Minister of Foreign Affairs Nikos Dendias’ statements following his meeting with President of Côte d’Ivoire, Alassane Dramane Ouattara (Abidjan, 11.01.2023)

For me, it was a great honour and a great pleasure to be received by the President. Please allow me to say that this is the first visit of a Greek Foreign Minister ever in Côte d’ Ivoire and I am really grateful for the warm reception.

The main topic of my discussion with the President had to do with our effort to create a strong bond between our two countries. And we almost got into details on how we could enhance the Greek economic presence in Côte d’ Ivoire.

Côte d’ Ivoire is a country that is doing spectacularly, it is becoming a powerhouse in the region. And we would like the Greek companies to be present and to invest in this country.

Also, I had the honour to submit to him the invitation of President Sakellaropoulou to visit Greece and pass on to him the warm regards of Prime Minister, Kyriakos Mitsotakis.

Now I am looking forward to my discussions with the Foreign Minister and the Prime Minister in order to get even more into details of how we could enhance more our cooperation.

Also, I would like to learn from my interlocutors about the situation in the region, of the security situation in the overall region. And also get more details on the successful conclusion of the freeing of the 49 soldiers from Mali the last days.

Thank you so much.