The sea is the cradle of human civilization. This particular Sea, the Mediterranean, meaning the “middle of the earth”, is the cradle of the European civilization; it is where people learned how to exchange goods, experiences and ideas; it is where they learned how to communicate, how to make profits, how to build bridges with each other, how to profit from commerce, how to accumulate wealth, how to generate income, how to improve their lives, by reaching their limits; or even going beyond their limits…After all, this is what traveling in the sea is all about: searching for the limits of our horizon, and always trying to go beyond the limits of human endeavor!

The sea gives also a sense of ultimate Freedom: Because someone could always control the land routes. But it was much more difficult for anyone to control the sea routes! The land-based empires were built top-down. The sea empires were usually built bottom-up. And the land-based empires were frequently challenged by the sea powers, in a perennial struggle between the sheer muscle against the shrewdness of the human mind or the boldness of the human soul, defying the supremacy of the overwhelming power…

So the sea endeavor of human societies was usually the cradle of democracy as well. Because people who travel a lot and go to their limits, cannot tolerate a tyranny of any sort.

Dear friends
I’ve just defined the essence of Greece, its history and its unique civilization, inextricably associated with the sea, since the years of Homer, all the way to the present times.

For over three millennia, the Greeks experienced moments of glory and moment of distress; but they always relied to the sea to gain hope, to gain power, to overcome difficulties, to overcome subjugation, to built up their own strength, to establish their own prosperity and start all over again. Our history and our culture are blue-colored…

So, ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the 2014 Poseidonia Maritime World Exhibition! Welcome to Greece!

My country is now recovering from a severe financial crisis. Two of our champion sectors are already making new records. Our tourism made a new record of 18 million visitors last year and is about to make a new record of 20 million this year! And in the current Poseidonia World Maritime Exhibition, we already broke the 2012 record of participants, as the economic potential of the Greek Commercial fleet and the strategic positioning of Greece in future world commerce are gaining power by the day.

The Greek fleet is operating 15% in world commerce. In the last 10 years, Greek ship-owners have built more than 2500 ocean-cruising ships, mainly in shipyards of the far-East. As we speak, a new vessel of Greek ownership is being built every 2 days worldwide!

But most importantly, Greece is now becoming the most stable country in a unstable region; also the perfect “gate” for commerce from Asian ports, extending from the Middle East to the far East and Japan, through the Suez Canal to the continental European markets.

Of course, we need foreign investment to upgrade our port infrastructures and our land transport networks from there on. We also need investment to renovate our shipyards. We need investment to emerge as a regional energy hub, taking advantage of our energy resources in the sea area around as. And the trend to move to sea transported energy, mainly gas, from sea-based fields, as well as gas propelled vessels, much more environmentally safe.

So today Greece offers enormous possibilities of economic, financial, geostrategic and environmental consequences, extending much beyond its own borders; even extending beyond the broader region of the Eastern Mediterranean.

This is the time and place to explore such opportunities; this is the time and place to discuss such business plans: The Poseidonia 2014! Where about 2.000 companies of the world maritime industry gather from 93 different countries!

We are aspiring to make Greece in general and its main ports in particular world Maritime centers, something that has always been the life-long dream of distinguished men like Mr. Themistocles Vokos the co-founder of Poseidonia World Maritime Exhibition. Now it has become the aspiration of the whole country.

We know it can happen. We need hard work, meticulous planning and political stability to make it happen.

In the last two years, we have turned this country around.
In the years to come, we will sail full speed ahead!

Posidonia ship exhibition