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Greek Ambassador Ioannis Metaxas: â€œThere is still a long way to go for the improvement of our bilateral economic and commercial relationsâ€- INTERVIEW

Greek Ambassador Ioannis Metaxas: â€œThere is still a long way to go for the improvement of our bilateral economic and commercial relationsâ€- <font color=red>INTERVIEW</font>

29 June 2011 08:36 (UTC +04:00)

Baku. Habil Suleymanzadeh â€“ APA. Interview with Ambassador of Greece to Azerbaijan, Mr. Ioannis Metaxas

- How is Greece recovering from the crisis? What are the latest talks with IMF and EU on loan?

- The latest communication by the Hellenic Statistics Authority - ELSTAT of quarterly GDP figures, shows a 0.8% growth during the first quarter of 2011, after almost nine consecutive quarters of stagnation. Concerning the 5th portion of the loan, the discussions of the Greek government with the representatives of the EU, the ECB and the IMF concluded and the procedures for its approval by the relevant bodies are underway. The European Commission already announced its positive assessment. The Greek Parliament is deliberating for the adoption of the Economic Policy Programme, as well as the Medium Term Fiscal Strategy, to achieve the 2011 deficit target. The privatizations and the structural reforms to restore growth and competitiveness are under implementation. The full privatization of the Greek Telecom Company OTE is already agreed upon. The Prime Minister of Greece reshuffled the Greek Government, in order to increase its efficiency. I know that there are a lot of articles in the international media concerning the Greek economic crisis. Almost all of them examine our problems in a purely economic way. However, a lot of efforts are already deployed in order to face the crisis. The Government deploys a lot of efforts to overcome it. Our partners support us, as well. It is natural that the Greek people show their fear for the future, through various public actions. I hope that these efforts will continue and Greece will soon restore a viable economic climate.

- Greece has a long and important tradition in shipping, construction, food, construction materials. What Greece might offer to Azerbaijan in these sectors?

- Indeed, Greece has a long and important tradition in shipping, constructions, construction materials and foodstuff. Greek-owned ships are already transporting Azerbaijani oil around the world. I believe you are also aware of the extra virgin olive oil of Greece, our organic honey, as well as our high quality wines and feta cheese. These products can find a place in the top Azerbaijani market. But there are also other branches of the Greek economy which are very active and gaining their place among Greeceâ€™s main industries. More specifically, Greece is very active in the pharmaceutical industry, in the alternative energy resources, in consulting, in real estate and know-how services, in high education, in fashion clothes and accessories, especially in leather and furs, as well as in other sections. Greek companies could cooperate with Azerbaijani companies in all the above mentioned fields. Actually, there are Greek companies that have already established cooperation with Azerbaijani counterparts in sectors such as pharmaceuticals, consulting services, alternative energy resources , heating/cooling systems, clothes, lottery services, as well as aluminum and isolation construction materials. The Greek Embassy is working in order to enhance trade cooperation, by organizing trade missions from and to Greece, as well as business fora. The latest business forum took place here, in Baku and both the President of Azerbaijan H.E. Ilham Aliyev and the President of Greece H.E. Karolos Papoulias participated in its opening ceremony. There is still a long way to go for the improvement of our bilateral economic and commercial relations and I am convinced that there is a strong will from both the Greek and the Azerbaijani sides for that.

- What would be benefits for Azerbaijan if the country joins ITGI?

- Greece stands ready to cooperate with Azerbaijan, in order to implement the Italy-Turkey-Greece Interconnector (ITGI) and the Greece-Bulgaria Interconnector (IGB) pipeline projects, which can allow your country to directly export, through Greece, gas to Italy, Bulgaria, Romania, Hungary and other countries of South East Europe. The overall Southeastern European Market, which can be reached through my country, will have a supply gap of 8 bcm/year by 2020 and 12 bcm/year by 2025. The combination of the design capacity of 9 bcm/year for ITGI and 3 bcm/year for IGB pipelines, with a maximum capacity of 12 bcm/year and 5 bcm/year respectively, will provide a perfect solution for matching the future available supply of Azerbaijani gas with the demand in the markets of Greece and its neighboring countries.

- In 2005, the two countries signed an agreement on tourism cooperation, which is under implementation. Two sessions of the joint committee on tourism took already place. What currently Greece might offer to Azeri travelers to attract them?

- Greece is a unique tourist destination, attracting visitors from all over the world. Each year more than 17.5 million tourists visited my country, contributing 15% to the nationâ€™s Gross Domestic Product. Conference tourism, targeted at academic, business, or cultural markets makes also part of the Greek national tourism policy. Moreover, cultural tourism, museums, archaeological sites, cultural events are strong points of Greek tourism industry. Thermal spa and family vacations are offered by high quality hotel chains in all parts of Greece. Furthermore, there is sportsâ€™ tourism such as ski activities during winter, water and other forms of sports around the whole year as well as alternative and eco-tourism. What is important for the future visitor is that we have a long history of â€œphiloxeniaâ€, which means to welcome all guests in a unique traditional hospitable way, been preserved from ancient times to nowadays and adding modern know-how and high quality trained staff of Greeks working in this sector. I would suggest to your readers to visit the official site of the Greek National Tourism Organization, under the Ministry of Culture and Tourism of Greece www.visitgreece.gr in order to find more detailed information and â€“why not- plan their next vacations.

- In 2007, the two countries signed a memorandum of cooperation in the area of oil and gas. Greece also declared its own intention to be the first EU member state to directly import gas from Azerbaijan. How is currently bilateral cooperation in energy sector?

- The Turkish company BOTAS, from which DEPA, the Greek public gas company is actually importing 0,75 bcm of gas per year, agreed in principle to transfer to SOCAR this contract. Once the agreements between Azerbaijan and Turkey on gas cooperation and transit are signed, other agreements between BOTAS, SOCAR and DEPA will be signed as well. In this way, Greece will become the first EU member state to directly import gas from Azerbaijan.

- Recently SOCAR said it would participate in tenders to buy stakes in Greek state company DEPA. How do you find SOCARâ€™s intention and how is influential DEPA in Greece?

- DEPA operates as a commercial company importing and distributing gas. The privatization process is expected to start next September. I am very pleased to hear that SOCAR is interested for the privatization of DEPA. I cannot, of course, predict the outcome of this privatization process. I can only stress that this decision shows that our two countries come closer and can effectively cooperate in the energy sector.