Davos – Greek PM Mitsotakis: We invest in infrastructures that upgrade Greece to an energy hub

Yesterday afternoon, Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis had a meeting with the CEO of the high-tech company Intel, Patrick Gelsinger, as part of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.

Excellent job

During the meeting with Mr. Gelsinger, the investment opportunities offered by Greece and the possibilities of cooperation were discussed.

Intel’s CEO congratulated the prime minister on Greece’s performance in recent years. “You did an excellent job, in difficult circumstances,” he said characteristically.

Earlier the prime minister had a meeting with the president of Moldova Maia Sandu. Challenges arising from Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and Moscow’s instrumentalization of natural gas exports were discussed.

Pillar of energy security

The prime minister underlined that Greece is investing in the development of infrastructure that will further upgrade its role as a hub for the inflow of energy in southern Europe, but also as a pillar for strengthening energy security and uninterrupted supply of the wider region, including Moldova.

Kyriakos Mitsotakis congratulated Ms. Sandu on the fact that Moldova has undertaken the organization of the next session of the European Political Community and expressed his support for the European perspective of the country.

The other meetings

Among others, Mitsotakis met with the CEO of Coursera, Jeff Maggioncalda, with whom he discussed the importance of training and re-education as the march of technology is changing the labour market. The prime minister said that Greece has adopted active employment policies, with emphasis on acquiring digital skills, on valid certification, the development of technical education and on a better connection of education with the needs of the market.

Mitsotakis also met with the Chief Investment Officer of Singapore’s GIC group, Jeffrey Jaensubhakij, with whom he discussed the strong growth and excellent prospects of the Greek economy. The meeting was held in the context of strengthening bilateral ties, following a meeting between Mitsotakis and his Singapore counterpart Lee Hsien Loong in December on the sidelines of the EU-ASEAN summit and of a major tourism investment by GIC in Greece.

The Greek premier also met AstraZeneca’s Board Chairman Leaf Johansson. They discussed the importance of the public health systems, which was particularly highlighted during the pandemic.

Mitsotakis additionally met with the CEOs of Allianz, Oliver Bäte, and of Coca-Cola Company, James Quincey, with whom he discussed the potential of the Greek economy and the challenges of the world economy in the midst of the energy and inflation crisis.

On the sidelines of the Forum, Mitsotakis took part in a debate organised by the initiative “The Tomorrow Partnership” of the Tony Blair Institute for Global Change, which focuses on the development of new technologies and digitisation to resolve major challenges for public policy, such as reinforcing public health and equal access to modern education.

Mitsotakis presented Greece’s achievements in the digitisation of state transactions and services to the citizens, while he had the opportunity to exchange views with representatives of technology and software development firms.