A Memorandum of Cooperation was signed today between Export Credit Greece S.A. (General Secretariat for International Economic Relations and Extroversion of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs) and the European Investment Bank (EIB) Group, the financing arm of the European Union, in the presence of Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Harry Theoharis. The Memorandum lays the foundations for substantial, multi-year cooperation aimed at exploring and developing synergies to strengthen the extroversion of Greek businesses and the expansion of their activities outside Greece.
This cooperation is expected to contribute to the promotion of strategic initiatives such as Global Gateway and Team Greece. The Global Gateway Strategy is a European development initiative for investment in critical sectors such as climate, energy, health, education and research in regions of Africa, the Western Balkans, Asia and Latin America. Our country’s active involvement in the Global Gateway Strategy is ensured through Team Greece, which is responsible for informing Greek businesses and public bodies in a timely manner about investment opportunities within the framework of the Strategy.
The Memorandum provides, among other things, for:
• making use of opportunities in sectors of mutual interest;
• cooperation in the design, structuring and implementation of both funded (such as loans) and unfunded (such as guarantees and risk-sharing arrangements) financial instruments;
• the expansion of export activities.
The Memorandum was signed by the CEO of Export Credit Greece S.A., Efi Deli, and the Vice-President of the European Investment Bank (EIB), Ioannis Tsakiris.
Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Harry Theoharis stated: “The Memorandum of Cooperation signed today is part of our broader reform work to strengthen economic diplomacy and implement the national extroversion strategy. The tools for financing the export and development initiatives of our country’s businesses — particularly small and medium-sized ones — are being significantly strengthened today. Our country’s initiative for an institutional and organised partnership with the EIB is expected to open the way for businesses and organisations to make use of investment opportunities in a rapidly changing international environment. Systematising our cooperation will help to highlight Greece’s economic and commercial position at international and regional level.”
The Vice-President of the EIB, Ioannis Tsakiris, stated: “The European Investment Bank has both the capacity and the expertise to mobilise capital and develop instruments that strengthen the competitiveness of European businesses internationally. Today’s signing of the Memorandum of Cooperation with Export Credit Greece, under the auspices of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, is another important step in supporting Greek exporting businesses in their efforts to broaden their international presence. Through this cooperation, we aim to make use of our experience in designing financing solutions and guarantee instruments, in order once again to support in practice the extroversion of the Greek economy — this time, however, within the framework of European strategies such as Global Gateway and Team Europe.”
The CEO of Export Credit Greece S.A., Efi Deli, stated: “Our cooperation with the European Investment Bank is a significant development in the transformation of Export Credit Greece (ECG) into a modern national Export Credit Agency (ECA) supporting the exports and investments of Greek businesses abroad, actively promoting the extroversion of the Greek economy. Our country’s relationship with the EIB is one of trust and long-term economic cooperation for the sustainable development of the Greek economy. With today’s Memorandum of Cooperation, we are joining forces and laying the foundations for the joint development and implementation of appropriate financing schemes and instruments to support the export, investment and, more generally, international activity of Greek businesses.”
The signing was attended by the Secretary General for International Economic Relations and Extroversion of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Dimitris Skalkos; the Vice-President of EBEA, Sofia Kounenaki-Efraimoglou; the President of the Panhellenic Exporters Association, Alkiviadis Kalampokis; and the CEO of Enterprise Greece, Marinos Giannopoulos.
