On May 20th, the exhibition themed "Greece through the Art of the Tourist Poster" opened at the China-Europe Center in Chengdu's High-tech Zone as a featured event of the "2024 Chengdu · European Culture Season".

At the event, Dr. Evgenios Kalpyris, the Greek Ambassador to China had an interview with National Business Daily (NBD). In Dr. Kalpyris's view, "Greece and the Southwest region of China have a lot of room for cooperation in the field of culture and tourism, and starting with culture and tourism, we will further expand our cooperation in economic and trade fields."

Over the past century, Greece's tourism industry has developed in a creative way and has won a high reputation internationally, all of which has been artistically recorded in the form of posters. The works exhibited at this exhibition cover the most representative Greek tourism posters from the 1920s to the present. "From Athens to Thessaloniki, from the blue and white Santorini to the birthplace of the Minoan civilization, Crete, visitors will immerse themselves through these 55 Greek tourism posters," Dr. Kalpyris introduced enthusiastically.

Photo/provided to NBD

China and Greece are both ancient civilizations and also important tourist destination countries in the world. The two countries' tourism departments have signed a "Joint Action Plan for the Tourism Field for 2022-2024," carrying out comprehensive exchanges and cooperation in tourism promotion, characteristic tourism, education and training, investment, international, and multilateral fields.

Like Greece, Chengdu has a long history and culture and is the birthplace of the ancient Shu civilization. At the same time, Chengdu is also one of the most dynamic and happy cities in China. It is actively integrating into and serving the construction of the "Belt and Road" initiative, accelerating the construction of a park city demonstration area that practices new development concepts.

NBD observed that in recent years, exchanges and cooperation between Chengdu and various cities in Greece in the fields of economy, culture, and tourism have become increasingly close. This is also Dr. Kalpyris's first official visit to Chengdu since he took office as the ambassador to China, and this beautiful city has left a deep impression on him.

"I hope this exhibition can attract more tourists to take an interest in Greece to strengthen the understanding between the people of the two countries, which is the best way to promote the exchange of Chinese and Greek civilizations. Greece and the Southwest region of China have a lot of room for cooperation in the tourism industry. I always believe that the cultural industry is all-encompassing, and by deepening our cultural exchanges, we understand each other more and create more opportunities for cooperation. This is very important!" Dr. Kalpyris told NBD.

Photo/provided to NBD

"In the future, we hope to complement each other's strengths with Chengdu in areas such as tourism, enhance exchanges among practitioners, and starting with cultural and tourism exchanges, further expand cooperation in economic and trade fields," Dr. Kalpyris said.

When it comes to the potential investment opportunities in Greece in the next 3-5 years, Dr. Kalpyris pointed out, "The food industry, agriculture, and logistics industry have a large room for cooperation, and at the same time, I think cooperation in the field of environmental technology is also very important."