High-level visit of Greek officials to Kuwait boosts bilateral trade

 

Memorandum of Cooperation signed

 

Consecutive meetings with prominent Kuwaiti business representatives, as well as officials of the country’s new Government, were jointly held by the Deputy Minister for Economic Diplomacy and External Affairs, Costas Fragogiannis, and the Minister of Development, Adonis Georgiadis, as part of the working visit they made to Kuwait on the 16th-17th January.

The subject of the discussions was the strengthening of relations between the two countries, as well as the preparation of a Joint Interministerial meeting to record the agenda of issues concerning both the Kuwaiti business world and Greek business representatives who want to expand their activities in the Arabian Peninsula.

The two Ministers had the opportunity to present the rapid change that has taken place in the last four years in Greece, which is now an attractive investment destination for large investments. On the part of the Deputy Minister of Finance of Kuwait Aseel Al-Saad Al Munifi and the Minister of Trade and Industry Mazin Saad Ali Al-Nahedh, there was a particular interest in the Athens-Kuwait air connection, an agreement which, as they assured, is very close to being finalised.

Ministers Fragogiannis and Georgiadis were also present at the opening of the exhibition Alexander the Great, Bridging East and West, by Warlamis. Present at the opening event were dozens of business entrepreneurs from Kuwait, as well as Greeks active in the region. At the opening of the exhibition, which is an initiative of Ambassador Constantinos Piperigos, the internationally renowned mezzo-soprano, Alexandra Gravas, sang Greek and Arabic songs.

The mission earlier visited the national museum of the city, in which the finds from excavations on the ancient-Greek island of ‘Failaka’ which was so named from the Greek word Phylakion because of the strategic position that Alexander the Great had taken advantage of, have a prominent place.

In the meeting with the Minister of Commerce of Kuwait, cooperation was requested in the planning of cultural utilisation and tourism development of the island. Two Greek archaeological expeditions have already been carried out on this island, while in this period there are also ones from other countries.

During the visit to Kuwait, Deputy Minister Fragogiannis signed, on behalf of the Hellenic Export Credit Company SA, ECG, a Memorandum of Cooperation with Kuwait’s export credit entity Dhaman. On the Kuwaiti side, the Memorandum was signed by the Director General of Dhaman, Abdullah A. Alsabeeh. Dhaman, has been operating since 1974 and is a renowned entity in the Arab world, with a strong client portfolio of financial institutions, investors and exporters, both domestic and international.

“The signing of the Memorandum with Dhaman is an important step toward improving our economic relations with Kuwait, as it paves the way, institutionally,  for a closer, regular and targeted cooperation between the business communities of the two countries,” stated Mr. Fragogiannis.

 

Above: exhibit from the ‘Alexander the Great, Bridging East and West’ exhibition; Ambassador Piperigos, Dean of the School of Arts of Kuwait University Dr. Abdulach Al Ajmi, Prof. Hassan Badawy who was translating from Greek to Arabic and Deputy Minister Fragogiannis.