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Athens, 15 February 2023

Mexico-Greece Friendship Group on official visit to Athens

The Mexico-Greece Parliamentary Friendship Group is on an official visit to Athens. The members of the delegation are MPs Mario Alberto Rodríguez Carillo (head), Susana Prieto Terrazas, Maria Leticia Chávez Pérez, Ma Teresa Rosaura Ochoa Mejía, Lilia Caritina Olvera Coronel, and Jessica María Guadalupe Ortega de la Cruz. They are visiting Athens following an invitation by the Greece-Mexico Friendship Group Chairman Periklis Mantas.

During their stay in our country, the Mexican delegation is meeting with Ministers and parliamentary delegations from the Parliament’s Committees, to further strengthen bilateral contacts in fields of common interest.

The meeting of the Mexican MPs with the Minister of Culture and Sports Lina Mendoni was the first to take place. During the meeting, reference was made, inter alia, to the long-standing issue of the illicit trafficking of cultural goods, with both sides expressing the interest to work together, both on taking measures to counter this phenomenon, and on the protection of cultural heritage in general. Furthermore, Mrs Mendoni pointed out that the Minister of Culture of Mexico has taken a clear position in favour of the Greek request to reunite the Parthenon Marbles. Then, in the context of deepening intercultural cooperation to highlight Mexico's and Greece's cultural heritage, the interest was expressed to co-organise an annual cultural festival and take joint actions with the contribution of the Embassies and the participation of museums from both countries. In general, the joint effort to establish a strong legislative framework regarding bilateral relations in the political, economic and cultural fields, was emphasised, this visit constituting a springboard for substantive dialogue.

In the meetings that followed, a) with the Chairman of the Greece-Mexico Parliamentary Friendship Group and b) with the Chairman and Secretary of the Special Permanent Committee on Research and Technology, issues of common interest were raised, on which the two sides agreed to act in concert, in order to draw the maximum benefits possible.

In particular, the Chairman of the Greece-Mexico Friendship Group Periklis Mantas saw a broad prospect of cooperation in the fields of education and culture. At the same time, he mentioned possibilities of strengthening relations in the fields of energy, trade, health services, the pharmaceutical and defence industry.

In the meeting with the Chairman Christos Tarantilis and the Secretary Ahmet Ilhan of the Special Permanent Committee on Research and Technology, Mr Tarantilis underlined the main scope and tasks of the Committee, indicating the use of research at Greek universities and research centres, as one of the main elements to tackle brain drain. Among other things, he referred to the possibilities provided by the new institutional framework for Higher Education Institutions and Research Centres to actively participate in job creation through spin-off companies, where innovative products will be created to facilitate the cooperation of researchers with businesses. Competence structures/centres that seek to connect universities with businesses for the production of innovative services also work in this direction. Subsequently, the Secretary of the Committee Ahmet Ilhan saw the necessity to shield the state in the digital sector, in order to facilitate developments in every field and emphasised the assistance provided by the EU in matters of cyber security.

Lastly, the head of the Mexican delegation Mario Alberto Rodríguez Carillo, referring to the issues that concern both countries, such as brain-drain, cyber security and technological development, did not fail to underline that cooperation is a one-way street to address the challenges that come with globalisation.