The two sides agree to activate joint business ventures and cooperation
His Excellency George Stathakis Minister of Economy and Maritime Transport, Tourism and Infrastructure received a UAE delegation of industrialists & businessmen including H.E Sultan Mohammad Majid Ali, UAE Ambassador to Greece, H.E Khamis Juma Buamim, Chairman Drydocks World and Maritime World, Dr. Ali Obaid Al Dhaheri, Governor of OPEC UAE & Chief Executive Officer of Abu Dhabi National Tanker Company and National Gas Shipping Company Limited (ADNATCO and NGSCO) and Rashid Al Habsi Chief Executive, Tasneef the Emirates Authority for Maritime Classification at his office in Athens.
Welcoming the delegation which represented the maritime sector of the UAE, he highlighted the importance of the visit & his interest in developing relations to strengthen cooperation, create networking opportunities and exchange of visits between businessmen of the two countries to increase economic and investment cooperation in all areas.
HE Sultan Mohammad Majid Al Ali, Ambassador of the United Arab Emirates to Greece, thanked the Minister for his welcome and highlighted the special relation between the two countries. He stressed the importance of working on the development of mutually beneficial initiatives in several areas while underlining the role of the leadership of the private sector in both countries in developing economic trade relations and encouraging business investments. The ambassador welcomed the interactions between businessmen and industrialists of the two countries.
Commenting on the visit HE Khamis Juma Buamim said “We would like to express our heartfelt thanks to His Excellency the Minister for receiving us and for his interest in the UAE maritime industry. The traditional Emirati relationship to the sea has a likeness to the historic relationship Greeks have with the sea. We have learned from & relied on the maritime sector as a source of livelihood, communication, cultural, commercial and economic trade with the world. There are strong relationships in this sector between the UAE and Greece. Greece sits on the throne of commercial maritime and world shipping having over 4532 ships, supporting maritime innovation, industry, shipbuilding and repair, while improving technical solutions in ship repair & maintenance, shipbuilding, services, offshore supply and refueling. We appreciate the pioneering position played by Greek maritime companies and ship owners and are extremely keen to build strong and excellent relations with our partners in Greece“.
The delegation discussed ways to strengthen and develop relations in different fields which would promote business and investment in the marine industry, maritime transport, oil and logistics and the importance of exchanging experiences and ideas with their Greek counterparts. The parties agreed to communicate and work to strengthen economic investment cooperation and trade between the UAE and Greece.
The delegation also attended a private dinner held by the businessmen and owners of Greek ships. The attendees exchanged views on the future of economic trade, facilitation of business opportunities, registration of Greek ships under the UAE flag & the potential opportunities for Tasneef in the Greek maritime sector.
Greece owns the largest fleet of ships in the world with a commercial shipping fleet of over 4530 ships which include 2215 general cargo and bulk carriers & over 1400 tankers for transporting petroleum products & chemicals. The fleet comprises over 900 types of vessels including yachts, cruise liners & passenger ferries. Almost 600 vessels sail under the Greek flag making it the third largest registered flag carrier in the world.
According to agency shipping data the total capital used by Greek ship owners to buy new or used ships was Euro 12.21 billion in 2014. 17% of these transactions were done through Greek companies operating in the UAE. In addition Euro 9 billion worth of business was generated through UAE which is a critical link between the maritime businesses in Europe and the Far East and a further Euro 6.5 billion was generated by business investments and bunker refueling initiatives.
The total number of orders for new ships until 2016 by Greek companies is 502 container ships, oil tankers and liquefied natural gas carriers with a total capacity 47.5 million tons which will see Greek ships owners invest more than $25 billion in the construction, repair and renovation of ship programs.
The two sides agreed to activate joint business ventures and cooperation, implementing marine industry projects in order to increase joint investments, facilitate and support the Greek and UAE companies wishing to strengthen their presence in the Greek and European markets and in attracting more Greek companies to work and invest in the UAE.
Source and Image Credit: Drydocks World
