Photo Credit: EUROKINISSI
The 88th Thessaloniki International Fair was visited this morning, Saturday 7 September, by Kyriakos Mitsotakis and met with the Board of Directors of TIF-HELEXPO, and then toured the stands and spoke at the inauguration ceremony of the pavilion of Germany, which is the honoured country.
HDN Newsroom
In his speech, the Greek Prime Minister said:
"Vice-Chancellor, Minister, ladies and gentlemen. First of all, let me thank Germany for accepting the invitation and challenge to be the honored country of Thessaloniki International Fair 2024. I am talking about a challenge because, Dr. Habeck, you are right to point out that we have given you a very large space to cover. If it were not for the very strong business and economic ties between our two countries, I do not believe that this would have been possible.
But the fact that we have 130 companies present here, accessible to the public to present their own stories and the strong economic ties we have between Greece and Germany, is just proof that we have built a very strong bilateral economic partnership.
You are right to point out that our historical relations have gone through fluctuations. It is also true that as Greece experienced its own economic crisis, views of Germany were sometimes distorted by the pain felt by Greek citizens.
But the truth is that we have put those years behind us. The Greek economy is now growing very fast, which means that it presents many opportunities for German companies to have a presence and invest in Greece.
We must not forget that Germany is one of the largest foreign investors in Greece. We should also not forget that during the years of the crisis, German companies remained in Greece and continued to invest in our country.
This report is therefore an opportunity to strengthen our bilateral economic ties and identify new opportunities. But because it is, as you pointed out, an international exhibition open to the general public – there don't tend to be such exhibitions nowadays – it is an opportunity for the people of Thessaloniki and for all visitors to come, have a good time and get to know what German companies really do in Greece.
I should point out that on a bilateral level there is excellent cooperation between Greece and Germany. We are facing enormous challenges. The Vice-Chancellor, for those who don't know, is particularly sensitive to the issues of the green transition and climate change. We have been directly affected by the climate crisis, as have most Mediterranean countries.
As we move into the next European cycle, we will have many interesting discussions on how to actually make the green transition a reality without compromising our goals, while maintaining the competitiveness and national character of our industries, while supporting the people who are really suffering from the climate crisis today. It is not an easy equation to solve, but we know that we have good and reliable partners participating in this dialogue.
Again, dear Minister, Robert, thank you very much for being here. It means a lot to us to have Germany as the honoured country. I am sure that because this is actually an exhibition that receives a great many visitors, all those who visit the German pavilion will also have a great time. I look forward to presenting the stand to TIF visitors. Thank you again so much for being here."
During his tour of the TIF kiosks, the Prime Minister, among other things, stopped at the stand on recycling, the environment and the protection of the ecological system in general, while immediately afterwards he watched a drone demonstration by the Greek Army.
Immediately afterwards he met with a group of young children and commented on the performance of the football teams. "Olympiacos is good, PAOK is good, but I will make my predictions in March," he quipped, according to ThessToday.
The Greek Prime Minister then met with Olympic bronze medallist in rowing Petros Gaidatzis, whom he thanked for his performance and winning the medal at the Paris Olympic Games.
Finally, Kyriakos Mitsotakis went to the Pavilion of Germany, which is the honored country of this year's Thessaloniki International Fair, and played football at the pavilion of Leipzig, sister city to Thessaloniki.
