History History

Bilateral Relations: Malaysia-Poland

 

Malaysia and Poland have maintained longstanding and friendly relations since establishing diplomatic ties on 21 June 1971. Poland established its Embassy in Kuala Lumpur in 1977, while Malaysia opened its Embassy in Warsaw in 1978. The two countries have also fostered cordial links and cooperation at the regional and international levels.

 

On 14 May 2024, YAB Dato’ Seri Anwar bin Ibrahim, Prime Minister of Malaysia, met H.E Andrzej Duda, President of the Republic of Poland at the sidelines of the Qatar Economic Forum 2024. It was the first meeting between the two leaders, where they reiterated the interest to strengthen bilateral ties between the two countries, particularly in higher education, as well as to deepen cooperation between ASEAN and the European Union as Malaysia assumes the chairmanship of ASEAN and Poland assumes the Presidency of the EU Council for the first half of 2025. Both leaders also exchanged views on the situation in Gaza and Ukraine. President Duda also extended an invitation to YAB Prime Minister to attend the Three Seas Initiative Summit that will be hosted by Poland in 2025.

 

Bilateral mechanism between Malaysia and Poland has been bolstered with the commencement of the 2nd Malaysia-Poland Bilateral Consultation in Warsaw on 10 June 2024. The Malaysian delegation was led by Deputy Secretary General (Bilateral Affairs) of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, YBhg. Dato’ Ahmad Rozian Abd Ghani.

 

From 2022 onwards, an active exchange of visits took place between the two countries, as follows:

 

Visits from Malaysia:

 

  1. YB Dato’ Kamaruddin Jaafar, former Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of Malaysia, conducted a working visit to Poland from 17 to 20 February 2022, engaging with his Polish counterpart to discuss the state of bilateral relations.

 

  1. YB Dato’ Sri Reezal Merican Naina Merican, former Minister of Housing and Local Government of Malaysia, led a Malaysian delegation of over 200 participants from various government agencies and organisations to the 11th UN-World Urban Forum in Katowice, Poland, held from 26 to 30 June 2022.

 

  1. YAB Datuk Patinggi Tan Sri (Dr) Abang Haji Abdul Rahman Zohari Bin Tun Datuk Abang Haji Openg, visited Poznan, Poland on a working visit from 23 to 25 April 2024, following the invitation from the Marshal of the Wielkopolska Voivodeship and to attend the H2 Poland Hydrogen Technology Forum.

 

Visits from Poland:

 

  1. His Excellency Marcin Przydacz, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Poland, visited Malaysia from 14 to 16 July 2022, meeting with YB Dato’ Kamarudin Jaffar, former Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of Malaysia.

 

  1. H.E Radoslaw Sikorski, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Poland, undertook a working visit to Malaysia on 3 September 2024. His visit is part of a larger tour of the countries in Southeast Asia that includes visits to Singapore and the Philippines.

 

  1. H.E. Andrzej Duda, President of the Republic of Poland, undertook an official visit to Malaysia from 10 to 11 June 2025 at the invitation of YAB Prime Minister of Malaysia.

 

In 2023, Poland ranked as Malaysia’s 39th global trading partner. However, total trade between the two countries declined by 12.3% to RM4.74 billion (USD0.99 billion) compared to 2022. Imports and exports in 2023 stood at RM1.53 billion (USD0.32 billion) and RM3.2 billion (USD0.67 billion), respectively. From January to June 2024, total trade between Malaysia and Poland increased by 9.2% to RM2.54 billion (USD0.54 billion) as compared to RM2.33 billion (USD0.52 billion) for the corresponding period in 2023.

 

As of December 2023, PETRONAS (lubricant manufacturing) and KWASA Europe SARL (property development) lead Malaysia’s investment in Poland, amounted to RM1.83 billion (USD0.45 billion). Two (2) Polish manufacturing projects have been recorded in Malaysia, with total investments amounting to RM104.8 million (USD24.3 million), creating more than 104 job opportunities.

 

Over the past decade, 1,500 Malaysians have graduated from Polish universities. Currently, 108 Malaysian students are pursuing their tertiary studies in various higher learning institutions in Poland. In contrast, there are only three (3) Polish students enrolled in Malaysia’s private higher learning institutions.

 

In 2023, Malaysia welcomed 21,472 tourists from Poland. By comparison, in 2022, the number of Polish tourists visiting Malaysia was 8,472.

 

 

 

Current and Past Ambassadors of Malaysia to Poland (presentation of credentials)

 

1. Ambassador Razali bin Ismail (14.08.1978 – 28.02.1982)

2. Ambassador Khalid Abdul Karim (13.05.1982 – 30.03.1984 )

3. Ambassador Zainal Abidin Mokhtar (15.05.1984 – 09.10.1987)

4. Ambassador Tan Koon San (22.02.1988 – 15.06.1991)

5. Ambassador Abdul Rahman bin Abdul Rahim (05.06.1992 – 23.12.1995) 

6. Ambassador Datuk Muhammad bin Noh (02.02.1996 – 14.01.1999)

7. Ambassador Datuk Ng Bak Hai (12.02.1999 – 20.03.2001)

8. Ambassador Datuk Md. Daud M. Yusof (17.04.2004 – 07.08.2006)

9. Ambassador Rosmidah binti Zahid (23.02.2007 – 17.06.2012)

10. Ambassador Dato’ Jamaluddin Sabeh (12.07.2012 – 12.02.2015)

11. Ambassador Dato’ Ahmad Fadil Shamsuddin (04.04.2016 – 01.11.2017)

12. Ambassador Dato' Chitra Devi Ramiah (23.03.2018 - 28.01.2025)