12-16 November 2018: HMA Kate Smith travels to Northern Greece
British Ambassador Kate Smith CMG travelled to Northern Greece for a series of meetings with local authorities and businesses.
The 5-day long trip to Northern Greece included a series of meetings with Greek officials, visits to local businesses whose operation is linked to the UK and speeches.
Starting from Alexandroupolis, British Ambassador Kate Smith CMG met the Mayor of Alexandroupolis, Evangelos Lambakis with whom they discussed the future potential of the region. She also had a meeting with the General Regional Police Director of Eastern Macedonia and Thrace, Lt General Nikolaos Menexidis with whom she discussed cooperation in tackling organised crime before their visit to the Evros area.
The Ambassador visited the port of Alexandroupolis where Chairman Mr. Christos Doukas briefed her on the prospects of this key Northern Greece port.
In Kavala, the Ambassador met Deputy Head of Region Mr Theodoros Marcopoulos and Kavala Mayor, Mrs. Dimitra Tsanaka and had very useful discussions about the challenges and the opportunities the area faces, with emphasis to energy given the significance of the completion of the TAP project.
Following on energy theme, the Ambassador visited the Prinos off-shore oil field operated by Energean Oil & Gas where the team briefed her on the operation in the area and the Prinos contribution to energy sources diversification.
The Ambassador also visited the Thrace Group plant in Xanthi – one of the top producers of Technical Fabrics and Packaging Solutions with presence in 11 countries, incl. the UK, in which 20% of its operation is taking place. She also travelled to Serres to visit the KRI KRI plant – one of the most dynamic industries of dairy products, with 50% of its yogurt exports being directed to the UK.
Moving on to Thessaloniki, the Ambassador addressed the students at the American College of Thessaloniki (ACT) on the relations between ‘Britain and Europe’ in view of the UK’s exit from Europe, touching upon to different perspectives on Brexit.
On Thursday 15 November, she participated in the THESSALONIKI SUMMIT 2018 joining a panel discussion on ‘European perspective and connectivity, industrial development and cooperation in the Western Balkans’ and sharing her viewpoint on the progress made and the challenges faced in the wider Balkans region.
This trip is included as part of a series of visits the British Ambassador Kate Smith CMG has been conducting across Greece.