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The official event to celebrate the 70th anniversary of the British Hellenic Chamber of Commerce took place in Athens on 8 December 2015 in the presence of His Excellency the President of the Hellenic Republic, Mr Prokopios Pavlopoulos, representatives of Greece’s political, business and cultural community, and more than 350 members and friends of the Chamber
Former Prime Minister Antonis Samaras; former Prime Minister and current President of the Supreme Court Vasiliki Thanou-Christofilou; the head of the Opposition, Giannis Plakiotakis; the President of the Centrists Union, Vasilis Leventis; His Excellency the British Ambassador Mr. John Kittmer; the Minister of Labour, Giorgos Katrougalos; the Deputy Minister of Finance, Tryfon Alexiades; the Secretary General of the Presidency of the Republic, Georgios Gennimatas; the Secretary General for International Economic Cooperation, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Giorgos Tsipras; the Advisor to the Prime Minister on EU and International Relations, Danai Badogianni; several Ambassadors, including the Ambassadors of Iran, Jordan and Azerbaijan; the President of the Association of former members of parliament and members of the European Parliament, Konstantinos Pylarinos; the former President of the Parliament Dimitri Sioufas; the former Vice President of the European Parliament, Giorgos Dimitrakopoulos; Deans of various Universities; the President of the Association of Bilateral Hellenic-European Chambers of Commerce and the Franco-Hellenic Chamber of Commerce, Christophe Lemarie; the President of the Eugenides Foundation, Leonidas Dimitriades-Eugenides; the Deputy Head of Region of Thessaloniki, Voula Patoulidou; the Chairwoman of the Exporters Association, Christina Sakellaridi; the President of the British-Turkish Chamber of Commerce, Chris Gaunt; the presidents of: the Hellenic-Italian Chamber of Commerce, Ioannis Tsamihas, the Hellenic-Swedish Chamber of Commerce, Ioannis Saracakis, the American-Hellenic Chamber of Commerce, Simos Anastasopoulos, the Hellenic-Canadian Chamber of Commerce, Konstantinos Katsigiannis, the Hellenic-Serbian Chamber of Commerce, Symeon Tsomokos; the Australian – Hellenic business Association Michalis Boudouroglou, representatives of other bilateral chambers of commerce, institutional development and extroversion entities, and a host of business executives attended the event at the “Grande Bretagne” hotel. Representatives were sent by the President of the Parliament, the Armed Forces Chief of Staff and others.
In this time of crisis, when Greek businesses are making efforts to increase their extroversion, the British Hellenic Chamber of Commerce, with its know-how, actions and local and foreign cooperation, provides valuable support to Greek export businesses by transferring best practices, successfully organising advertising and promotion initiatives for products from both countries in Greece and in the United Kingdom, as well as initiatives that enhance and develop market interest.
The British President of the British Hellenic Chamber, Eugenia Chandris, delivered the opening speech, which was followed by a video created especially for the event, featuring a historical review of the first 70 years of operation of the Chamber, important personalities and events.
Then, the British Ambassador took the floor and addressed the public in perfect Greek, while the keynote speaker, Greek President of the Chamber, Harris Ikonomopoulos, shared his thoughts as regards a common vision for 2050 when "the generation of year 2000 will already be at the age of 50".
Matrix Brokers was Platinum Sponsor of the event; Consolidated Contractors Company, GlaxoSmithkline, Norton Rose Fulbright Greece, Pernod Ricard Hellas, Medi Prinou and Tsakos Energy Navigation were Gold Sponsors, and KPMG and AIG were Silver Sponsors.
The communication sponsor was HuffpostGreece – 24 MEDIA Digital Media Group and Supporters included RtDeco Event Services, Media Hub Studios, Podimatas Audio-visual, Greek Wine Cellars D.Kourtakis SA and Navarino Icons, all of whom participated actively in the event.
Thermae Platystomou, British Airways Ltd, Chandris Hotels & Resorts, Heaven on Earth, Ilias Lalaounis, Liana Vourakis, Panas Group, Papapostolou Medical Equipment Center, Phytomer-Biactive SA and Tiara Creations & Charms offered gifts for the raffle run at the Event; the proceeds will be donated to "KIVOTOS TOU KOSMOU".
The event was coordinated by journalist Popi Tsapanidou.
Platinum Sponsor
Gold Sponsors
Silver Sponsors