Sheikh Mohammed Bin Zayed holds talks with Katerina Sakellaropoulou at the Presidential Palace in Athens on Thursday. AP

President His Highness Sheikh Mohamed Bin Zayed Al Nahyan arrived on Thursday in Athens on an official visit to Greece.

Upon his arrival at the Presidential Palace, Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed was received by President Katerina Sakellaropoulou of Greece.

An official reception ceremony was held for Sheikh Mohamed Bin Zayed at the Palace and the anthems of the UAE and Greece were played.

Sheikh Mohamed Bin Zayed also met Prime Minister of Greece, Kyriakos Mitsotakis. Both leaders discussed consolidating cooperation ties between the two nations, and prospects of strengthening their strategic partnership. A series of regional and international issues of interest featured high during their discussions.

The meeting was held as part of official talks between the two sides at the HQ of the Greek Ministerial Council in Athens.

At the start of the meeting, Mitsotakis welcomed the visit of President His Highness Sheikh Mohamed, underscoring his confidence that the visit will further advance cooperation between the two nations.

The two sides also discussed opportunities for boosting collaboration, most notably in areas of economy, investment, development and environment, as well as in renewable energy and food security.

They exchanged views on the latest regional and international developments of mutual concern, stressing their common views toward forging peaceful solutions to the region’s conflicts and the need to strengthen international security and stability.

President His Highness Sheikh Mohamed expressed his happiness at visiting Greece and at advancing bilateral relations between the two countries, noting the importance of building on the agreements and Memorandums of Understanding (MoU) signed by the two sides.

He also stressed the need to strengthen their cooperation in addressing mutual challenges related to the economy, trade, food security and climate change.

Sheikh Mohamed thanked Mitsotakis for inviting the UAE to participate as Guest of Honour in the 86th edition of the annual Thessaloniki International Fair (TIF), slated for September 10th-18th, 2022. The UAE is the first Arab country to be invited to participate as a guest of honour in the event, which is reckoned the oldest international trade fair, dating back to 1926,

His Highness Sheikh Mohamed said the UAE will participate in the event with a delegation of over 40 entities representing the public and private sectors, underscoring the deeply rooted ties between the two countries and their keenness to advance and strengthen their relations.

During the meeting, Sheikh Mohamed invited Mitsotakis to attend the 28th session of the Conference of the Parties (COP28) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), which will be held in the UAE in 2023.