Athens News Agency: News in English, 07-02-14

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From: The Athens News Agency at <http://www.ana.gr/>

CONTENTS

[01] Closer economic ties between Greece, UAE

[01] Closer economic ties between Greece, UAE

On her part, the Greek FM met with Sheikh Mohammad Bin Zayed El Nahian and with her counterpart Sheikh Abdullah Bin Zayed Al Nahian.

The meetings reaffirmed the very good political relations between the two countries and the need to upgrade bilateral economic relations. The meetings also focused on the Middle East problem, and in particular, the Palestinian issue in the aftermath of an agreement between Hamas and Fatah to form a national unity government. Discussions also included the situation in Iran and Iraq.

Addressing a business forum, Bakoyannis urged for closer bilateral relations and called entrepreneurs from both countries to exploit opportunities offered by Greece and UAE.

"Most of the 90 major Greek firms included in our delegation are eager to share their experience and to establish strategic economic partnerships," the Greek Foreign Minister said.

Bakoyanni and the Foreign Deputy Minister Evripides Stylianidis, who is accompanying her on the visit, presented Greece as a regional centre of a wider market with 250 million consumers in the Balkans, the Black Sea region and the eastern Mediterranean.

On his part, Stylianidis cited what he called a "massive business expansion of Greek businesses in our immediate neighborhood, Greek direct investments in Albania, FYROM and Serbia bringing Greece first in Foreign Direct Investments (FDIs); second in Bulgaria and third in Romania."

"As far as the banking sector is concerned, more than 1.200 Greek branches operate in the SE European region, increasing their market share to 20 percent. Last year, the National Bank of Greece bought the majority of the shares of a large Turkish Bank, FinansBank, whereas Eurobank bought out the majority of the shares of another Turkish Bank, TekfenBank. However, for this decade, the southeast European region is not the only one of importance to our economic diplomacy. The Black Sea region and the broader region of the Middle East, including the Gulf States, are of equal significance for us too," Stylianidis added.

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