As part of a business tour of the capitals of the Eastern Mediterranean and the Balkans, a delegation from the Moscow government completed a visit to Athens, where it concluded an agreement with the local mayor’s office on cooperation in a number of areas. This was announced on September 27 by the Minister of the Moscow Government, Head of the Department of Foreign Economic and International Relations of Moscow Sergei Cheremin.
“We had a meeting with the mayor of Athens, Kostas Bakoyannis. Its most important result was the signing of a cooperation program between the Moscow government and the Athens City Hall for 2022-2024. It defines the directions of partnership between the two cities in the areas of transport development, urban planning policy, preservation of historical heritage, culture, sports and ecology, ”he said.
According to Cheremin, the Mayor of Athens paid special attention to the importance of exchanging experience in ensuring sustainable economic and social development of the two cities, ecology and combating climate change. They also discussed the prospects for holding the Days of Moscow in Athens next year, and as a reciprocal step – the Days of Athens in Moscow.
For his part, the minister pointed to the great potential of investment cooperation, recalling that, according to rating agencies, Moscow is currently “one of the most attractive regions for foreign investors not only in Europe, but throughout the world.” Moreover, there are thousands of foreign companies operating in the Russian capital, including those from Greece, he said.
As Cheremin noted, achievements in the development of public transport, infrastructure, education and medicine, smart city and video surveillance technologies, information systems for managing the social sphere, traffic, as well as electronic educational resources, put Moscow on the list of leaders in the development of urban technologies. which played an important role in overcoming the negative consequences of the pandemic.
Cheremin added that the current level of development of the city allows the Russian capital to host international events of any scale, and said that Bakoyannis received an invitation to Athenian schoolchildren to take part in the Olympics of megacities, which will be held in Moscow in December this year.
At the same time, Cheremin said that at a meeting of the Moscow delegation with the leadership of the Greek company STASY, which is responsible for managing the Athens metro, he spoke in detail about the successes of the Russian capital in the development of underground, railway and electric transport.
At the same time, the parties discussed the possibility of launching a project called “Twinning the Moscow and Athens metros” as an integral part of the upcoming Days of Moscow in Athens. This project provides for the creation of branded rolling stock dedicated to the history and culture of Russia and Greece.
Among other things, as part of the visit of the Moscow delegation to the Chamber of Commerce and Industry (CCI) of Athens, a round table was held on the interaction of the business communities of the two countries, during which the President of the CCI Ioannis Bratakos and the President of the Moscow Chamber of Commerce and Industry (MCCI) Vladimir Platonov shared their experience support for entrepreneurs during a pandemic and emphasized the need to intensify international cooperation.
Earlier, on September 26, it became known that the authorities of Uzbekistan and Russia are preparing a cooperation program for 2022–2026. It was noted that today 151 joint investment projects worth about $ 15 billion are already being implemented. Now the parties have agreed to intensify work on the preparation of a portfolio of new trade agreements and investment projects.