Greek Environment, Energy and Climate Change Minister Giannis Maniatis completed a series of meetings in the United States today, regarding issues on common energy policy and attract possible American capital in the field. Amongst others, Maniatis had meetings with top-level officials from the White House, the National Security Council and the State Department of Labor. The Greek Minister arrived in the US earlier this week and has held meetings in Washington and New York.
Talking to Athens Macedonian News Agency on Thursday, Maniatis underlined that during his visit, he stressed Greece’s potential role as a hub of growth and regional collaboration, contributing to the area’s security and “presented the large round of concessions of sea areas in the Ionian Sea and the south of Crete, which offer huge potential in locating hydrocarbon reserves.” Furthermore, Maniatis said that “Greece, in reality, is the new axis supporting the energy security of the 28 EU member-states, a role we promote and, I am happy to say, one that is perfectly understood here in the United States.”
Maniatis met with representatives of the expatriate Greek community in the United States and discussed the ways to strengthen bilateral relations, in order to promote Greece’s interests in the energy field but also its national issues. Presenting the new complete strategy over the country’s energy policy, Maniatis invited them to take an active part, as Greece is emerging as an important energy hub for Europe, offering an alternative route for its energy supply.
The Minister’s meeting with Greek-American community members took place in the Press Office of the Greek Tourism Organization (EOT) in Manhattan and Maniatis was welcomed by the Genereal Consul of Greece in New York, Giorgos Iliopoulos.
Last week, Maniatis presented the country’s gains from the hydrocarbon exploitation at the Gulf of Patras, underlining that this process alone, will create a thousand of new working positions and boost Western Greece ’s local economy, as its value is calculated at 14 billion euros.
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