Numerous business mission from Saudi Arabia to Greece – Investments in focus
The Minister of Investment, Khalid Al Faleh, described the prospects for the development of relations between Greece and Saudi Arabia as exceptional.
A large business delegation from Saudi Arabia, led by the Saudi Minister of Investment, 8 deputy ministers and high-ranking officials, arrived in our country in the context of strengthening and deepening the economic and business relations between Greece and Saudi Arabia.
The delegation was welcomed by the political leadership of the country’s Economic Diplomacy, Deputy Foreign Minister Costas Frangogiannis and Secretary General Giannis Smyrlis, while today the Greek-Saudi Business Forum will be held and the 5th Greek Joint Interministerial Committee will be held on Tuesday.
The Saudi delegation is led by Saudi Arabia’s Investment Minister Khalid Al Faleh, who is accompanied by eight government ministers and high-ranking officials.from the Ministries of Investment, Energy, Environment, Tourism, Health, Science and Technology, Social Development, Transport, Communications, Pilgrimage and Islamic Affairs. The government mission is supported by representatives of 59 Saudi companies from the banking and financial sectors, energy, tourism, construction, health, and the agri-food sector.
The first day of the Saudi delegation’s visit to Greece included a tour of Santorini. The First Station was the beautiful and tallest village of the island of Pyrgos, where the members of the mission enjoyed the wonderful view of the Caldera, Oia, Thira, Nea and Palia Kameni and Thirasia with the blue Aegean in the background.
Next stop was the archeological site of Akrotiri. There was a tour in small groups of tour guides, who explained to the officials every aspect of the ancient settlement that was kept in very good condition. Afterwards, a group of ministers and high-ranking officials visited Fira and toured the Caldera. The Last Stop was Ammoudi, where the mission dined just before sunset, enjoying the unique and world-famous sunset of Santorini. The Minister of Investments of Saudi Arabia, the deputy ministers and the approximately 70 Saudi companies stated to APE-MPE that they were “enchanted” by Santorini.
The Saudi Minister of Investments described the prospects for the development of relations between Greece and Saudi Arabia as exceptional. Khalid Al Faleh. He pointed out that bilateral relations are broad and sent the message that the sky is the limit for what Greece and Saudi Arabia can do together. Particular emphasis was placed on tourism, renewables, management and innovation.
In a statement after visiting the archeological site of Akrotiri and Fira and the Caldera, the Minister of Investment of Saudi Arabia said he was “enchanted” and excited by the “beautiful” Santorini and spoke of exceptional hospitality.
He expressed his gratitude to his counterpart Adonis Georgiadis and Deputy Foreign Minister Costas Frangogiannis. “They are friends and colleagues, almost like brothers,” he said.
He reminded that he visited Greece in September, while Messrs. Georgiadis and Frangogiannis were in Saudi Arabia in March touring the Al Oula archeological site. In return, Greece hosted the Saudi Arabian business delegation on the first day of its tripartite visit to the country in Santorini.
“On Monday we will return to work with the business forum”, he pointed out and stated that he expects a lot of mutual investments. In particular, he noted that some investment applications have already been selected since the visit of the Greek business delegation to Saudi Arabia in March and announced the interest of Saudi companies for investments in Greece. In fact, he confessed that already some Saudi businessmen, during their tour in Santorini, expressed investment interest in him. Greece and Saudi Arabia cooperate in many ways.
He made special reference to the cooperation of the two countries at the highest level. The Prime Minister and the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia have frequent communication, creating the right environment for cooperation between the two countries.
Greek-Saudi Business Forum
Today, Monday 30 May, an all-day Greek-Saudi Business Forum will be held at the Intercontinental Hotel, organized by Enterprise Greece, during which the prospects of cooperation in the following key areas will be presented: a) Tourism, b) Energy / Construction / Infrastructure , c) Innovation and d) Agri-food. Competent ministers and deputy ministers, as well as companies from both sides, will take part in the Forum. From the Greek world, more than 100 companies have expressed interest in participating.
In parallel with the work of the Forum, bilateral meetings of all the ministers and deputy ministers of Greece and Saudi Arabia will take place at the hotel, while the Forum will conclude with B2B meetings.
On Tuesday, the 5th Joint Interministerial Committee of Greece – Saudi Arabia
On the third day of the visit, Tuesday 31 May, the 5th Meeting of the Greek-Saudi Arabian Joint Interministerial Committee will take place, with the participation of higher delegations from the Ministries of Development and Investment, Health, Shipping, Tourism, Environment and Energy, Education, Children Of Labor and Social Affairs, chaired by Deputy Foreign Minister K. Frangogiannis and Saudi Minister of Investment Khalid Al Faleh. The Joint Interministerial Committee will complete its work with the signing of a Protocol by the two ministers as well as the Agreement implemented through optical cable data transfer EMC.
On the same day, members of the Saudi delegation will hold, with the care of Enterprise Greece, points of interest for possible investment and trade prospects, while contacts with Greek companies will continue.
During the visit of the business delegation from Saudi Arabia, Mr. O. Frangogiannis will meet with members of the Business Council of Greece-Saudi Arabia, which was created to promote bilateral business contacts and expand trade and investment relations between the two Countries. Co-chairs of the Greek branch of the Council are the president of Temes Achilleas Konstantakopoulos and the managing director of Olympia Electronics SA Dimitris Lakasas.
From the Saudi side, the chairman is Lubna Olayan, the head of the Executive Committee of the Olayan Financing Company.
“We are pleased to host over 70 very important products from Saudi Arabia “Following our visit a few months ago and following the very good cooperation that the Prime Minister has with the successor of Saudi Arabia”, said from Santorini Secretary General of International Economic Relations and Extroversion of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Giannis Smyrlis.
Highlighting the importance of the presence of the large Saudi business delegation, Giannis Smyrlis stressed that it proves with their presence in Santorini and today in Athens that Greece wants to cooperate a lot with it. “We have over 130 Greek companies that are in the business forum and we have more than 250 bilateral business meetings scheduled. This shows in such a short period of time since the previous visit, which took place in March, that we are progressing smoothly and that we will soon have announcements and other private business partnerships between Saudi Arabia and Greece.
In addition, BSE, EVEA will be present. There will be a meeting of the economic forum of the two countries, which means that we are deepening much more and we expect together with Saudi Arabia in the coming years to develop the tourism and industrial investments, but also the cooperation in technology, know-how between Greece and “Saudi Arabia,” he said.