The Greek Minister of Investment and Development said that Greece hopes to import renewable energy from Saudi Arabia to enhance its position as the European energy center. At the 6th Future Investment Initiative Forum held in Riyadh, Adonis Grujiyadi said in an interview that Saudi Arabia is developing a plan to export green hydrogen to the Greek Republic.

Saudi Arabia will produce the largest green hydrogen gas field on the earth. The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is building the world's largest green hydrogen plant on NEOM, which is expected to be online in 2025. We will also build a cable to let electricity flow from the Kingdom to Europe. Grujiyadi said that this move will undoubtedly be welcomed by a continent concerned about its energy security. Negotiations are under way to determine how the two countries will contact. Once an agreement is reached, a memorandum of understanding will be signed.

Foreign Direct Investment and Greek Economic Growth

Grujiyadi is optimistic about the future of the Greek economy. After experiencing the tests and tribulations of the Eurozone debt crisis in the previous decade, the country achieved a record growth in 2022. Our forecast is that our growth rate will exceed 2% in 2023, although unfortunately, many European countries will fall into recession. If we do this in 2023, it will be a good score.

In 2022, the level of foreign direct investment in Greece is the highest, the tourism industry has set a new record of income, and the export has reached a new historical high. We will grow by more than 5% and close to 6%, which is very beneficial to European standards. Grujiyadi believes that foreign direct investment and exports will become the main contributors to growth in 2023, and more investment may come from Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. In July, when Saudi and Greek officials held a meeting during the visit of Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman to Athens, the discussion focused on joint ventures in the fields of communications, transport, logistics and energy. In addition, a number of agreements and memorandums of understanding were signed, with a total value of approximately US $3.7 billion.

The First Saudi Greek Council

Grujiyadi said that he would attend the first commercial committee meeting between the two countries. The first session of the Council will be held in Athens next week. Many private enterprises from the two countries have begun to sign agreements and integrate together, opening a new era of our economic relations. Our efforts are to find a way to balance our economic relations and achieve the same level of excellence as the political level.

The private sector of Saudi Arabia and Greece also announced a strategic partnership to establish a data cable between the two countries in order to establish a data cable during the Crown Prince's visit. STC Group announced that its subsidiary, the Middle East and North Africa Hub, will cooperate with the Greek telecommunications company TSSA to establish a data corridor extending from the Kingdom to Europe and connecting Europe and Asia through the submarine modern high-capacity ground optical fiber network.

The project aims to position the two countries as an Oriental Digital Station, through which Europe can reach the Middle East, Africa and the Asian continent. In addition to 21 investment agreements, Saudi Arabia and Greece signed an agreement to promote digital transformation and innovation in the energy sector, including cybersecurity, while striving to develop high-quality partnerships to localize materials, products and services related to all energy sectors and their related supply chains and technologies.Editor/Xing Wentao