By Collins Chong Yew Keat

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia: Polish President Andrzej Duda’s first-ever state visit to Malaysia coincided with Poland’s six-month Presidency of the EU Council and Malaysia’s ASEAN chairmanship, creating a new synergy of strategic economic and power convergence.

Both nations remain at the forefront of growth and playing key roles  in emerging sectors in both Europe and Southeast Asia, and while the outgoing Duda’s visit might be seen as having less long term policy conviction than an incumbent president, the key underlying facets of critical interdependence now and in the future between both countries create a sustaining factor for the new presidency to protect and amplify the interests and returns to both sides, despite the inward-looking tendencies.

In all the critical fronts underscoring the importance of the ties, ranging from energy transition to defence and security, the potential ahead remains immense, and the fact that both remain firmly in the upward trajectory at the higher end of middle power status creates a structural incentivising factor in complementing one another’s strengths and needs.

Both can complement one another

Malaysia’s median age is 31 and still growing with more potential for its labour force; Poland’s is 42.5 and facing skills shortage, and this is where talent cultivation and knowledge exchange can be harnessed. 

Both are now helming regional leadership capacities, with Poland helming the EU Council and Malaysia chairing ASEAN for this year. In geographical connectivity, both are increasingly vital in maritime trade and reliance, where  Poland is the logistics pivot of the EU’s North–South Three Seas corridor and Malaysia has been the traditional leader in geomaritime capacity in linking both the East and West.

In critical areas of defence modernisation, resources and mineral security, hydrogen corridors, new energy transition, digital economy advancement, and trade and human capital advancement, both states will try to leverage on regional leadership and to galvanise shared advantages and resources to serve as the gateways to larger regional pooling of resources and in expanding the framework of connective collaborations through ripple effects that transcend beyond bilateral ties alone. 

In essence, Poland and Malaysia see each other as strategic entry points where Poland gives Malaysia and ASEAN a greater foray and understanding  in the EU, and Malaysia gives Poland and the EU a trusted partner in the Indo-Pacific, deepening the efficacy of the Global Gateway initiative.

In 2024 Poland became Malaysia’s eighth-largest EU trading partner, with total goods flows jumping 19.5  percent to RM 5.66 billion (US$ 1.33 bn). Malaysia’s exports are mainly  electronics, rubber and machinery, while Poland exports machinery, transport equipment and processed foods to Malaysia.

The defence assets of Poland will be useful in Malaysian context, from counter-UAV to electronic warfare capacities, these will assist in Malaysia’s maritime and coastal domain ISR network. 

Poland’s emerging role as an alternative, mid-tier armoury for Southeast Asia and Malaysia will further add credence and a new defence friendshoring support for the country, especially in reducing the risks and vulnerabilities the region faces.

Amid evolving regional security dynamics, Poland, a NATO member on Europe’s frontline, brings with it the expertise of a modern and capable military technology and capable armed forces and a more consolidated and strategic defence partnership with Poland further gives assurances to regional security, and in complementing Warsaw’s commitment to being a constructive security partner in Southeast Asia, which also in turn, complement EU’s Indo-Pacific strategy.

More deep-rooted efforts including joint interoperability capacities and joint exercises, intelligence sharing, expertise and knowledge transfer with different warfare capabilities, and enhancement of trust and confidence in military exchanges and support, will heighten readiness and capacities of both forces and combining shared strengths both in empowering kinetic and non kinetic capacities.

Poland’s €1.5 bn semiconductor incentive scheme in its ambitious plans for the industry, serves as a new opening and a strategic complement for Malaysia’s US$ 90 bn E&E export sector.

Tapping the demographic dividend and advancing talent and human capital cultivation will be the strategic mutual wins for both, whether through unlocking more capacity of Erasmus+ mobility, joint PhDs and industry-linked micro-credential programmes in AI, maritime law and cyber-security, or to increase joint research in critical fields. 

Poland’s highly educated workforce and Malaysia’s youthful dynamism can synergise more innovative capacity, in addressing the development gap and in facing turbulence ahead.

Direct Warsaw-KL flights will facilitate this and unlock more tourism potential, offering amazing new world of different culture, culinary and natural wonders of both countries to one another’s populace, reducing the knowledge and awareness barrier, and cultivating deeper integration and people and to people relations with higher societal cohesion. 

From Poland's pierogi to Malaysia's nasi lemak, areas of soft power inter-cultural exchanges and appreciation remain exciting. 

Poland’s new expansionary drive in increasing its own fallback, diversification and friendshoring efforts in building new guardrails amidst new threats in Europe, with the renewed focus on Asia and the Indo Pacific, will see a new quest to consolidate to increase its presence in this part of the world, and Malaysia is seen as the natural choice based in its overall strength and advantage in key areas of economics, resources, and also potential ventures in defence and security.

Duda will want to create more legacy wins in his outgoing presidency, and how the two geographically distant but strategically more entangled  states can work together will create a new dawn of ties ahead, in facing new challenges. 

This will create a more resilient and entangled nature of ties, that will serve as the basis for the new presidency, Karol Nawrocki and Prime Minister Tusk in continuing this new chapter of ties between both states.

With more common threats, concerns and vulnerabilities facing both states, this creates a natural prevailing self-sustaining cycle of systemic and structural cycle of interdependence in not only economic, resources and trade realms, but one that ultimately transcends on these indicators alone, to the higher importance of areas of high politics especially on defence and security. 

The future looks promising for a deeper trust amplification in the way forward in Warsaw-KL ties. 

*Collins Chong Yew Keat is a foreign affairs and strategy analyst and author in University of Malaya.*