The two-day visit of Foreign Minister Dora Bakoyannis to the United Arab Emirates was held in a friendly and productive atmosphere, stated foreign ministry spokesman George Koumoutsakos on Friday.

He stressed that talks during the visit had focused on the political and economic aspect of bilateral relations.

The foreign minister expressed Greece’s interest in Middle East developments and hailed the Mecca Agreement reached by Hamas and Fatah to form a coalition government, underlining the decisive role played by the intervention of Saudi Arabia to this end, said Koumoutsakos.     

Invitations to visit Greece were conveyed to the UAE President and the Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi on behalf of Hellenic President Karolos Papoulias and Prime Minister Costas Karamanlis respectively.  

Representatives of 90 Greek firms making up the business delegation that accompanied the foreign minister had contacts with a total 200 companies in the UAE, finalizing over 5-million-euro worth of contracts in a number of economic sectors. Within this framework, the representatives of 10 major UAE companies are expected to visit Greece shortly, while protocols of cooperation were signed between SEV (Federation of Greek Industries) and the Chambers of Commerce and Industry of Abu Dhabi and Dubai.        

The foreign ministry spokesman also mentioned that three Greek embassies have opened recently in Manila, Philippines, in Hanoi, Vietnam and Doha, Qatar, while a new consulate is scheduled to open in Guangzhou, China in May.

Source: Athens News Agency

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