D
espite the fact that the economic crisis in
Greece has persisted, exports remained
almost at the same levels as in the pre-
vious year, which saw a significant increase.
However, a deeper understanding of the factors
that obstruct trade is important, because it would
enable a better evaluation of their systemic
impact.
The 2014 Trade and Investment Barriers Report
(TIBR) addresses a selection of key barriers
faced by European Union companies in the mar-
kets of the EU’s strategic partners, i.e. China,
India, Japan, Mercosur, Russia and the United
States (US).
This report stresses that barriers to access to the
markets of the EU’s strategic partners continue to
persist in various ways. It is of great importance to
recognize that the world economy is becoming
increasingly multipolar, with emerging economies
representing a larger share. Thus, the analysis of
the structure of the domestic trade sector and
global interlinkages should provide the necessary
bilateral negotiation agenda, which includes all
our trade and economic partners. Greece contin-
ues to invest in the range of its bilateral relations
with neighbouring and distant countries alike.
This last remark has an underline, namely bilater-
al cooperation with China in the economic/trade
sector, which is translated into real trade flows on
the ground.
Trade with Greece
20
Trade is an engine for social and economic
prosperity and growth. It produces real value
and has notable impact on jobs. However,
addressing the trends behind trade
performance, we need to reaffirm the
importance of its strategic ground. Exports in
Greece averaged €1,597.57 million from 2001
to 2014, while the European Union is the
biggest global player in international trade
and investment. In 2013, the total value of
Greek exports totalled €27,556 million,
accounting for 15.1% of Greece’s GDP.
Trade is an engine for
social and economic
prosperity and growth
By Nikolaos Chountis,
Alternate Foreign Minister for European Affairs
