President "Sells" Greece to Koreans

Karolos Papoulias inaugurated a Greek-Korean business forum and said that Greece had contributed to peace and democracy in Korea.

Speaking on the advantage of Greek ports in global trade, Papoulias said, "Greece is at the crossroads of three continents and is an entry gate to Europe...Piraeus has already become the fastest-developing port in Europe, with speedy growth in international trade, transshipment and transit towards European markets," and he also mentioned the ports of Thessaloniki, Kavala and Alxandroupoli in northern Greece.

Extolling the close cooperation of Greek shipowners with and Korean shipyards, the president said that Greece was first in number of ships and in tonnage among merchant fleets globally, and the Republic of Korea was first globally in ship repairs. "The rising number of orders by Greek shipowners at Korean shipyards is a logical aftermath of the mutual trust developed between Greek shipowners and Korean ship builders,"

The Greek president said, noting that there were 133 ships on order in Korea by Greek shipowners.

Mr. Papoulias issued an invitation to Koreans to visit Greece, pointing out that the tourist flow between the two countries is very low, also affected by the lack of direct flights.