Mr. Chairman,
Dear Colleagues,
Ladies and Gentlemen,
It is a real pleasure for me to participate in the 27th Meeting of the Council of Ministers for Foreign Affairs of the BSEC Organisation in the hospitable city of Istanbul.
Let me thank Minister Davutoglu for his warm welcome and the Republic of Turkey as BSEC Chairman-in-Office for hosting this meeting.
As a founding BSEC Member State, my country has included the Black Sea area in the core priorities of its Economic Diplomacy Plan, by engaging, so far, a very considerable amount of resources.
Moreover, Greece has supported innovative initiatives within this Organization, such as the one concerning the promotion of Renewable Energy Resources and Green Development, targeting to explore ways to safeguard the environment and to promote green energy investments in the Black Sea Area.
It is worth mentioning the implementation of the six (6) development projects in process, selected under the first Call for Proposals and financed by the Hellenic Development Fund with a total amount of 400,000 Euros in the field of renewable energy sources and energy efficiency. Promoting Green Development also opens new opportunities for sustainable economic activities, implementation of new regional initiatives, job creation and, therefore, income generation.
Dear Colleagues,
We are all aware that the BSEC Organization, since its birth, has gradually become a point of reference in the Region. We need, now, to make sure that this becomes a result-oriented mechanism and a tool for long-term sustainable development.
Having always set as a permanent goal the safeguarding of the economic character of the BSEC Organization, Greece supports, by all means, regular functioning of the BSEC institutions and tries to minimize tensions between its Member States. This common understanding is also reflected in the Summit Declaration of Heads of State and Government of the BSEC Member States, adopted last June, in Istanbul.
“Sustainability” and “efficiency” in the BSEC Organisation are key notions for implementing our new common objectives, on concrete projects, taking into account other cooperation schemes in the Region, as agreed in the New BSEC Economic Agenda for the Future adopted by the Council in Belgrade.
At a time of worldwide crisis, BSEC should become a meeting point where the countries of the region, with the participation of international actors, will set the path for actions that will give an added value to the energy, transport, tourism, culture and to numerous other comparative advantages of the region, to the benefit of all the people in and around it.
It is of great importance to see BSEC being decisively involved in initiatives, with the aim of fostering dialogue and enhancing synergies in the wider Black Sea area, stemming from a more active BSEC-EU interaction, as the widely known “Black Sea Synergy”. Greece will spare no effort to contribute to that long-term goal especially during the forthcoming Greek Presidency of the EU Council in the first half of 2014.
It is also important to speed up the implementation of the two major BSEC projects: the Black Sea Ring Highway and the extension of the Motorways of the Sea in the BSEC Region, which, once accomplished, will greatly facilitate interaction and trade flows within our region at all levels.
Greece will continue, as it has done so far, to strongly support all BSEC Organization objectives and to allocate sustainable resources to this aim.
Mr. Chairman,
I wish to congratulate you on the coordinated efforts of the Turkish Chairmanship-in-Office to support an ambitious calendar of events, especially the Ministerial Meetings on Internal Affairs, on Transport and the Tax Forum.
I wish to thank the Secretary General as well as the BSEC PERMIS staff for their hard work so far and to encourage them to multiply their efforts on the same path, by creating more synergies within BSEC, in order to move forward, in an effective way, by using all its resources.
Let me take this opportunity to express my deep appreciation for the work accomplished by the BSEC Related Bodies, namely the Parliamentary Assembly (PABSEC), the Black Sea Trade and Development Bank (BSTDB), which has to be a real locomotive to such development, as well as the International Centre for Black Sea Studies (ICBSS), the BSEC’s think tank.
I firmly believe that all Related Bodies’ activities are a key component to our common objectives. My country is proud of hosting two of them, having contributed, thus, to the Organisation, so far, with 15 million Euros, not including the resources made available for the functioning of the BSEC Hellenic Development Fund. This considerable contribution gives the measure of both our support for and commitment to – as well as our ambitions for – this Organisation.
Dear Colleagues,
Regional economic cooperation becomes even more important in this period of global economic crisis. The turmoil of the last years has proven once again that our economies are strongly interlinked and no country can address the current challenges alone.
The EU has taken very courageous and innovative steps towards reinforcing the architecture of the Eurozone. The decisions taken a few days ago by the European Council towards a banking Union are important for the stability not only of the Eurozone but also of the global economy.
In this context, the fiscal consolidation program of my country and the decisions for the sustainability of its debt have put the Greek economy back on track and give a positive perspective for a quick exit from the crisis.
Mr. Chairman,
I would like to express, once again, our appreciation to the Turkish Chairmanship-in-Office for having successfully organized this 27th Meeting of the Council of BSEC Foreign Ministers and for their warm hospitality in the dear city of Istanbul. I conclude by wishing full success to the next Ukrainian Chairmanship-in-Office and express our readiness to support and provide assistance to its programme, looking forward to the fulfilment of our common expectations.
Dear Colleagues and Friends,
Looking forward to meeting you again in Ukraine.
Thank you very much for your attention.
December 17, 2012