ATHENS – The signing of 16 business agreements and cooperation memoranda between Greece and Saudi Arabia in Athens signals “a special moment in Greece’s relationship with Saudi Arabia,” said Deputy Foreign Affairs Minister for Economic Diplomacy & Openness Kostas Fragogiannis on Wednesday.

The minister added that the number of agreements signed at the Greek-Saudi Business Meeting on Wednesday – during the first official visit to Greece of Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia Mohammed bin Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud – “is undoubtedly a success and encouraging in that we are moving in the right direction.”

Fragogiannis was addressing the high-level meeting with members of the Saudi ministerial and business team, which followed the two recent business forums held between the two countries in 2022 (Riyadh, March 13-14 and Athens, May 30-31).

As the Foreign Ministry’s Secretary General for International Economic Relations & Extroversion Ioannis Smyrlis said, “Over 100 Greek and nearly 40 Saudi businesses met in Athens today” leading to agreements. Smyrlis, also head of the country’s export-promotion agency Enterprise Greece, also said the 16 agreements concern the sectors of energy, shipping, aquaculture, waste management, construction and defense technology, and also foods and agri-food, as well as culture.

Among the agreements signed was one for the construction of a submerged cable system to transfer data, worth nearly 1 billion euros (3.75 billion SAR), called East to Med Data Corridor (the EMC project), and one for energy that covers conventional and renewal energy sources worth 2.6 billion euros.

In total, 243 business-to-business meetings were held between companies of both countries.

The Greek companies and company groups signing agreements included Aegean, Mytilineos SA, Dynacom Tankers Management Ltd, Sea Traders SA, Hellenic Environmental Center SA, Τheon Sensors SA, RAYCAP, Greek Energy & Infrastructure Investment Corporation (GrEC Fund), Holroyd Holdings Ltd, Southpoint Maritime SA , Chr. Stamatiou & Sons SA, Highway Special Construction Systems SA, Corinth Pipeworks Pipe Industry SA.

Attending the signing event were Greek and Saudi ministers and executives from companies in both countries.