ATHENS — The Greece-US science and technology agreement ratified by Parliament on Thursday "upgrades the strategic relationship between the two countries," Deputy Development & Investments Minister Christos Dimas said.

With this ratification, a ministry statement said, Greece and the United States are establishing a formal foundation of collaboration in science and tecnology research that will further encourage applications for economic and social benefits.

As Dimas noted in Parliament, the two countries had and agreement since 1980 but it had fallen into disuse and needed to be updated. After he raised the issue during the strategic dialogue in September 2019, he discussed it with US officials in the winter of 2019 in Washington. The updated agreement was signed it in Thessaloniki in September 2020, by Development & Investments Minister Adonis Georgiadis and then-US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo.

The ratification on Thursday "is the last step in the process, opening new paths to research and innovation," the minister said.