Wind turbines in the Aegean with an interconnection cable between Turkey and the Greek islands, further tourism cooperation after the visa express, but also cooperation in shipping and shipbuilding industryhealth and education, were some of the areas that fell on the dialogue table as ideas of the Greek-Turkish business forum that took place over the weekend in Istanbul.
The head of Tayyip Erdogan’s Communication Directorate, Fahrettin Altun
A few hours before the Mitsotakis-Erdogan meeting in Ankara, one of the closest associates of the Turkish president, the head of the Communication Directorate Fahreddin Altun stated that “we live in a period in which strong, stable and prosperous regional actors should be active. We are going through a period where regional actors like Turkey and Greece should solve their own problems within the framework of mutual understanding and national interests, without the need for guidance, tutelage and pressure from third parties.”
The Under Secretary of State Costas Fragogiannis he became more specific, noting that the meetings of the two sides discussed issues in important areas such as entrepreneurship and investment, customs cooperation, tourism, sports, education, technology, research and innovation.
The businessmen
From left: the president of the Hellenic-Turkish Council Adnan Polat, the head of Tayyip Erdogan’s Communication Directorate Fahrettin Altun and Byron Nikolaidis, ceo of PeopleCERT
Even closer cooperation is sought by the business community of the two countries. The president of the Hellenic-Turkish Council, Adnan Polat, himself an entrepreneur of Renewable Energy Sources with a presence in Greece, referred to the huge prospects created by the common area of the two countries, the Aegean, in which wind farms can be developed, while he emphasized the possibility and direct electrical interconnection not only of the continental areas of the two countries, but also directly from the Turkish coast to the Greek islands. In addition, he added that transport and logistics are two areas of closer cooperation between the two countries.
From the side of Byron Nikolaidiss, CEO of the largest Greek unicorn of PeopleCERT, pointed out that Turkey for Greece is a big market with huge potential, while for Turkey Greece is a unique gateway to the European Union.
The general director of IOBE Nikos Vettas, referred to the critical decisions that the two countries have to make, with the most important being whether they will choose to compete or cooperate. He raised at the forum three areas that, if there is an agreement, could contribute to the achievement of the goal of cooperation between the two countries: The support of shipping and the shipbuilding industry could be one area. Another could be the broader health sector (medicine, elderly care, etc.) and a third that of higher education and research.
The mayor of Mytilene Panagiotis Christofas, commented on the impressive acceptance of the 7-day visa express, which costs 60 euros per visitor, since April 1st, which allowed Turkish citizens to visit the island with rapid procedures. The measure has been implemented since April and the results are impressive. Within a few weeks, three times as many tourists arrived in Lesvos, Samos, Chios, Kos and Rhodes than in the same period last year. The president of Marketing Greece and CEO of REDS, Ioanna Dretta, spoke about the successful implementation of this measure, while Maria Sarafoglou, director of the Aegean Airlines office in Turkey, emphasized the great demand for travel to and from Istanbul, noting that only last year Aegean operated 136,000 passengers on the Athens-Istanbul route. This year, 53,000 passengers have already flown in the first quarter, a sign that last year’s record is likely to be approached by the middle of the year.
#Mitsotakis #Erdogan #agenda #RES #visa #express #shipbuilding #industry
