WAM Abu Dhabi, Jan 08th, 2012 (WAM)--H. H. Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Foreign Minister, will pay an official visit to Greece on Wednesday, heading the UAE' s trade and economic delegation.

The delegation will discuss bolstering of the bilateral cooperation ties between the UAE and Greece. It includes senior officials from a number of public local and federal institutions, and representatives from the Chambers of Commerce and Industry in the UAE, as well as managers of the governmental and private companies.

The UAE officials will hold official meetings there, among others, the first meeting of the joint committee between the two countries, which will be chaired on the Greek side by the Deputy Greek Prime Minister Theodoros Pangalos. The meeting will tackle enhancement of the cooperation mechanisms in the areas of education, finance, tourism, health, security and others.

The UAE-Greek Economic Gathering will also be held to address the investments opportunities in Greece and how best to turn them into joint ventures in the best interests of the two friendly countries.

Sheikh Abdullah hailed the growing UAE-Greek relations, which were established on May 31, 1975. He added that the UAE is keen to strengthen the relations to match the endeavours of the leadership and two peoples based on mutual respect, friendship and joint interests.

He added that the economic ties are growing, citing the growth of non oil trade exchange, which stood at $117 million in 2010, ranking Greece at 39th in the UAE's non oil foreign trade index.

The UAE FM said the first meeting of the joint committee will contribute to boosting of the cooperation ties between the two sides, describing the move as an important step to push forward the ties between the UAE and Greek. He hoped that the meeting will reach fruitful resolutions that meet aspirations of the two countries.

WAM/MN