Commerce and chaos
The organization was inaugurated amid controversy, however, with a second organization claiming be the rightful Polish-Indian Chamber of Commerce. JJ Singh, president of the Indian Association of Poland, told WBJ he was the head of a PICC founded in 2001.
"Actually, we're in the process of changing our name to the Indo-Polish Chamber of Commerce," Singh said. He added, however, that the organization retained the right to the PICC name. "They haven't got the support of the Indian authorities at all," he concluded.
In response, Rao Maddukuri, president of Dynatel Poland and co-founder of the new PICC, said "This is the first attempt involving serious companies to promote trade between the two countries. This is not about politics."
"We never wanted to be in this controversial situation. In the end it comes down to the members and the companies who want to do business. You need 100 members [for a chamber of commerce] and they don't have that many. The court will decide the matter," Maddukuri added.
Singh's organization has approximately 65 members.
The legal aspect of setting up the new PICC has been handled by the Law Office of Aleksander Jóskowiak in Poznań. Maria Klarzyńska, a representative of the firm, agreed with Maddukuri. "According to the Act on Chambers of Commerce [of May 1989], at least 100 businesses are required [for a chamber of commerce]," she said.
When contacted, Srikumar Menon, the second secretary (commercial & consular) at the Indian Embassy in Warsaw, said, "The embassy does not wish to comment on this. This is still a fluid situation."
