DAVOS – Eager to get more foreign businesses in Greece to propel a faster recovery from the lingering COVID-19 pandemic, Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis will be looking for them at the World Economic Forum in Switzerland.

The event is essentially a show-off affair for the world’s biggest economies in a prestige setting and he was accompanied by Development and Investment Minister Adonis Georgiadis.

The minister  had meetings with businessmen and top executives of companies and investment schemes from all over the world, said Kathimerini, Greek officials keen on building Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) for speeding a comeback.

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“Investment interest in Greece is very high. For the first time our country has its own space in Davos, Greek House Davos,” Georgiadis told SKAI radio.

He also stated that “more than 100 companies have expressed interest in meeting (him) and the other ministers (Deputy Development and Investment Minister Christos) Dimas and (Shipping and Island Policy Minister Yiannis) Plakiotakis.”

The state-run Athens-Macedonia News Agency (ANMA) said Mitsotakis met with several high-level officials of investment firms and large companies on the sidelines of Davos.

Mitsotakis first met with UAE-based Mubadala Investment Company Managing Director and Group CEO Khaldoon Khalifa Al Mubarak to discuss mature projects attracting investment interest in Greece, as part of a bilateral joint-investment collaboration that was expanded this year.

The meeting was also attended by Georgiadis. Khalifa Al Mubarak said that Greece is “a special strategic partner” for the United Arab Emirates, and noted what he called impressive progress in bilateral relations.

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The Greek premier then met with investor Ray Dalio, founder, co-chairman, and co-CIO of Bridgewater Associates. They talked extensively about the transformation of the investment climate in Greece during the last few years, the rise in Greece of traditional and new competitive advantages, and the opportunities the country offers due to its highly skilled human resources. They also discussed global economic challenges.

At a meeting with Jared Cohen, CEO of Jigsaw (former Google Ideas), the premier discussed global technological developments.

Prior to addressing an official dinner, Mitsotakis also met with Trafigura President and Managing Director Jeremy Weir who runs a raw materials storage and transport company.

They were said to talk about the prospect of Greek shipping’s energy reform, in the framework of the wider strategy of transitioning to greener energy in shipping connections and at Greek island infrastructures.