Greek Ambassador Dimitrios Letsios told Abdul Hannan Tago of Arab News that in most cases Saudi citizens can now get Schengen visas for hassle-free entry into the European Union within 48 hours.
In an exclusive interview on the occasion of Greece’s National Day, Letsios said that Saudi Arabia happens to be the ninth most important destination for Greek products.
As MENAFN – Arab News reported, he stated that, “Saudi Arabia has a favorable balance of trade towards Greece due to oil and its derivatives, which are a dominant element of Greek imports.”
He also stressed that the “visitors flow increase, as well as people-to-people contacts between Greece and Saudi Arabia is one of Greece’s major goals. In the past, Saudis knew Greece very well and used to visit our country often. Unfortunately, in recent years, the image of Greece in Saudi Arabia has been somewhat distorted by inaccurate media reports. The actual aim here is to facilitate the issuance of visas for Saudi citizens as much as possible.”
According to Letsios, “The promotion campaign for Greece as an attractive tourist destination within the Saudi market, as well as the re-opening of direct flight connection between Athens, Thessaloniki and other Greek tourist destinations with Riyadh and other major cities in Saudi Arabia, are key contributors to the development of bilateral tourism relations.”
He noted that April 12 to 17, a 14-member Greek delegation from the food sector will visit Jeddah and Dammam. “They will have business-to-business meetings with Saudi companies in both cities. The Hellenic Export Promotion Organization (HEPO) organizes this business mission in close cooperation with the Office for Economic and Commercial Affairs of the Greek Embassy in Jeddah and the Chambers of Commerce in Jeddah and Dammam respectively.”
As he underlined during his interview to Arab News, Greece will also participate for a second year with 14 Greek companies in the BIG5 SHOW, an international exhibition in Jeddah for the building material sector.
Finally, he said that, “Most Saudi investors are interested in buying homes in various tourist destinations in Greece and recently, a relatively small interest has been seen for transferring Saudi Arabian funds to Greece to participate in different programs of selling spa-resorts or hotels.”
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