The relations between Greece and the United States are very strong and will become stronger and stronger, while American investment interest is not at the end, but at the beginning of a very interesting chapter, emphasized the US Consul General in Thessaloniki Jerry Ismail, speaking at the Economist conference “The Third Metropolitan Summit: Greece’s New Roadmap after the Election, Building dependable partnerships in the region”, organized in Thessaloniki.

“Our bilateral relations are developing, never been betters, we have built close relations over the years”, said Mr. Ismail, estimating that the outcome of the next elections in the USA will not change this perspective. “Whatever happens next year in November, I doubt that it will affect the relations we have with Greece in the slightest,” he said, explaining that the confirmation of the high level of bilateral relations comes from the businesses and partnerships that have been developed.

“In recent years, the Greek government has worked hard to face the difficulties and pass painful reforms, in order to find a new balance point, to return to the investment tier, and of course to reduce bureaucracy, to strengthen the digitalization of government services to citizens, having now made the country a very attractive destination for American companies, such as Amazon , Cisco, Chubb, Deloitte, Google, Meta, Pfizer to name just a few.”

“We see more and more American companies saying that they feel Greece as their homeland. This proves that the government’s policies and the interests of the United States are aligned, and we want to have a stronger investment climate, which brings results. And we see thousands of new jobs being created, not only in Thessaloniki. We recently had the 87th TIF, and we opened with Chubb and Deloitte their offices and each of them is adding hundreds of new permanent jobs to the economy and from what we hear more are coming,” the American diplomat pointed out.

He explained that for companies investing in a country, it is very important to have stability and predictability. “Greece has taken the right steps” and what a few years ago would have been an obstacle for the country to be an attractive investment destination no longer exists.

“The key role of Greece in energy cooperation and in Ukraine”

Mr. Ismail also underlined that the interests of the two countries in the Eastern Mediterranean are aligned, making special reference to the Greece-Bulgaria interconnection pipeline, the connection with North Macedonia, the Floating Liquefied Natural Gas Regasification and Storage Unit in Alexandroupolis FSRU, stressing that Greece is the cornerstone in promoting these partnerships, “since one can no longer trust Russia’s volatile and dirty hydrocarbons.”

The consul general thanked Greece for the “pivotal”, as he described it, role he has played for Ukraine, having helped the US in supporting Ukraine as well as all allies.

“The US always supports the Greece-Turkey rapprochement”

Asked to comment on recent developments in Greek-Turkish relations, the US consul in Thessaloniki characterized “very constructive” the meeting that the Greek prime minister and the Turkish president had, on the sidelines of United Nations assembly meetings. “The US has always supported this approach between the two countries, which are our important strategic and defense partners. This can only enhance collective security, that is, two NATO members and allies talking, and we certainly appreciate the steps the Greek government has taken to achieve these openings, and we are very happy that Turkey is showing at this point that it is responding.” , he underlined.

Opportunities in education too – Need for an inclusive society and economy

The US Consul General also referred to the steps the United States and Greece have taken in opening investment opportunities in the field of education. “Educational changes remain in the foreground between the two countries, Anatolia College will have many students from the US this year, so there are many opportunities. These exchanges help make business partnerships even more convenient. The results speak for themselves. Thousands of jobs have been created here by American companies, so keep the reforms going,” he pointed out.

Finally, he underlined the need for an inclusive society and economy. “We have a duty to promote full inclusion in our workplaces, in our schools – in all the halls where decisions are made that affect our society and our economy. It is important to ensure that we tap into the potential of all our fellow citizens,” he said.