Greece: Gateway for Indian agricultural products to the EU

A new chapter in Greece’s relations with India comes with the memorandum of cooperation that came to Parliament for ratification and which upgrades the relationship between the two countries to a strategic relationship, through the agri-food sector. A relationship that will be further be strengthened by the visit of the Minister of Fisheries, Livestock and Dairying, Parshotam Rupala, to Athens in January.

Through the cooperation memorandum, it is possible to develop relations in the field of agriculture and to further strengthen the bilateral relations between Greece and India, emphasized the Minister of Agricultural Development and Food, Lefteris Avgenakis, in his speech to the Parliament during the ratification of the memorandum.

At the same time, the agreement paves the way for the creation of a Center for the Safety and Origin of Indian Products in a Greek port, where their safety and hygiene will be certified, an issue that was thoroughly discussed during the recent visit of Lefteris Avgenakis to India. In this way, noted the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, “Greece becomes a commercial hub between the Middle East and Europe for Indian agricultural exports, a gateway for India to Europe.”

In the context of the cooperation that is being developed, the Minister of Rural Development and Food, emphasized that “the issue that exists with the obstacle to the export of PDO feta to India, due to the strict microbiological criteria that exist by the Indian authorities and their harmonization with the corresponding European ones, which are proven to be effective”.

Greece is becoming a commercial hub between the Middle East and Europe for Indian agricultural exports, a gateway for India to Europe, stressed L. Avgenakis from the Parliament

Bilateral relations

Referring to the agreement, Lefteris Avgenakis said that it “moves along the axis of the exchange and diffusion of knowledge between the two countries, in a multitude of sectors that are in the broad spectrum of agriculture. Through it, we support, upgrade and modernize the agricultural sector and achieve sustainable rural development. With this agreement, and with the training and research possibilities also foreseen for the two countries, the aim is to be one step ahead of the developments, of the challenges that are taking shape on the international stage. Only in this way will we be able to shield the country from the climate crisis and ensure its food security”.

“With this cooperation, the way is opened for further penetration into a huge market, the most populous country in the world with the fifth strongest economy”, pointed out Lefteris Avgenakis, who reminded that the specific cooperation pact is a practical proof of the extroversion that has achieved for the economy of Greece, and is a result of the close cooperation of Prime Ministers Kyriakos Mitsotakis and Narendra Modi.

It also proves that there is a basis for a very broad framework of bilateral cooperation, from the economy and defense to culture, tourism and the agri-food sector.