During his talk within the two-day “Go International” business conference in Belgrade, the Greek deputy foreign minister stated that Serbia has been a reliable long-standing partner for Greece and the relations between the two countries have always been excellent at all levels.
FM Dollis also underlined, “Serbia is expected to emerge as a main actor in promoting the full convergence of Western Balkan economies to those of EU member states as well as in the fulfillment of the European-Mediterranean Partnership goals.
Moreover, Dollis emphasized the fact that Greece is the 2nd most important foreign investor in Serbia, adding, “The accumulated value of the Greek-interest capital invested in Serbia amounts to approximately €2.5 billion. Greek-interest companies are offering more than 25.000 job positions in Serbia. There are more than 200 Greek-Serbian joint ventures and 250 Greek companies operating in Serbia today”.
“External trade together with shipping and tourism are the sectors that have the potential to bring the Greek economy back to a path of recovery and growth”, Foreign Minister stated. He also referred that the first signs in 2011 are very positive. The flow of foreign tourists into Greece has grown by approximately 14%, Greek ship owners continue to dominate the world market and improve their position and lastly but not least Greek exports have already risen by 12% to their highest level ever.
In addition, Dollis talked about the upgrading of Greece’s two major ports, those is Piraeus and Thessaloniki, that is currently underway. “The completion of the construction of the Corridor 10 linking Greece to Serbia’s northern neighbours will totally alter in the future the logistics in the whole area. Our aspiration is to turn Piraeus and Thessaloniki into major hubs serving the needs of countries as far away as Central Europe”, he explained.
“We are determined to support all efforts and initiatives of improving joint economic and business activities and increase extroversion towards countries of the region”, Foreign Minister concluded.
See all the latest news from Greece and the world at Greekreporter.com. Contact our newsroom to report an update or send your story, photos and videos. Follow GR on Google News and subscribe here to our daily email!
