Greece’s progress will encourage investment in the country, Ambassador Pyatt tells ANA
ΣΧΕΤΙΚΑ ΑΡΘΡΑ
Greece’s progress and the clear messages regarding the importance of investments from the Greek prime minister and government will encourage investments in the country, U.S. Ambassador in Athens Geoffrey R. Pyatt said in statements to the Athens-Macedonian News Agency (ANA), during an interview given on the sidelines of a Fourth of July reception in Thessaloniki on Thursday night.
Asked whether he would urge U.S. business people to invest in Greece, Pyatt replied that he had already done so the previous week, in Washington and New York.
“I am encouraged by the progress being made, including …[Thursday’s] major announcement by the National Bank of Greece,” Pyatt told ANA. He was referring the green light given for the sale of NBG’s insurance arm National Insurance (Ethniki Asfalistiki) to Exin and Calamos Asset Management, an investment firm started by Greek-American John Calamos.
Pyatt also spoke about his visit to a construction site for the Trans-Adriatic Pipeline (TAP), saying that he had found it impressive.
“First of all there is the size of the project, the cost, the technology and the emphasis on local employment, but the most important thing for me was to see that TAP is real,” he said. TAP will be a critically important link that will help support energy diversification, not just in Greece but throughout Europe, the ambassador pointed out. With the right policies, he added, Greece can create jobs and economic growth, exploiting its “strategic geography” to promote European energy goals, “which are also U.S. energy goals.”
At the event, the ambassador announced that the U.S. will be the country of honour at next year’s Thessaloniki International Fair (TIF). “This means a lot of work for all of us but also reflects our strong commitment to the people of northern Greece,” he said.
In response to other questions, Pyatt replied that Greece and the U.S. “have very similar interests and similar perspectives” regarding the situation in the western Balkan region. “We want to see these countries progress toward Europe, the European Union, European standards and institutions. Thessaloniki is a natural gateway for them,” he said.