The Arab-Hellenic Chamber kickstarted its events of the year on a good note. On February 25th, the 6th “Meet the Arab Ambassadors” Roundtable Discussion and the 5th Workshop “Doing Business in the Arab Word” were convened in Olympia Hall at the Divani Caravel Hotel, ending with the annual Chamber’s members’ get-together for the pita cutting and networking. In these three events, we were pleased to host 88 businessmen representing 67 Greek companies.
The day’s events started with the opening ceremony and the introduction by Mr. Rashad Mabger, the Secretary General who spoke on behalf of the President, Mr. Harris Geronikolas, and the Vice President of the Chamber, Mr. Suheil Sabbagh. During his speech, Mr. Mabger paid tribute to Kuwait for the celebration of its national day, wishing the Kuwaiti people and Government steady progress and achievements.
Then, the Dean of Arab Ambassadors and Ambassador of Saudi Arabia, Dr. Saad Alammar, delivered a speech around the positive and friendly relations between Greece and the Arab world. We were honored that Mr. Harry Theoharis, Member of the Hellenic Parliament, and candidate for the position of Secretary General of UN Tourism, honored our event with his presence. In his brief greetings, Mr. Theoharis reiterated his intention to foster stronger Arab-Greek relations in all business and cultural domains, as he has done so in the past during his term as Minister of Tourism and Vice Minister of Economy. Then, the Greek Secretary General for International Economic Relations, Mr. Dimitris Skalkos, took the floor to welcome the Arab Ambassadors and Greek participants. In his speech, Mr. Skalkos referred to the Hellenic Government’s efforts in enhancing Greek – Arab cooperation and outlined Greece’s potential as a business and investment hub.
A special presentation followed by Mr. Kyriakos Pozrikidis, Managing Director of TIF HELEXPO S.A., who introduced the Thessaloniki International Exhibition, its rich history and role as the most important international exhibition in Greece.
Then the 6th Roundtable “Meet the Arab Ambassadors” started with its first session, moderated by Rashad Mabger and the participation of Their Excellencies the Ambassadors Dr. Saad Alammar of Saudi Arabia, Mr. Mouayed Saleh of Iraq, Mr. Mohammed Sbihi of Morocco, Mr. Omar Amer Youssef of Egypt, Mr. Mansour Saad Alolaimi of Kuwait and Mr. Zuhair Ensour of Jordan. The speakers took turns discussing their respective countries’ relations with Greece and the investment and other prospects for higher bilateral trade and stronger business ties.
The second session, featured Their Excellencies Ambassadors Ms. Souad Trabelsi of Tunisia and Mr. Ali Khalfan Al-Mansouri of Qatar, the three Chargés d’Affaires Mr. Firas Al Rashidi of Syria, Dr. Amjd N. Elyas of the Sudan, Mr. Marwan Francis of Lebanon and Ms Adra Benboudiaf, 1st Secretary for Foreign Affairs at the Embassy of Algeria. The speakers, moderated by Prof. Dr. Haris Lambropoulos, President of the Hellenic Development Bank of Investments and Board Member of the Arab-Hellenic Chamber, shed light on their countries’ environment for investment and preferable sectors for the increase of trade balance and business cooperations and partnerships with Greece.
After the networking lunch, the 5th Workshop “Doing Business in the Arab World” began its deliberations. A favourite among the Greek SMEs, this Workshop has become a tradition for Greek businessmen who wish to enter the Arab markets or expand their business activities therein. As introduction to the session, Mr. Takis Kakayannis, Trade Commissioner and former President of the Greek Community in Morocco, briefly introduced the culture of doing business in Morocco. Mr. Spyros Xanthis, Managing Director of EUROSOL HELLAS S.A. (EUROSOL GROUP) and Board Member of the Arab-Hellenic Chamber, moderated the panel that followed, which included presentations by the Commercial Attaches at the Embassies of Greece: Ms. Afroditi Iconomou in Algiers, Mr. Stamatios Zachariadis in Tunis, Mr. Evangelos Dairetzis in Cairo, and the staff members of the B5 Directorate at the Greek Ministry of Foreign Affairs who handle Iraq and Saudi Arabia, Ms. Maria Foka and Ms. Maria Moraki respectively.
At the end of the two events, the Greek participating companies’ representatives had the opportunity to meet the Commercial Attaches for a close-up discussion and acquaint themselves with other requirements of the Arab markets.
After these two informative events, the annual members’ get-together took place in a festive and friendly atmosphere with the traditional pita cutting and a lottery of gifts offered by member companies of the Chamber.
The Arab-Hellenic Chamber would like to thank all those who participated in these events and extend its appreciation to all its members in Greece and the Arab World for their enthusiastic support of our activities. We look forward to welcoming you to the 2nd Arab-Hellenic Maritime Conference on 25-26 June.
To download photos of the events, please click here.
The member-companies who offered gifts at the pita-cutting event were:
