Deputy FM Kostas Fragogiannis’ and Secretary General for International Economic Affairs Ioannis Smyrlis’ participation in the 2nd Aquaculture Conference titled: ‘2021/2027: Development challenges and critical milestones’ (Athens, 15.12.2021)

Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs for Economic Diplomacy and Openness Kostas Fragogiannis and Secretary General for International Economic Affairs Ioannis Smyrlis spoke at the 2nd Aquaculture Conference held on Wednesday, December 15, in Athens, about the extroversion and export potential of aquaculture – a sector of livestock production that is particularly critical for Greece and important for Europe and the whole world.

Mr. Fragogiannis pointed out, via video recorded speech, the great scope and prospects for the development of the aquaculture sector in Greece, both by strengthening the companies that are already active, as well as by promoting new investments, given that global demand is increasing and is not matched by supply, especially in Europe.

As he characteristically stated, Europe’s needs for fish and seafood are covered by 75% by imports from third countries and only by 5% by aquaculture within the EU and at this point he underlined the strong comparative advantage of Greece in the field, the “brand name” Greece, the Aegean, Greek fish, Greek sea.

Mr. Fragogiannis also referred to the challenges related to the activity of the sector, mainly in terms of environmental protection, emphasizing that new technologies can offer valuable solutions.

For his part, Secretary General for International Economic Affairs Ioannis Smyrlis, in the context of his participation in the panel: “Economic Growth and Competition”, stressed the comparative advantage that our country has in the field of food security of fish products.

He also mentioned the initiatives undertaken by Enterprise Greece for the training of small and medium enterprises for their promotion through platforms such as e-bay and the facilitation of their contacts with potential partners abroad, by using the appropriate digital tools.

“In 2020, more than 1,000 enterprises participated in digital conferences and had B2B meetings, with the result that as soon as the market opened, new agreements were signed and we had an increase in exports”, Mr. Smyrlis pointed out.

Finally, he spoke about the need “to have targeted exports”, by coordinating the available tools and promoting potential exporters across the country, with the aim of establishing a “National Register of Exporters” in 2022.

The 2nd Aquaculture Conference titled: ‘2021/2027: Development challenges and critical milestones’ addressed, via video recorded messages, Prime Minister Mr. Kyriakos Mitsotakis and European Commissioner for Environment, Oceans & Fisheries Mr. Virginijus Sinkevičius, while Minister of Rural Development and Food Mr. Spilios Livanos, Minister of Development and Investments Mr. Adonis Georgiadis and Minister of Finance Mr. Christos Staikouras, participated as speakers.