Greek premier in Qatar to attract investments

Prime minister Antonis Samaras will be in Qatar this afternoon with the government delegation and accompanied by about 40 Greek businessmen.

Samaras is accompanied by Development minister Kostis Hatzidakis, Defense minister Panos Panagiotopoulos and deputy ministers of Development Mitarakis and Energy Papageorgiou. Today he will meet with the prime minister of Qatar and a member of the royal family, Hamad bin Jassim bin Jaber bin Muhammad Al Thani, and tomorrow with the Emir Amad Bin Khalifa Al Thani. This is the first trip of the Greek premier in a foreign country with the object of exploring the scope for development of economic relations and attracting investments. It is known that the royal family which runs the country seeks investment chances but are tough negotiators. The two sides will discuss all matters of mutual interest such as energy and tourism investments.

Efforts to strengthen economic relations were previously made by Kostas Karamanlis, who visited Qatar, and the Papandreou government. These efforts were not successful though. The leadership of Qatar favors direct interstate agreements on the areas of its interest. Samaras will show them that there can be no interstate agreements and that their interest should be expressed through international competitions.

The deals that will be concluded or even prepared by the Greek businessmen, who are already in the capital city of Doha, and  that cover a wide range of activities also seem quite interesting. Furthermore, they will establish a Hellenic - Qatari Business Council, an initiative of BSE, on improving economic relations.

The Qatari government is developing its strong economic and business activities in a broader sense. Turkish premier Erdogan is currently in Qatar and is staying at the same hotel as Samaras, accompanied by Foreign minister Ahmet Davutoğlu.