positive performance in economywhich can now look to the future with optimism, despite alternating external crises, but also the positive prospects that open up for investorsthe prime minister is expected to present, Kyriakos Mitsotakis during an official visit to Japan Sunday, January 29th to Tuesday, January 31st. In it, according to government sources, Mr. Mitsotakis will present the image of a new Greece 17 years after the last visit of Greek Prime Minister Kostas Karamanlis to Japan in 2005, a country that has survived the years of crisis.

The same individuals note that the issue that will dominate the agenda of bilateral meetings is the strengthening and improvement of bilateral relations, as well as the consolidation and systematization of cooperation, since for Greece, Japan is both a strong economy and a member of the G7.

It should be noted that Greece and Japan are two maritime powers with a long tradition. After all, Greece, as a country of the EU, but also of South-Eastern Europe, can be for Japan, striving for rapprochement with the EU and NATO, a bridge with the Eastern Mediterranean, and with the Balkans, especially in Russia, regarding the grid of emerging energy plans.

The Prime Minister’s meetings with Parliament Speaker Hiroiki Hosoda and Prime Minister Fumio Kishida are expected to discuss bilateral and international issues, as well as the strategic form that relations between the two countries may take.

Government sources emphasize that during the visit to Japan, the Prime Minister and his wife will be received by the Crown Prince. Akishino (Akishino), while Mr. Mitsotakis they will be accompanied by Minister of Digital Governance Kyriakos Pierrakakis and Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs, responsible for economic diplomacy, Kostas Fragoyannis.

In purely financial terms, Kyriakos Mitsotakis will give together with the head of the financial office Alexei Pateli investment opportunities in Greece. In addition, the Prime Minister will make two in-depth presentations on the Greek economy, as well as answer questions from Japanese investors and businessmen. In the context of the prime minister’s visit to Japan and meetings with Japanese business representatives, the prime minister will be accompanied by a 20-member business delegation made up of BSE and EBEA representatives, government sources said.

Japan’s interest in energy

In particular, the first presentation of the prospects for the Greek economy will be made at the Japan Business Federation (KEIDANREN). Government officials remind that its representatives KEIDANREN last October they met with the Prime Minister at Megaros Maximos and expressed their interest in the prospects for the Greek economy. The second will be the presence of a business delegation that will accompany the Prime Minister with the Association of Export Enterprises. JETROin order, as already noted, to establish synergies and the scope of cooperation with Greek companies, as well as with Enterprise Greece.

The same sources emphasize that the Japanese side is also showing interest in the energy sector, while Greece is developing an infrastructure network that will turn it into an energy transmission hub in the wider region (with a symbolic FSRU in Alexandroupolis) conducts hydrocarbon research, while participating in projects such as the project of an electrical connecting cable with Egypt, which can turn it into a bridge between Africa and Europe. There is also interest in the field of renewable energy sources, and there is already cooperation in shipping. Kyriakos Mitsotakis will also continue to hold separate meetings with institutional investors such as the state-owned Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBICJapan Bank for International Cooperation).

Finally, next Tuesday, the prime minister will give a lecture at his university. Tokyo. In his speech, he is expected to set out his vision for a Greece at the forefront of European and international development, a Greece that is a stable and reliable partner in an environment of uncertainty full of challenges, but also for a country that has left behind the era of the financial crisis and populism and is moving confidently into the future.

^{Source: APE-MEB}