RIYADH: Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman on Tuesday met with Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis in the capital, Riyadh, to discuss ways to strengthen bilateral relations.
At the beginning of the meeting, the crown prince welcomed the Greek premier to the Kingdom, while Mitsotakis said he was happy to visit the Kingdom and meet the crown prince.
During the meeting, they reviewed relations between the two countries, and discussed opportunities to enhance prospects for cooperation in various fields.
They also exchanged views on regional and international issues of concern for their two countries, “in a way that contributes to supporting and strengthening security and stability in the region,” Saudi Press Agency said in a statement.
Saudi Deputy Minister of Defense Prince Khalid bin Salman, Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan, Minister of Culture Prince Badr bin Abdullah bin Farhan, and Minister of Investment and head of the Saudi delegation to the Saudi-Greek Committee Khalid Al-Falih also attended the meeting, which was held at the Royal Court at Al-Yamamah Palace.
Mitsotakis arrived in the Kingdom on Monday to attend the Middle East Green Initiative Summit, which was launched by the crown prince, and comes one week before world leaders are set to gather for the annual UN Climate Change Conference (COP26) in Scotland.
Saudi Arabia and Greece issued a joint statement following the meeting, saying that both sides agreed to discuss establishing a joint investment fund, and to strengthen cooperation in agriculture, renewable energy, military, pharmaceutical, maritime, culture, tourism and logistics.
The two sides also praised the existing cooperation through the Saudi-Greek Joint Committee, and the establishment of the Saudi-Greek Business Council.
On defense and security cooperation, the two sides agreed to work to raise the level, readiness and skill of their military forces through joint military exercises and maneuvers, and to coordinate and exchange expertise to achieve security for their two countries and regional stability. They also agreed to cooperate on localizing technology and the military industries.
They called on the international community to assume its responsibilities toward maintaining international peace and security and stopping all forms of interference in the internal affairs of countries.
Greek said it appreciated the great efforts made by the Kingdom to maintain regional and international peace and security.
The two sides stressed the importance of supporting efforts to reach a comprehensive political solution to the Yemeni crisis condemned Houthi attacks on the Kingdom.
They also stressed the need to strengthen the international partnership to combat extremism and terrorism in all its forms.