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I would like to thank Pratt and Whitney and the Polish institute of Aviation for inviting me to this opening ceremony today. It is a pleasure as United States Ambassador to see industrial partnerships and investment deepen between our two countries. Since 1989, U.S. companies have invested almost $9 billion in Poland. The project that we dedicate here today, however, is exceptional. It represents not just an expenditure of money and labor, but a joint commitment to cutting edge aviation technology and materials science.
Aerospace is a sector vital to the development of a high technology economy. I am delighted that U.S. companies have chosen to become major partners in the development of Poland’s aerospace industry. Over the past 15 years, the United States and Poland have established a tradition of broad cooperation in many areas of aerospace and civil aviation.
For example, the United States and Poland now enjoy the benefits of a bilateral open-skies agreement, which provides Polish and US airlines expanded access to each other’s markets. In aviation safety, we have fostered a close relationship between the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration and Poland’s Civil Aviation Organization. We are working together to improve airport security and enhance the safety of international air transport. This year the FAA awarded U.S. flight certification to Poland’s Skytruck aircraft.
We have also developed a solid partnership in manufacturing. In this regard, U.S. companies have become by far the largest foreign investors in Poland’s aviation industry.
Poland was the first country in Central and Eastern Europe to purchase U.S.-manufactured civilian passenger aircraft. Poland’s decision in 2002 to purchase state-of-the-art F-16’s represented a major expansion of our cooperation in defense aerospace.
The type of cooperation that we inaugurate at the Institute of Aviation today represents the logical expansion of our relationship into new areas. It will involve working together in some of the most sophisticated areas of aircraft design technology. It means transferring some of the best U.S. know how and technology to some of the finest minds in the Polish aerospace industry.
The kinds of materials and products that will result from this joint venture are intended not only to be the best in Poland or the United States, but the best anywhere. Here at the Institute of Aviation, Pratt and Whitney joins other aerospace leaders, including the U.S. company General Electric, who have also realized the potential of the Institute to develop state-of-the-art products.
Such activities represent the tremendous mutual benefits that we can obtain when our industries and governments cooperate.
All of you here know Pratt and Whitney. It is a company with a long history of investing in Poland. The company began its cooperation with Poland in Rzeszów 29 years ago. Today Pratt and Whitney directly employs over 6,000 at its own plants in Poland and cooperates with a number of other Polish aerospace enterprises throughout the country. It was among the forerunners in establishing production in the area in Poland that has come to be known as aviation valley.
Pratt and Whitney’s leadership does not extend only to commercial areas. The company is also a responsible and contributing civic partner in Poland. For example, l understand that Pratt and Whitney has a policy of helping employees to go back to school and attain a degree in any field the employee chooses, even if it is not directly job-related. This Employee-Scholar program pays for all of the expenses for school up front and provides a reward upon the completion of a degree. I also understand that the company supports a national program to establish Internet labs in Polish schools.
Today, we see another excellent example of the benefits of the U.S.-Polish aerospace partnership. Pratt & Whitney and Poland’s Institute of Aviation have teamed up to form the Materials and Structures Research Center. Its state-of-the-art machinery, talented engineers and scientists, and forward thinking management promise Poland a bright future in the world’s aviation research and development industry. I congratulate Dr. Wisniowski of the Institute of Aviation, Mr. Paul Adams of Pratt & Whitney, and everyone else who worked to make this happen. I wish you great success in the future. Thank you.
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