who had spent time in New Zealand and heard accounts of their visits. It was wonderful to find so many Polish people with warm memories of New Zealand. This reminded me of the 2010 Country Brand Index - an annual survey by FutureBrand which looks at people’s awareness of a country, what it is associated with, whether people wish to, and do, visit, and whether they tell their friends to visit. In 2010 New Zealand was in third place, behind Canada and Australia. New Zealand is high on the list of country brands for tourism, and clearly Lord of the Rings has had much to do with projecting our image (and our scenery) abroad.

But people speak to me not only of the picturesque scenery of New Zealand, but also of our distinctive culture. To show this side of New Zealand, on 14 January at the University of Warsaw Library we held the opening of the exhibition: Te Ara – Maori Pathways to Leadership – that I have spoken about in a past blog. This is the last venue that Te Ara will be exhibited in Poland, before moving at the end of January to Oxford University in England. It is well worth seeing over the next few weeks for those of you in Warsaw.

The Embassy’s sponsorship of such exhibitions and events supports our objective of increasing tourism to New Zealand. Increased people-to-people contacts will in turn increase trade and economic links. And these are the lifeblood of New Zealand. So please, visit and see the sights of New Zealand – in Poland and in New Zealand.

At this time of year I tend to look back and review the past year. There are always ups and downs and this year is no exception. On the upside, the Embassy has played a role in further strengthening the bilateral relationship with Poland. The Working Holiday Scheme between New Zealand and Poland entered into force on 15 February and provides for young people to live, work and study in each other’s countries for up to 12 months. Last week I met the first New Zealander to be granted a visa to Poland under the scheme.

Visits in both directions have cemented ties and extended the base of our interactions. We held Foreign Ministry consultations with Poland at Deputy Secretary level. The Polish Foreign Minister visited our PRT in Bamyan Province in Afghanistan. Dame Jenny Shipley attended the Communities of Democracies meeting in Krakow. A Polish theatre group took part in the New Zealand International Festival of Arts. Two Polish scientists travelled to New Zealand with our assistance to commence collaborative research with New Zealand partners. University links were expanded with the visit to New Zealand by the Rector (Vice-Chancellor) of the Warsaw School of Economics. The Director of the Auschwitz Foundation visited New Zealand seeking assistance to preserve the museum at Auschwitz so that the terrible deeds that occurred there may never happen again.

On trade and pomotion, the Embassy promoted New Zealand wine through assistance given to a wine journalist to travel and write about New Zealand wine, and held a promotional wine event with key distributors and buyers. We assisted some New Zealand companies to enter the Polish market by opening doors and providing advice. I have given various lectures at universities on New Zealand. And the photographic exhibition Te Ara – Pathways to Maori Leadership was held in Olsztyn and Krakow (and will shortly be in Warsaw).

There have been difficult times as well. On the Polish side: the Smolensk tragedy, and from our side: Pike River. Both were examples of how in difficult times people, no matter how far away they are, share the pain of their fellow men and women.

Internationally there have also been ups and downs. Sitting here in Europe, the crisis in the eurozone countries looms large. While Poland is not in the eurozone, what happens in those countries affects Poland, just as it impinges on the global economic outlook. Security in Afghanistan is still an ongoing concern, and terrorism and suicide bombings have not abated. And this year has seen its fair share of disasters including the Christchurch earthquake.

But everything is not all bad. The outcome of the Climate Change Conference in Cancun demonstrates that collaborative international action on this significant issue is still possible. And some economies are maintaining their positive economic growth, Poland included.

As we look forward to 2011, I would like to wish everyone a very Merry Christmas and Happy New Year. Let us remember the ups and downs of 2010 and embrace all that 2011 will bring.

For me personally, the commemorations commenced with a French service to commemorate Armistice on 11 November at the main military cemetery in Warsaw. This is also the cemetery where some of the victims of the Smolensk tragdey are buried. After the French ceremony, I laid some flowers on the graves of those friends who had died at Smolensk. I was not alone. There was a line of people waiting to pay their respects and as I left the cemetery, more people were on their way. It will take a long time before this tragedy fades from everyday memory.

Poland’s Independence Day commemorations were held as usual at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in Warsaw. This is always a very dignified occasion with a military parade, wreathe laying, and a 21-gun salute. This year the President spoke of the importance of coming together as a people. There were large crowds of people attending the commemorations – testament to the ongoing importance of remembrance in Poland.

A few days later I attended the Remembrance Sunday services organised by the British Embassy. This and the later ceremonies held at the Commonwealth War Graves cemetery in Poznan were occasions to meet some of the Polish veterans who had links, not only with Britain, but with other members of the Commonwealth.

I met one spritely gentleman who had fought with the New Zealand Maori Battalion at El Alamein. He told me that his experience of New Zealanders was drinking beer together with them in the bars of Alexandria. Several others told me of their experience in fighting at Monte Cassino, where again New Zealanders were at the forefront of the Allied war effort. In all these encounters there was a strong feeling of goodwill towards New Zealand and its contribution to freedom in Poland. I said to the veterans how proud I was to have had the opportunity to meet them.

For me a visit to the Old Garrison Cemetery at Poznan was especially meaningful. There I laid flowers on the graves of the New Zealand servicemen who had been executed by the Nazis following their escape from Stalag Luft III in Zagan, Poland, and subsequent capture. While this escape has been immortalised in the Hollywood movie starring Steven McQueen “The Great Escape”, it is another film – a documentary produced by Maramena Roderick and directed by Julian Araharanga for Maori Television – “Turangaarere ‘Born to Fly’: The Story of Flying Officer John Pohe” – which is especially poignant. It tells the story of the first Maori pilot in the Royal New Zealand Airforce and his flying expertise, capture, imprisonment by the Nazis, escape from the concentration camp, recapture and execution. It is a very moving story of courage and commitment to an ideal – fighting and dying in a far way foreign land in pursuit of freedom.

I have had the honour to meet John Pohe’s whanau and said a karakia for John and his whanau at his grave in Poznan. As we remember these past connections, the physical distance between New Zealand and Poland fades away and our shared values and belief in freedom and democracy bring us closer together.

It was the ease of doing business that I was particularly interested in. The Doing Business series of reports analyses economic regulations that affect business, including in relation to foreign trade, tax, business establishment, and business closure. Poland improved its ranking as a result of measures to cut some taxes required from small and medium enterprises, and to shorten the time necessary for presenting tax returns. But it was still well behind many other countries in Central and Eastern Europe. Estonia, for example, ranked 17th in the world.

Polish deficiencies appear to be in areas such as the time taken to obtain construction permits, the complexity of the taxation regime, difficulties in the collection of overdue accounts, and the time taken to establish a business.

What is interesting is that Poland’s ranking is placed against the background of a growing economy, which did not go into recession in 2009 (unlike other EU Member States and most other OECD countries). The International Monetary Fund expects economic growth in Poland to settle at 3.5 percent in 2010 and exceed 3.75 percent in 2011.

Foreign investment plays a large role in these forecasts. The Polish Government expects foreign direct investment to total 9-10 billion euros in 2010, and 10 billion euros in 2011. While these figures may seem optimistic, Poland has already attracted foreign investment of 8 billion euros over the first nine months of 2010 and is on track to meet these projections. Investments from the United States are in the lead, but there is also an increased growth in Asian investments, particularly for the manufacture of electronics and whiteware.

The question that I ask myself is: where is New Zealand? Why aren’t New Zealand companies entering this market? Sure, some have made inroads into the Polish market and a few have established joint ventures here. But not as many as the opportunities would seem to indicate. Perhaps New Zealand companies are put off by international comparisons such as the Doing Business comparison.

But if you look beyond the apparent difficulties, invest in the establishment of long-term relationships, and learn from the experience of others that have successfully entered this market, you will see that there is good business to be made in Poland. There is a highly skilled work force, low cost structure, stable economy, and an attractive environment for foreign investment. Other foreign businesses have succeeded in this market. I am certain that New Zealand business can too.

Historically Poland has been Europe’s bread basket, and it has a strong agricultural tradition that escaped the collectivisation that occurred in many countries under the communist yoke. Its agricultural production and exports are increasing, but structurally its farming sector is very different from ours. It has 1.8 million farmers who farm an average of less than 8 hectares. And the overwhelming majority of farms are 1 to 2 hectares. It were as if all those in New Zealand with a lifestyle block were called “farmers”.

One big difference is that all such farmers in Poland receive an annual subsidy of about 150 euros per hectare under the EU Common Agricultural Policy. During the visit there was a lot of discussion about the Common Agricultural Policy, its future direction, and the challenges facing farming in Poland.

We also had the opportunity to visit a farmer on his dairy farm. This was a family dairy farm of 50 hectares and about 100 cows. Of special interest to me, this farm had a robot for milking, one of less than 20 in the country.

This is exactly like what it sounds -the milking is undertaken by a robot, with the human role being to receive the text messages sent by the robot if there is a problem, to read and respond to the test results taken by the robot, to distribute the food, and to arrange for the collection of the milk. The cows are kept in their shed most of the year and milking is all-year, rather than seasonal as in New Zealand. The cows are free to walk around the barn, scratch against a rotating brush (for itches), and they have a ready supply of food, with special treats in the milking area.

When they need to be milked they walk through a special gate, and suction cups find the teats with laser precision. Milking is fast and efficient and takes place between three and five times a day. The tracking device on its collar tells the computer which cow it is, so the cow can’t cheat the system by trying to get its edible treats (disbursed by the robot) when it isn’t ready to be milked. The milking robot is not the only robot in the milking shed – a robotic cleaner cleans the shed 10 times a day.

It was great to see such innovation. Because of the intensity of the farming, the farmer’s annual milk production per cow was much higher than in New Zealand and he had a breeding programme to add new genetic material to his herd. It was a clean and efficient operation. But do I want to see robotic milking in New Zealand? Is this the way of the future? I’m not sure. It was fascinating and allowed the farmer to manage his farm on his own with a good quality of life. But I prefer cows grazing on grass and living in fresh air. For me, that is good quality of life.

There are regular trade fairs in Poland dealing with all sorts of products and services. Some New Zealand companies regularly attend the International Tourism Fair in Warsaw, and are represented on the stands of their Polish distributors at the International Wine and Spirits Fair. This year a New Zealand company made significant contacts at an international fair in Poznan showcasing building products and technologies. And in the past at least one company has regularly attended agricultural products and technology fairs in Poland. But in some cases, particularly in the agricultural area, international fairs are receiving lower attendance levels, while smaller regional fairs are gaining in prominence.

One of the issues we talked about was whether the internet was changing the nature of international sales. In the current internet age, a company no longer needs to exhibit at trade fairs to make new contacts or to find distributors or buyers for its products. With a sophisticated website, a company can sell its products or services to a worldwide audience through the web. The question we asked ourselves was whether the low turnout at this year’s agricultural trade fair was indicative of a longer term trend. Have trade fairs out-lived their usefulness?

The answer to this question will of course depend on who you ask. There will always be particular industries that are natural candidates for trade fairs or particular international fairs that are magnets for exhibitors. In New Zealand, the Mystery Creek agricultural fair is reknown not only among New Zealand agricultural circles, but more widely. The ability to inspect a particular piece of agricultural machinery, and to see first-hand its advantages, is far more beneficial than seeing a picture and a blurb on the internet.

The internet may be changing the way in which companies do business. It brings people on the other side of the world closer and enables contacts to be made which might not otherwise have been made. But it does so in a virtual way. Nothing substitutes for first-hand face-to-face contact. In a country like Poland it is the personal contacts, and the investment in long-term relationships, that are important if you want to grow your business in the future. The internet hasn’t changed that.

Around 20 Maori from New Zealand, led by kaumatua from Rotorua and Northland, as well as Professor Paul Tapsell of the University of Otago, and Dr Merata Kawharu of Auckland University, brought Maori blessings and ceremony to the Royal Castle in Olsztyn. The opening was attended by the mayor and other dignitaries of Olsztyn and was filled to capacity. The exhibition photographically showcases aspects of Maori identity in New Zeland, with photographs by world renowned New Zealand/Polish photographer, Krzysztof Pfeiffer. It portrays the story of tribal leadership in New Zealand: past, present and future.

I attended and spoke at a conference organised by the University of Information Technology and Economics of Olsztyn on the same day as the opening and which addressed issues concerning Maori culture, as well as the opening of the exhibition itself. As Ambassador in Poland I was very proud to witness an important part of New Zealand cultural identity being demonstrated in Poland.

To my mind, one of the most important elements of my job is to strengthen the bilateral relationship with Poland through increased people-to-people contact. It is through such contacts that greater educational, research, and trade links will grow. Such contacts were further nutured during the conference and the opening. A significant part of New Zealand culture was brought to Poland this week and additional fruit will grow from it.

For me it was also very special to once again realise what a small world we live in. In talking to those New Zealanders present, we quickly established a relationship through people we knew or were connected to, or the places we had been. We are so lucky to come from a small country where everyone is in one way or another connected.

The exhibition will remain in Olsztyn for a while before we take it to other cities in Poland. Why this exhibition ended up in Olsztyn is all about relationships and connections between people. Thank heavens such connections exist because otherwise such a wonderful event as this would not have occurred. My thanks go to all those involved in this exciting venture. Ko nga mihi mahana ki a koutou katoa.

While the New Zealand connection to the Battle of Britain is well known, I don’t think this applies to the Polish contribution. In fact, the largest foreign contribution to the Battle of Britain were Polish airmen (139), followed by New Zealanders (127). Two Polish squadrons took part in the Battle with 89 pilots while another 50 Polish pilots flew in the Royal Air Force – (the RAF). Apparently the Polish airmen were very daring pilots. The 303 Kosciuszko Squadron, named after the Polish hero General Tadeusz Kosciuszko, reportedly claimed the highest number of kills (126) of all squadrons in the Battle of Britain.

I had the opportunity at the commemoration to meet some elderly Polish soldiers who had fought in World War II, including airmen and the son of a member of Bomber Command. They were proud of their connections to the Royal Air Force and through this to the Battle of Britain. We all recalled during the commemoration the memorable words of Sir Winston Churchill: “Never in the field of conflict was so much owed by so many to so few”.

I found it interesting how one event – the Battle of Britian – can be influenced by the foreign contributions of two countries which themselves are very distant geographically, but not in spirit – New Zealand and Poland.

This 1966 documentary is a moving account of some of the individual stories of the children: their deportation to Siberian labour camps, their difficult journey to transit camps in Iran, and their arrival in New Zealand. The film portrays their lives in New Zealand more than 20 years after their arrival. For me it was wonderful to see some familiar – if much younger – faces of the “Pahiatua children”. Watch it and tell me what you think.