There is not even a free space at the Thessaloniki International Exhibition Center for this year’s 88th TIF “Made in Germany”, which aims to be a milestone for strengthening Greek-German economic cooperation.
This year’s TIF, with Germany as the Honored Country, as pointed out in “N” by the CEO of TIF-Helexpo SA, Kyriakos Pozrikidis, has prospects of being the best TIF of many times, at the same time that it competes with the year in The honored country was the USA (83rd TIF, 2018) and its work will be framed by a multitude of conference, cultural and entertainment events.
The German Government will also be represented at a high level at the 88th TIF, as the German Pavilion will be opened, as Mr. Pozrikidis notes, by the Federal Minister and Vice-Chancellor, Dr. Robert Habeck, while the 88th TIF will be visited – as he adds – by other German ministers and deputy ministers, both from the German federal government and from each state.
“Made in Germany” with 110 exhibitors
German participation, as highlighted by the Director of the Northern Greek Section of the Greek-German Chamber of Commerce and Industry, George Theodorakis, will be presented on a total of 6,000 m2. with the slogan “made in Germany”, with the participation of more than 110 exhibitors from Germany – companies and institutions – from start-ups to giants of the German economy. Among them are the companies SIEMENS, Fraport, BASF and Bayer, with German companies also present in the Energy, Environment, Technologies, Logistics, Services, Pharmaceutical Industry, R&D, Insurance and Banking sectors.
Furthermore, the theme days that, as Mr. Theodorakis adds, will take place on the main stage of the German Pavilion are based on the strongest sectors of the German economy:
-Logistics, transport, transport, maritime economy
-Health industry, medicine and health technologies, pharmaceutical industry
-Renewable energy sources, energy saving, environmental technologies, sustainability
-Education and research
– Digitization, digital economy, data economy, start-ups
In total, the German Hellenic Chamber of Commerce and Industry is planning around 16 events within this year’s TIF, e.g. for the RES-Green transition, Health Tourism, waste management, Logistics sector, etc., while during the TIF, Vocational Education and Training Awards Ceremony: the “VET Awards Greece” will take place and the results of bilateral cooperation in the field of dual education will be presented and one day before the start of the 88th TIF, i.e. at Friday, September 6, the Hellenic-German Chamber organizes the business dinner established with the aim of deepening trade, business and investment cooperation between the two countries.
Greco-German Economic Relations
According to data from the German Federal Statistical Office (Destatis), released by the Greek office of OEY (Economic and Commercial Affairs) in Berlin, Greek exports to Germany registered an increase of 1.96% in 2023 compared to the previous year. . , rising to 3.12 billion euros.
On the contrary, German imports to our country decreased by 4.21% in 2023 compared to 2022, with their value reaching 8.19 billion euros, resulting in a reduction in the trade deficit at the expense of our country (- 7.65%) and finally in the slight decrease in the total volume of bilateral trade between Greece and Germany by 2.58%. The first place in Greek exports to Germany is occupied by Medicines, in second place is the Cheese and curd category (including yogurt), in third place Plates, sheets, aluminum strips, in fourth place Electric accumulators and in fifth place Bars and articles defined in aluminum form, while positions six to eight are occupied by the categories
Other prepared or preserved vegetables (not frozen), Olive oil and derivatives and Fresh fruit. The top ten is completed by Prepared/Preserved Fruits and Nuts and Insulated Wires, Cables, Coaxial Cables.
For 2023, Greece occupies 40th place in the ranking of Germany’s trading partners, with a total volume of commercial transactions of 11.3 billion euros.
Regarding Foreign Direct Investments in our country, Germany occupies second place in the ranking of countries of origin for direct investments in Greece in terms of total resources for 2022, with a share of 16.2%.