The Prime Minister, Kyriakos Mitsotakis, underlined his plan to make Tatoi a center of culture, vocational training and rural entrepreneurship in a teleconference with the Greek Council of the Sustainable Markets Initiative of Prince Charles of Wales, which aims at recognizing the fundamental rights of a sustainable, sustainable future.
At the beginning of the teleconference, the Prince of Wales, Charles, and the Prime Minister, Kyriakos Mitsotakis made the following statements:
Prince of Wales: Good evening to all. It is with great pleasure to see you all again, even if not for life. I am grateful to all of you who were able to participate. And I am even happier that the Prime Minister is here next to me, having, very kindly, managed to make this journey. And now he is here at Dumfries House. And I must say that it was very encouraging to hear about all this discussion you have, about how we can make the Greek SMI Council a truly effective catalyst, both in Greece and internationally. And I know how crucial Greek companies are to global industry.
And let me, Mr. Prime Minister, Greece has a real opportunity to demonstrate pioneering leadership, worldwide, in the green economy. And also, I was very happy that Athens was the first city to sign the Terra Carta principles after our visit to Greece last March, when I think I met most of you on this occasion. Cities with their special weight and standard of living have a very important role to play in achieving the green goals. After all, we need urgent action because of the crises we are facing.
Cities have the unique opportunity, at the end of the day, to offer green and sustainable solutions at the community level, whether it is for energy efficient buildings, green public transport or even waste management and utilization. And Athens’s leadership, as a member of the C40, has – in a truly encouraging way – inspired other cities to explore Terra Carta as a useful roadmap for working with the private sector and investors. And I expect to highlight the example of Athens.
Now, I know we have very little time, so I can give the floor to the Prime Minister for a brief speech, and then we can listen to all the participants and have a little talk in the little time we have available, about the next steps during that. of the year. Mr. Prime Minister.
Kyriakos Mitsotakis: Your Excellency, Mr. Mayor, Distinguished Guests, Ladies and Gentlemen,
First of all, I would like to thank you for your hospitality in this impressive environment.
It was a really worthwhile trip to get a better idea of what exactly you are doing here at Dumfries House. As you know, we have committed significant resources to the restoration of Tatoi. But Tatoi should not be just a weekend destination for Athenians who want to escape the city.
It can become a real center of culture, vocational training, rural entrepreneurship. What you have accomplished here is truly remarkable. And the way you interact with the local community really offers a lot of hope to young people and a much brighter future. So thank you again for sharing these experiences with us. And I’m sure they will be used very well.
It is my honor to have been able to attend this meeting. It is very important that we can start the Greek Council of the Sustainable Markets Initiative (SMI). The participating companies are all leading in their fields. And, of course, Athens has paved the way for its transformation from a city with a legacy of environmental problems, to a model for a sustainable future. And of course, as you know and as we have discussed, the government has fully invested in the green agenda and we also intend to use significant funds available from the Recovery and Resilience Fund for this purpose, in what we call “Greece 2.0”.
We have 37% of the total resources allocated to us under this plan. The plan itself amounts to 32 billion euros. So we are talking about a total amount that exceeds 12 billion euros aimed at green transformation. And of course we have invested a lot in all aspects of this agenda. But we can not achieve it without the participation of our leading Greek companies. And it is my great pleasure that we can work systematically together in the implementation of this agenda.
We have very high ambitions when it comes to carbon offsets. We are rapidly abandoning coal and have abundant wind and solar potential in Greece, as you know very well, while launching emblematic programs to make our buildings more efficient, energy efficient. This project will probably be the most iconic funded by the Recovery and Sustainability Fund. And I have a personal, strong interest in ensuring that we preserve the unique biodiversity of Greece, which you had the opportunity to see during your numerous visits to our country.
So we would love to have a closer relationship with the SMI community. I understand that there are hundreds of companies that are pioneers in technology, important financial investors. It is precisely this cross-sectoral approach that I find fascinating in areas such as shipping, as I aspire for Greece to become a leader on the path to shipping-dependent shipping.
I’m sure we can learn a lot from this amazing network of companies you have set up. So I think this is just a first opportunity for the participants to explain a little more about what everyone does in their field, but also for us to be able to coordinate the operation of this network worldwide and what we can do in Greece. .
Thank you very much again for giving us the opportunity to exchange views with this important group of participants.
The main expression of SMI is the Terra Carta initiative. Athens is the first city to adopt the Terra Carta, in March 2021, signed by Mayor Costas Bakoyannis.
The teleconference, organized on the initiative of the Municipality of Athens, was attended by the Mayor of Athens Costas Bakogiannis, the CEO of Athens International Airport and President of SMI Greek Council Ioannis Paraschis, the President of Aegean Eftychis Vasilakis, Director of D Semiramis Paliou, the managing director of ELLAKTOR Group Efthymios Bouloutas, the managing director of Energean Mathios Rigas, the president and managing director of Vodafone Greece Haris Broumidis, Michalis Stasinopoulos, the executive member of Avo Antonis Laimos and Bank of America Vice President Paul Donofrio.
“Athens does not just welcome the future, but creates it”
Athens not only welcomes the future, but also creates it by undertaking international initiatives, said the mayor of Athens in a post on social networks after the teleconference of the Prime Minister and Prince Charles of Wales with the Greek Council of the Sustainable Markets Initiative.
“For many years, Athens has been a producer and consumer of crises, discouraging visitors and discouraging investors. These in the past. Because now, Athens not only welcomes the future, but also creates it by undertaking international initiatives. We are proud that last year we were the first city in the world to sign the Terra Carta, the text of the principles of the Sustainable Markets Initiative of Prince Charles of Wales, which raises the issue of recognition of fundamental rights of nature, together with distinguished representatives of the Greek business community. “Tonight, in the presence of Kyriakos Mitsotakis, we discussed the progress we have made and the good practices we share as members of a strong international alliance,” said Costas Bakogiannis in his post.
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