ATHENS – Deputy Foreign Minister for Economic Diplomacy Kostas Fragogiannis opened the Greek-Saudi Business Forum in Athens on Monday with a personal pledge to promote bilateral and trade relations between the two countries.

He referred to the great progress made in Greek-Saudi relations over the last 2.5 years, as a result of high-level visits that included a trip to Saudi Arabia by Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis in October, noting that this served as “an opportunity to celebrate ties of friendship and cooperation that are not restricted to politics.”

Fragogiannis listed three milestones in Greek-Saudi bilateral relations: the agreement signed by the two countries in London in December, which was expected to significantly boost maritime relations, the memorandum of cooperation signed by Enterprise Greece and Saudi Arabia’s National Companies Promotion Programme (NCPP) in September and the founding of the Greece-Saudi Arabia Business Council in the same month.

“We are still working to complete the bilateral treaty for promoting investments, which must be sent to our counterparts in the European Union, one of our obligations as an EU member-state,” he added.

Regarding the Forum taking place in Athens, Fragogiannis said it was fulfilled a promise made at the preceding forum held in Riyadh in March, with dozens of Greek business people taking part and seeking opportunities through meetings with Saudi counterparts who shared the same vision.

“We will focus on carefully selected panels where there are opportunities for growth, namely shipping, tourism, energy and construction, innovation and agri-food,” he said.

He also referred to a series of high-level bilateral meetings planned between Saudi Arabia’s Minister for Investments Khalid Bin Abdulaziz Al Falih and a number of Greek government ministers, saying these will take bilateral relations to the next level.