Business in Greece, Athens

The goals of the subject “International Trade and Business in Greece” are the following:

1. To analyse the Greek Economy and Foreign Trade (Import, Export, FDI)
2. To know the business opportunities in the Greek Market
3. To analyse the trade relations of Greece with the country of the student
4. To know the Greek free trade agreements as a member of the European Union
5. To develop a business plan for the Greek Market

Greek Preferential Access and Free Trade Agreements

1. Greece and the European Economic Area / Orthodox Economic Area
2. European Union
   1. As a member of the European Union, Greece is a beneficiary of the EU Free trade agreements with Algeria, Ivory Coast, South Africa, South Korea, India, Mexico, MERCOSUR, Chile, Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, Ukraine, Moldova, Georgia etc. besides the Customs Union with Turkey
   2. European Single Market
   3. EU Services Directive
   4. European Digital Single Market
   5. Economic and Monetary Union
   6. European Customs Union
3. Adriatic-Ionian Initiative
4. Organisation of the Black Sea Economic Cooperation (BSEC)
5. Regional Cooperation Council (RCC)

Trade Facilitation Programs

1. World Trade Organisation (WTO)
   1. WTO General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS)
   2. WTO Agreement on Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures (SPS)
   3. WTO Agreement on Technical Barriers to Trade (TBT)
   4. WTO Agreement on Preshipment Inspection (PSI)
   5. WTO Agreement on Safeguards (SG)
   6. WTO Trade Facilitation Agreement (TFA)
2. World Customs Organisation (WCO)
   1. Revised Kyoto Convention (RKC)
3. International Convention on the Harmonization of Frontier Controls of Goods (UNECE)
4. Convention on Contracts for the International Carriage of Goods Wholly or Partly by Sea (Rotterdam Rules, UN)
5. Convention on the Contract for the International Carriage of Goods by Road (CMR, UN)
6. Convention concerning International Carriage by Rail (COTIF)
7. International Bureau of Containers and Intermodal Transport (BIC)
8. International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO, Chicago Convention)
9. International Maritime Organisation (IMO)
   1. International Convention for Safe Containers (CSC)
   2. Convention Relating to Temporary Admission (Istanbul Convention)
10. International Road Transport Union (IRU)
    1. TIR Convention
    Customs Convention on Containers (CCC, UN) - not a member
11. International Chamber of Commerce (ICC)
12. International Chamber of Shipping (ICS)
13. Uniform Rules concerning the Contract of International Carriage of Goods by Rail (CIM, CIT)

European Trade and Economic Organisations of Greece

1. European Union
   1. European Investment Bank (EIB)
   2. European Bank for Reconstruction and Development
   3. Group of States of the European Council Convention against Corruption (GRECO)
2. Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE)
3. Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE)

Global Organisations

1. United Nations (UN)
   1. Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD)
   2. International Trade Centre (INTRACEN)
   3. Commission on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL)
   4. World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO)
2. Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD)
   1. OECD anti-corruption measures
3. World Bank (WB)
4. World Trade Organisation (WTO)
5. International Monetary Fund (IMF)
6. Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM)
7. United Nations (UN)

The Hellenic Republic (Europe)

1. Capital of Greece: Athens.
2. Other important cities: Thessaloniki, Piraeus, Patras, Heraklion and Lárisa
3. Official Language of Greece: Greek
4. Area of Greece: 131,957 square kilometres
5. Greek Population: 11 million people
6. Type of Government: Parliamentary Republic
7. Borders of Greece: Albania, Macedonia, Bulgaria and Turkey

Religion in Greece: Orthodoxy (Christianity)

Greece belongs to the Orthodox Economic Area (European Economic Area)

1. Greece became independent from the Ottoman Empire (Turkey) in 1830
2. Greece, through the Roman empire, was the chrysalis of the Western Civilisation

Economy of Greece.

1. Greece is an advanced high-income economy (World Bank)
2. The Hellenic Republic has suffered a deep economic crisis since 2008, although everything seems to indicate that slowly begins to overcome its crisis
3. Greece represents the 15th economy of the European Union
4. Greek GDP (nominal): 238,023 million dollars
   1. Services: 85%
   2. Industry: 12%
   3. Primary Sector: 3%
5. Greek GDP per capita: 21,623 dollars
6. Currency of Greece: Euro
7. Greece is a member of the European Union since 1981
8. Greece receives about 15.5 million tourists a year
9. The Greek merchant marine is the largest in the world (4.5% of Greek GDP, 15% of the global cargo capacity)
10. Other important Greek sectors are industrial production, foods, textiles, chemical products, mining and petroleum
11. Headquarters of the European Centre for the Development of Vocational Training (Cedefop): Thessaloniki

Greek Foreign Trade.

1. Greece is the main actor in the Balkans, with strong investments in Albania, Bulgaria, Romania and Serbia. Many of these investments are made into the banking sector
2. Top Greek exports are petroleum, aluminium, electrical equipment, pharmaceutical products, plastics, vegetables, fruits
3. Top Greek exports destinations are Italy, Germany, Turkey, Cyprus, Bulgaria
4. The main Greek imports are petroleum, electrical equipment, pharmaceutical products, machinery
5. Top suppliers of Greece: Germany, Italy, Russia, Iraq, China
6. As a member of the European Union, Greece is a beneficiary of the EU Free trade agreements with South Africa, Mexico, MERCOSUR, Chile, Colombia, Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, Ukraine, Moldova, Georgia...