On June 22, the Hellenic-Kazakh business council officially launched in Greece. On the Kazakh side, the Council has been headed by the well-known economist Zhaksybek Kulekeyev, while the Greek side was led by entrepreneur and authoritative expert in the field of energy law Thomas Lamnidis, QazMonitor reports citing MFA.
The main purpose of the body is to promote Kazakh-Hellenic cooperation in the areas of trade and investment, tourism, culture and other spheres by establishing reliable connections, as well as advising interested organizations on the prospects of Kazakh and Greek economies.
The ceremony was opened by Konstantinos Fragkogiannis, the Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of Greece in charge of economic diplomacy. The diplomat stressed that Kazakhstan is a key partner of Greece in the Eurasian region, with which Athens intends to develop trade, economic and investment cooperation. The representative of the Hellenic government expressed his confidence that the platform could effectively serve the purpose of enhancing bilateral business relations.
In turn, the Ambassador of Kazakhstan Yerlan Baudarbek-Kozhatayev stressed that Kazakhstan's focus on creating favorable conditions for doing business and attracting investment to the country's economy will provide a solid foundation for building up new and expanding existing business ties.
The head of the Greek side of the Business Council, T. Lamnidis, addressed the Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs and the Ambassador of Kazakhstan, expressing great interest of the business communities of the two countries in signing the Convention on Avoidance of Double Taxation between the governments of Kazakhstan and Greece as soon as possible. The entrepreneur noted that this instrument would greatly contribute to the expansion of business contacts.
Greece is Kazakhstan's fifth-largest trading partner among the European Union member states. The annual trade turnover between the countries amounts to about $1.5 billion dollars. In Greece, there are about 100,000 ethnic Greeks who have migrated from Kazakhstan back to their historic homeland. Since June 2 of this year, airlines have launched direct flights between the countries.