By Isabel Ovalle
Doha: On the eve of the visit to Qatar of a large Greek delegation headed by the Prime Minister Antonis Samaras tomorrow, the Secretary General for International Economic Relations and Development Cooperation of Greece, Panagiotis G Mihalos, has shared his expectations about the visit and his view on the Greek debt crisis with The Peninsula in this excerpts of an interview.
Q. What is the purpose of the Greek delegation’s visit to Qatar?
A. We want to bring our excellent relations one step forward. There are no political problems between us, only business opportunities on both sides.
Greece has accomplished a lot in the last two years. We need to present that to our international partners. The country is currently implementing a vast privatisation programme that offers huge opportunities to smart investors from around the world.
While Qatar is developing so fast that it welcomes foreign companies eager to do business here.
Greek companies have a long tradition in the Gulf countries and we want to expand our business cooperation. There are very good prospects for cooperation on various areas such as education, sports and health.
Q. Who will you meet besides the Emir and the Prime Minister?
A. The top executives from the largest Greek companies have joined us in Doha, so I will meet with Qatar Holding and Qatar Diar as well as with other business representatives. Together with the Qatar Chamber we will establish a joint Business Council that will permanently link the best companies from both sides.
Q. How much has Qatar invested in Greece?
A. Qatar has quite recently started to invest in Greece. Last year Qatar Holding invested $1.53bn in a major gold mining operation in Northern Greece. The Emir H H Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani has appreciated Greece’s natural beauty by acquiring an island in the Ionian Sea in Western Greece.
Our privatisation programme is offering opportunities in corporate assets, major real estate projects, as well as in a number of infrastructure projects related mostly to airports and ports around the country. Now is the chance to be part of this programme. In two years things will be much different.
Q. Has the situation in Greece improved thanks to foreign capital?
A. Of course it has. Greece is an open market economy. Foreign investment is most welcome because it helps our economy move forward. In major fields where there has been foreign investment, we have seen significant improvement.
Q. When was the embassy established in Doha? Are the relations strong?
A. The Greek Embassy in Doha and the Qatar Embassy in Athens were quite recently established, in 2008. Our relations have always been excellent, so establishing an embassy was a natural step, which helped a lot. There have been numerous official exchanges since then resulting in very good business for both sides.
Q. What can you tell me about the Greek community in Qatar?
A. There are around 900 Greek citizens living in Qatar employed mainly in construction projects as civil engineers and architects. There is also a significant Greek presence in the fields of academic activity, health and medicine, as well as in the public sector.
Many Greek nationals were hired during the Asian Games in 2006 and stayed. I am pleased to see the Greek community prospering in Qatar.
Q. Has it grown in the past few years due to the situation in Greece?
A. It has grown indeed, mainly due to the projects undertaken by Greek companies in Qatar. Several hundred Greeks here are engineers employed in construction projects.
At the same time, we have seen an increase in the number of people who are executives at international companies. There‘s also a significant number of Greek people who travel constantly between the Gulf countries doing business mainly in the energy, telecom and logistics sectors.
The Peninsula
