Economy Saudi crown prince to visit Greece to sign energy, telecoms deals By Staff Writer & Reuters July 25, 2022 Bandar Algaloud/Courtesy of Saudi Royal Court/Handout via REUTERS Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman shakes hands with Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia February 3, 2020 Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman will visit Greece on Tuesday, July 26 to meet Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis, the Greek foreign ministry has confirmed. The ministry said the pair were due to sign bilateral deals, without giving details. A Greek diplomatic source told Reuters the deals were in the fields of energy, military cooperation, and an undersea data cable, among others. Greece and Saudi Arabia agreed in May on the main terms to set up a joint venture to lay the data cable that will link Europe with Asia. The “East to Med data Corridor” will be developed by MENA HUB, owned by Saudi Arabia’s STC and Greek telecoms and satellite applications company TTSA. Ajlan Al Ajlan, chairman of the Federation of Saudi Chambers (FSC) and board chairman of Riyadh Chamber of Commerce, said that trade between Greece and Saudi Arabia had reached 7 billion Saudi riyals ($1.87 billion) in 2021, a year-on-year increase of 61 percent, Argaam reported. News of the Saudi visit comes as Reuters reported last week that Greece‘s current account deficit widened in May from the same month last year, while tourism revenue increased. Data from the Bank of Greece showed the current account gap was 2.004 billion euros ($2.04 billion), up from 1.357 billion in May 2021. The wider deficit resulted from a larger trade gap, as imports outpaced exports, and a deterioration in the primary and secondary income accounts, the bank said.
