Greece a bridge of cooperation between Europe and the Arab countries

The role of Greece as bridge of cooperation and consensus between Europe and the Arab countries was underlined by Deputy Foreign Minister responsible for economic diplomacy and extroversion Kostas Fragogiannis addressing the 8th Arab-Hellenic Economic Forum held on Wednesday and Thursday at a downtown Athens hotel.

"Greece's strategic position in the Eastern Mediterranean's geography has provided, through the centuries, a privileged relation with the Arab world," he said adding that the economy and the commerce were, from the very start, on the epicentre of this relation.

"The trade tradition continues in our days with the economic cooperation improving and recording prospects of a very dynamic development in the future," he underlined.

The deputy minister also referred to the government's reforms aiming at the attraction of investment and strengthening the country's extroversion.

"Greece is making a come back on the international investments map and consequently on the Arab countries map as a prosperous land for investment opportunities and, something very important, as a country of low political risk," noted Fragogiannis.

We already have the first results, he said and referred to the tourism sector where the "Mykonos Project", a 50 million euro hotel investment by AGC of Abu Dhabi has been approved. In the agro-farming sector, the groups Amerra Capital Management and Mubadala Investment Company have invested in the crucial sector of fish farming through the company Andromeda.

"Looking ahead, Greece is implementing a major privatisation programme. The Greek-Arab cooperation in this field is welcome," noted Fragogiannis.