Greece looks to China for support in economic recovery: minister

ATHENS - Greece is looking to China for precious support in efforts to boost growth to the benefit of both sides, Greek Finance Minister Yannis Stournaras told the 3rd Hellenic Chinese Business Partnering Conference here on Monday.

Addressing the event which was organized by the Foundation for Economic and Industrial Research and the Business Confucius Institute at the Athens University of Economics & Business, Stournaras stressed the strong ties which connect the two countries for years and the great potential for future enhanced cooperation.

"In order to support economic recovery and further progress we work hard to boost innovative extrovert businesses, to encourage Greek and foreign direct investments and strengthen exports of products and services,"Stournaras said.

"We are looking forward to the significant contribution of Greek and Chinese enterprises in this direction,"added the minister.

The Greek minister assured that Greece today is a safe investment destination, pointing to recent positive news, such as the confirmation of the 2013 budget primary surplus by Eurostat after six years of steep recession.

"Overall we think that we are going to have positive growth this year. As months go by all indicators improve month by month,"he told Xinhua.

"Greece has come out of the crisis much stronger and this is the message I want to send to China,"Stournaras concluded.

Chinese Ambassador to Greece Zou Xiaoli also expressed confidence in the prospects of Sino-Greek collaboration at the meeting.

"Greece is the gate to Europe for Chinese entrepreneurs,"he said.

Zou encouraged Greek businessmen to visit China and get first-hand knowledge of that huge market.

The one-day forum aimed to encourage discussion between Greek and Chinese businessmen.

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