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Athens, 17 February 2023

Mexico-Greece Friendship Group official visit to Athens concluded

The official visit to Athens by the cross-party delegation of the Mexico-Greece Parliamentary Friendship Group concluded today.

In the framework of the visit, the delegation was welcomed by the Minister of Development and Investments Adonis Georgiadis, the Minister of Foreign Affairs Nikolaos Dendias and the Chairpersons of the Standing Parliamentary Committees on Economic Affairs and Educational Affairs Stavros Kalogiannis and Vassileios Digalakis respectively.

The Minister of Development and Investments Adonis Georgiadis indicated as a goal for commercial exchanges, the configuration of the legislative framework, in order to attract investments. A relevant mission to or from Mexico, shortly after the elections, would help achieve this goal, underlined the Minister and noted that Greece is supporting Mexico, a big tourist destination and a country rich in agricultural production, at all levels.

From the Mexican side, the head of the Friendship Group Mario Alberto Rodríguez Carillo, emphasised the extremely important role a Chamber could play in promoting trade and investment actions on both sides. Referring also the the cultural diversity of his country’s regions, he stressed that utilising this cultural heritage will reinforce the tertiary sector.

Closing the meeting, Mr Georgiadis stated that already several Greek businesses are supporting such an effort based on the positive image of Mexico in Greece and informed the foreign delegation about the positive prospects that are foreseen regarding the Greek economy in the next five years.

During the meeting that took place in the Foreign Ministry, Mr Dendias highlighted, inter alia, the importance our country attaches to strengthening relations with Latin American countries, in the framework of the overall EU stance vis-à-vis these countries, based on historical and cultural ties between the two sides. The Greek Minister did not fail to stress that both Greece and Mexico share the same view regarding the importance of the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), especially in terms of consolidating peace and mitigating disputes. It was then pointed out that there is ample scope for upgrading bilateral cooperation between Greece and Mexico, the second largest economy in Latin America.

In this context, the head of the Mexican delegation Mario Alberto Rodríguez Carillo referred to a recent initiative, with the medium-term goal of establishing a Chamber in his country to strengthen bilateral economic cooperation.

In the joint meeting with the Chairpersons of the Standing Parliamentary Committees of a) Economic Affairs Stavros Kalogiannis and b) Educational Affairs Vassileios Digalakis respectively, the Greek MPs referred for the most part to the fields at the centre of each Committee’s work, focusing on the prospects of strengthening bilateral cooperation in the sectors of energy, environmental protection, health services, shipping, and culture and education, respectively.

The Mexican delegation showed a keen interest in developing exchanges both on the axes of tourism and culture, as well as in creating investment channels to familiarise Greek consumers with Mexican products of denomination of origin. In this context, they expressed Mexico’s undivided and active support for the international recognition of the Greekness of “feta” cheese. They noted that the preservation of their country’s local languages is extremely important to the preservation of its cultural mosaic and pointed out that the link between education and culture has proven to mitigate crime trends.

The two sides saw in this visit the spark that will develop a multi-level and very promising cooperation.

In the framework of its official programme, the parliamentary delegation was supported throughout the meetings with Greek officials by the Deputy Chief of Mission of the Embassy of Mexico in Athens Edgar Cubero Gómez.