Riyadh, Warsaw to Deepen Joint Strategic Partnership

Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki (right) and Robert Rostek, Poland’s ambassador to Saudi Arabia (Asharq Al-Awsat)
Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki (right) and Robert Rostek, Poland’s ambassador to Saudi Arabia (Asharq Al-Awsat)
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Riyadh, Warsaw to Deepen Joint Strategic Partnership

Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki (right) and Robert Rostek, Poland’s ambassador to Saudi Arabia (Asharq Al-Awsat)
Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki (right) and Robert Rostek, Poland’s ambassador to Saudi Arabia (Asharq Al-Awsat)

Saudi Arabia has become a global player, and Poland is looking forward to a significant trade and investment movement, especially in the agricultural sector, revealed a senior Polish diplomat as Riyadh and Warsaw move towards strengthening their strategic partnership and expanding economic cooperation.

On Wednesday, Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman met with Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki in Riyadh.

During the meeting, they reviewed friendly relations between the two countries and ways to enhance prospects for bilateral cooperation in various fields.

The Crown Prince and Morawiecki also tackled issues of common interest.

“The visit of the Polish premier is the first visit for a head of the Polish government to the Kingdom in 11 years,” Robert Rostek, Poland’s ambassador to Saudi Arabia, told Asharq Al-Awsat.

Rostek affirmed that Poland is interested in developing bilateral ties with Saudi Arabia.

“Saudi Arabia is one of the main trading partners,” acknowledged Rostek, adding that his country looks forward to working closely with the Kingdom, especially in agriculture.

“Saudi Arabia is the largest importer of Polish agro-food products from all the GCC countries,” he noted.

“We believe that the real potential of our economies allows for a significant increase in the trade volume of the agricultural sector and many others,” asserted Rostek.

“Poland can potentially play an important role in strengthening supply chains to Saudi Arabia, logistics related to food security, storage facilities, and the provision of agricultural technology to Saudi producers and their partners, both in the Kingdom itself and the wider region,” he clarified.

The volume of trade exchange between Poland and Saudi Arabia until October 2022 exceeded $7.9 billion. Saudi exports to Poland amounted to more than $6.7 billion, of which $6.4 billion were oil exports and $283 million were non-oil exports.



Gold Slips, Heads for Worst Week in Six Months on Easing Trade Tensions

A 12.441 kg gold bar sits amongst one kilogram gold cast bars with 99.99% purity ready for sale at the ABC Refinery in Sydney, Australia, Wednesday, April 30, 2025. (AP Photo/Mark Baker)
A 12.441 kg gold bar sits amongst one kilogram gold cast bars with 99.99% purity ready for sale at the ABC Refinery in Sydney, Australia, Wednesday, April 30, 2025. (AP Photo/Mark Baker)
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Gold Slips, Heads for Worst Week in Six Months on Easing Trade Tensions

A 12.441 kg gold bar sits amongst one kilogram gold cast bars with 99.99% purity ready for sale at the ABC Refinery in Sydney, Australia, Wednesday, April 30, 2025. (AP Photo/Mark Baker)
A 12.441 kg gold bar sits amongst one kilogram gold cast bars with 99.99% purity ready for sale at the ABC Refinery in Sydney, Australia, Wednesday, April 30, 2025. (AP Photo/Mark Baker)

Gold prices slipped more than 1% on Friday and were heading for their worst week in six months, as an overall higher dollar and a temporary US-China trade agreement dented demand for the safe-haven metal among investors.

Spot gold was down 0.9% to $3,210.19 an ounce as of 0933 GMT. Bullion has lost more than 3% so far this week and is set for its worst weekly performance since November 2024.

US gold futures fell 0.4% to $3,213.60.

"We've gone through a week where there have been optimistic signals in terms of trade negotiations and we have seen the dollar appreciate on the course, which is weighing on gold prices," said Nitesh Shah, commodities strategist at WisdomTree.

Earlier this week, the US and China agreed to temporarily slash the harsh tit-for-tat tariffs imposed in April, lifting sentiment in the wider financial markets.

The dollar index was subdued on the day, but was heading for its fourth straight weekly gain, making gold less attractive for other currency holders.

Gold, used as a safe store of value during times of political and financial uncertainty, scaled an all-time high of $3,500.05 per ounce last month, boosted by central bank buying, tariff war fears and strong investment demand.

Offering some respite to gold, signs of slowing inflation and weaker-than-expected economic data in the United States this week cemented bets of more Federal Reserve rate cuts this year.

Non-yielding gold tends to thrive in a low-rate environment.

"On the plus side, gold price dips continue to attract buyers, which shows that the precious metal remains a favored asset, with the global growth and inflation outlooks still looking rather murky," said KCM Trade Chief Market Analyst Tim Waterer.

Elsewhere, spot silver dipped 1.2% to $32.28 an ounce, platinum eased 0.4% to $985.30 and palladium lost 1% to $958.56.