2008 Public Statements
US-Greece Renewable Energy Cooperation
Remarks by Economic Counselor W. Clark Price
Crowne Plaza Hotel, Athens, Greece
May 19, 2008
(as delivered)
Deputy Minister of Ukraine Iryna Zapatrina, Mr. Secretary General, Madam Special Secretary, Mr. President, Dr. Ichord, ladies and gentlemen, thank you so much for asking the U.S. Embassy to be present here tonight. It is an honor for me to be here and to represent Ambassador Speckhard, who sends his warm regards to all of you.
March 12, 2007 marked a very important day in US-Greek relations. That day was the meeting of the US-Greece Economic and Commercial Cooperation Council in Athens, led by Secretary General Skylakakis on the Greek side and Deputy Assistant Secretaries [of State Matthew H.] Bryza, [USAID] Mefford and [Commerce] Dyke on the American side. Our goal was to put our economic and commercial relations on the same high level as our political relations. It is my government’s view that our enhanced economic relations must recognize Greece’s new economic presence in the Balkans. This presence, matched with the United States’ interest in the region, provides the opportunity for us to work together, side by side, in a way that creatively advances our shared hopes for this region’s prosperity.
Our government seized on this shared interest to highlight the opportunities for our U.S. Agency for International Development and Hellenic Aid to cooperate in joint renewable energy projects in the region through our implementing partners, CRES [the Center for Renewable Energy Sources] and the International Resources Group. I want to recognize here particularly Dimitris Papastefanakis of CRES and Dr. Ichord of USAID, who are people with apparently endless sources of renewable energy. Bob and Dimitris worked tremendously hard to find a way to turn our governments’ commitments into regional cooperation, into a program that has the strategic vision of advancing energy development in the region over several years.
Tonight we are here to recognize the first concrete result of this hard work: the signing of a technical Memorandum of Understanding between CRES and the IRG, which outlines the area in which we want to focus this cooperation. It’s a great moment for all of us who are dedicated to strengthening our bilateral relations and using these relations to benefit the people of the region.
Thank you to all who have worked so hard and brought us so far. And let me offer personal congratulations, because this didn’t come about by itself. It’s really come about through the commitment of the Secretary General, the Ministry of Development and people such as Dimitri, [and] Dr. Ichord who really put their hearts into this. And for us at the Embassy, we’ve been trying to promote this kind of developments and we can give our rhetorical support to it. When in comes to actual results, it’s people like the people I just mentioned who actually make it work and so tonight is their night and I want to congratulate them from my heart. Thank you very much.