By Sami Zaptia.
London, 7 October 2021:
Libya’s Minister of Health, Ali Al-Zanati discussed cooperation and partnership with Greek Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Costas Frangogiannis and his accompanying high-level delegation of Greek business leaders on Monday.
in the health field were the most prominent files discussed
The Minister of Health considered the delegation’s visit “evidence of the keenness of the Greek government and people to make the relationship of the two countries as before and more,” and expressed his interest in strengthening health cooperation between the two countries, and activating previous agreements.
Libya’s debts with Greece
With regard to the debt file, the Minister of Health referred to the tireless efforts made by Prime Minister Abdel Hamid al-Dabaiba to close the file of debts owed by the Libyan state in favour of any country in the world, through the formation of special committees for review and audit.
In his speech, the Greek Deputy Foreign Minister said, “We are here to share your interest in building your country and to stand on its feet in all fields and not only in health. I promised you last time that I would visit Libya accompanied by a delegation of Greek businessmen, and this is what I did. Today, we have many businessmen in the field of pharmaceutical manufacturing, in the field of medical equipment, in the provision of health services, in the field of management, and in other areas that will draw your attention.”
“Our visit to Libya is not to claim the debts due from the treatment of the Libyans due to the conflicts and difficult conditions that the country has witnessed. This is our second visit to Libya and meeting. We are a power of peace in this region, and we really want to help you overcome the problems and difficulties you are facing.”
The Greek Deputy Foreign Minister considered that the Greek government sent a shipment of vaccines to Libya during the last period as a “modest gesture from Greece towards Libya, to help it confront the Corona pandemic,” stressing that the Greek business leaders in the fields of health “are fully prepared to serve Libya and provide everything possible in this field.’’
On the debt issue, he said “Minister, I highly appreciate the efforts of your government in the file of settling the debts owed by Libya, and I would like to point out that the payment of outstanding debts in favour of private Greek institutions will motivate all Greek business leaders who wish to invest in Libya to move forward towards that”.
