Special Edition “Crisis Precipitates Evolution” Dear Reader,
Harris Geronikolas President
In the recent years, we have been faced by numerous challenges: the conflicts in the Middle East, the world economic crisis, climate change and Covid -19 emergency, for which we were hoping to soon breath sigh of relief as the pandemic fears were slowly fading. To our disbelief, we are now confronted by another major challenge in Europe – war in Ukraine, the repercussions of which will be felt in wider economic landscape. In addition to human losses, the communities will be destroyed, development of the social and economic fabric will be disrupted and increase in energy and commodity prices will follow. Human nature tends to cling to hope in times of despair and crisis and so we hope that the voice of reason will prevail and there will soon be an end to all the wars – in Ukraine, but also in our region in the Middle East and elsewhere. As far as our Chamber is concerned, we have to continue with businessas-usual. This year, we have been planning to have only in-person meetings. Coinciding with publication of this issue of MAN, we have been preparing the second business gathering that links Greece with 5 Mashriq countries (Iraq – Jordan – Lebanon – Palestine - Syria) and we sincerely hope that it will mark a good restart point for all of them. The resources, the potential and all the other ingredients for improving the trade balance and investment flow between the two sides are there. One only needs to embark on initiatives and explore each other’s opportunities – and that is what the Arab-Hellenic Chamber’s event is offering - discussions, networking and closing deals under one roof.
www.arabhellenicchamber.gr
Rashad Mabger Secretary General
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Another significant event, the Greek - Egyptian Business Gathering will take place on 1st June 2022. Greece and Egypt enjoy strong and long cultural and historical ties - among the longest relations in history between two nations. Both have already been engaging in strategic relations and high-profile projects, however, there are still awaiting enormous opportunities in every domain for those who want to grasp them. This is a call for the private sectors of Egypt and Greece and every interested party in this important gathering to actively participate and take advantage of this momentum. Ahead of two spiritual occasions, we wish Ramadan Kareem to our Arab audience and Happy Easter to our Greek friends. We hope to see you all again on June 1st.
