Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis had the opportunity to present the progress made in recent years in Greece towards creating a favorable investment environment during a morning meeting at Megaro Maximos with a delegation from Japan’s national business organization KEIDANREN and senior leaders. leading Japanese companies visiting our country.

The Prime Minister also presented investment opportunities open to Japanese companies, and the Japanese delegation, for its part, expressed interest in exploring the possibility of investing in the energy and transport sectors.

The parties also discussed further ways to attract investment to our country, increase the number of tourists from Japan and cooperation in our wider region with a focus on the Western Balkans.

The Greek side was attended by Deputy Foreign Minister for Economic Diplomacy and External Relations Konstantinos Fragogiannis, Director of the Prime Minister’s Diplomatic Office Ambassador Anna-Maria Bura, Head of the Economic Department Prime Minister Alexis Patelis and Embassy Counselor for Asia and Oceania Dimitrios Michalopoulos .

The Japanese delegation was represented by Japanese Ambassador to Greece Yasunori Nakayama, Vice President of KEIDANREN, Chairman of the Committee for Europe of KEIDANREN and Executive Representative of Hitachi Ltd. Toshiaki Higashihara, Chairman of the Committee for Europe of KEIDANREN and Senior Corporate Advisor of Sumitomo Life Insurance Company Yoshio Sato, Chairman of the Planning and Coordination Committee for Europe at KEIDANREN and Executive Advisor to Hitachi Ltd. Akira Shimizu, as well as senior management of Japan Airlines Co. Ltd., Hitachi Ltd., Hitachi Europe GmbH, Nomura Holdings Inc., Sumitomo Deutschland GmbH, ANA Holdings Inc., Mitsubishi Electric Europe BV and Sumitomo Life Insurance Company.

The dialogue that took place at the beginning of the meeting is as follows:

Kyriakos Mitsotakis: Welcome to Athens. We are very pleased that a delegation of important Japanese companies is interested in what is happening in Greece. I have always been a firm supporter of strengthening relations between Greece and Japan. And I believe that your visit comes at the right time to further discuss economic ties between our two countries.

As you know, the Greek economy in the last 3 years feels good, ahead of the eurozone in terms of growth. We have the fastest debt reduction as a percentage of GDP in the Eurozone. And we have succeeded in turning Greece into an attractive destination for foreign direct investment, using our comparative advantages as well as our important regional position.

Therefore, I believe that now is the right time to discuss in more detail the possibility of strengthening economic ties at the level of direct investments of Japanese companies in Greece, which will target not only the Greek market, but also the wider region, but also to explore the prospects for increasing Greek exports to Japan and benefit from the fact that we maintain traditional economic ties, mainly in the shipping sector. Many Greek shipowners have chosen and continue to choose Japan to build their ships. We also have areas of common interest in foreign policy, as well as a common understanding of how important international law is in resolving maritime disputes. We have common problems in these matters and common challenges.

And, of course, we can discuss strengthening our ties in the tourism sector. This year has become a record year for our tourism. And we would like more Greeks to go to Japan and more Japanese to go to Greece.

And, of course, as you know, we are planning my personal official visit, hopefully accompanied by a significant delegation of businessmen, to Japan sometime in early 2023. And given that you’ll be chairing the G7, I think it’s a good time to visit Japan. I’m stopping here. Welcome back to Greece and thank you for your interest in our country.

Yoshio Sato: Thank you very much, Your Excellency, Mr. Prime Minister. Thank you so much for taking the time to KEIDANREN Dealership despite your busy schedule.

My name is Yoshio Sato and I am the President of the KEIDANREN Europe Committee. I am co-leading this mission with Mr. Toshiaki Higashihara, who co-chairs the Commission with me.

Japan and Greece are maritime states and develop bilateral relations as they share common values ​​such as freedom, democracy and the rule of law. On an economic level, Greece is on the path to a sustainable recovery, having overcome the financial crisis.

Trade between Japan and Greece is growing at a steady pace based on the EU-Japan Economic Partnership Agreement. So, we are visiting your country as a high-ranking representative of a large Japanese business.

Meanwhile, the world community is facing serious challenges. The attack on Ukraine was a flagrant violation of the principles of international law and can in no way be justified or tolerated. We must respond together, strengthening the solidarity of countries that share common values ​​in order to prevent a unilateral change in the status quo by force. As geopolitical tensions escalate, reducing our dependence is in our common interest.

During our stay in Athens, we would like to hear about your supply chain diversification strategy, as both Japan and Greece import significant amounts of energy resources. Since last year, we have also sought to exchange views on how we can realize the goal of restoring the orderly functioning of a free and open international economy in the face of such a complex geopolitical situation.

In addition, we would like to know about the prospects for your relationship with China, as your country has established close economic relations with China under the Belt and Road Initiative. Last but not least, KEIDANREN aims to contribute to the further development of bilateral relations between Japan and Greece through private sector diplomacy.

Source: RES-IPE