At the beginning of the meeting of the two delegations, the renewal of the Double Taxation Avoidance Agreement between Greece and the United Arab Emirates was announced through an exchange of declarations.
During the meeting, the strong strategic partnership between Greece and the United Arab Emirates – which was established in 2020 – and the mutual will to further deepen economic and investment cooperation were reaffirmed, following Mitsotakis’ last visit to the United Arab Emirates and his meeting with President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan in Abu Dhabi on 27th of February.
It is noted that the target of 4 billion in direct investment in the Greek economy, set in 2022 with the Strategic Investment Cooperation Agreement, between the Hellenic Development Bank, the Hellenic Development Bank of Investments and Abu Dhabi’s sovereign wealth fund ADQ, has already been exceeded.
During the meeting, which was attended by representatives of companies and investment funds of the United Arab Emirates that are already active or interested in investing in Greece and who participated in an Investment Forum held under the auspices of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the prospects for further investment cooperation were discussed. Emphasis was placed on investment opportunities in the fields of energy and connectivity, digital technology, artificial intelligence and data centers.
At the beginning of the meeting, Kyriakos Mitsotakis and Dr. Sultan Al Jaber had the following dialogue:
Kyriakos Mitsotakis : Well, first of all, Dr. Sultan, my dear friend, it’s a real pleasure to welcome you again to Athens. You have been a frequent visitor and I am particularly happy that we meet in the context of what I understand has been a very, very successful business forum and interaction between very important companies who made the trip to visit us in Greece, the Greek authorities and the Greek business community.
I remember some years ago we set an ambitious target which was framed in the context of a strategic economic partnership. And we set some targets regarding direct investments, foreign direct investments by the UAE, by the UAE into the Greek economy. We have reached, if not surpassed, these targets. Very important investments have been made in the energy and the health care sectors, amongst others.
I think this is a time to set our sights even higher and to aim for more. We have made this strategic partnership work. This was not just a document that was signed, an indication of an expression of interest. And I can tell you again that I value this strategic partnership as one which is extremely important for our country.
Greece has been progressing very rapidly over the past years. We are outperforming many European countries. We have a stable economic environment. We offer opportunities in many different sectors, as I’m sure you know. And we’re happy to build upon this strategic partnership to further strengthen our cooperation.
I’m also particularly happy to announce that in the context of your visit, we’ve agreed to renew the Double Taxation Avoidance Agreement between Greece and the UAE to the benefit also of numerous Greek professionals and companies which have established their base in the UAE.
And finally, I would also like to tell you, wearing my European hat, that I’m particularly positive and optimistic about the possibility of signing, as quickly as possible, a free trade agreement between the European Union and the UAE. This will be my personal priority as a country which essentially is, together with Cyprus, closest to the UAE within the European family. Let’s make this happen. I think it will be to the benefit of both our economies.
So again, please convey to His Highness my deepest respect and my best regards and thank you again for making this such a successful visit.
Sultan Al Jaber: Your Excellency, it’s indeed a pleasure to be back to this great country and to have the opportunity to meet with you again. And thank you for taking the time and for the warm welcome and hospitality presented to us by your great team. I’m pleased to convey the UAE President’s warmest regards and best wishes to you, to your government and to the people of Greece. As you know, His Highness holds Greece and its people in the highest esteem and he greatly values the very special relationship he has with you and with many friends here in this great country.
I must say, your Excellency, that it was your vision and His Highness’ vision, your commitment and your dedication that have enabled this progress and this very special relationship. We have been enjoying a very good relationship with our counterparts here in Greece. And since we signed the Comprehensive Strategic Partnership, we have seen a transformation in the Strategic Partnership and we have been able to accelerate many developments and delivered many good results.
We need now to build on the success of this relationship and expand the scope of this cooperation. As you’ve heard in your very successful visit in February in Abu Dhabi where you met with His Highness, His Highness was very clear in terms of his ambition in this relationship, as well as how much he emphasises the importance of us expanding the scope and the nature of this very important relationship. And I am hopeful that with your help, with your guidance, hopefully with also the Free Trade Agreement, that Greece and the UAE will be able to develop much more concrete opportunities that have enough skill to cater for the expansion of this very important relationship.
Your Excellency, I am today supported here with and joined by a very senior delegation that represents many important organisations within the UAE. If you allow me, I’d like to invite those who are interested just to say a couple of words to brief you on what they have done and what they plan on doing in terms of expanding our scope of cooperation. I thank you again.
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