On Monday July 18th, 2011 the Chalkidiki Chamber of Commerce and its President Georgios Gilis welcomed to the chamber’s headquarters in Polygyros the founder and President of Hermes Expo Mr. Paul Kotrotsios who was accompanied by businessman and importer of Greek products from the greater Philadelphia area Mr. Giorgos Deyermetzidis as well as Mr. Dimitri Soultogiannis, a correspondent for the Hellenic News of America.
During the meeting President Gilis thanked Mr. Kotrotsios for the interest he has shown in the Chalkidiki region and the greater area and expressed his hope that local products will become known and popular in the American market. “We want to see our local businessmen sell their products in the United States and of course we want to make sure that Chalkidi will become a popular tourist destination for Americans just like Athens and our beautiful Greek islands,” Gilis said. President Gilis also spoke about efforts in coordination with other Chambers of Commerce from Northern Greece to establish permanent Expos, similar to Hermes, in Germany and Russia. “The goal is to make Greek products marketable in those regions,” he said. Businessmen and Tour operators from Chalkidiki have expressed their interest in participating in “Hermes Expo 2012” at the Greek food tasting at New York’s Radisson Hotel on Thursday March 15, 2012 and of course at the Tropicana Hotel in Atlantic City on the Weekend of March 17-18, 2012.
Kotrotsios praised the Chamber’s work, thanked the President for his hospitality and interest of the Chamber to participate at the 21st Hermes Expo and spoke about the two way business street that needs to be built between Greece and the United States, especially when it comes to trade an area on which Hermes Expo has shown its expertise over the past 21 years. “The Greek-American community needs you as much as you need them,” Kotrotsios said. “There are 2,5 million Greeks and Greek-Americans who live and work in the United States and they can be a useful tool to every businessman from Chalkidiki who wants to come to the United States,” he said. Kotrotsios also said that many small businesses from Greece have used the Hermes expo as a medium to break through to the American market giving the examples of Amorgion, Evharis and Sokos Estates. “We want a long term business relationship with you, we should help each other and we do want to see Chalkidiki excel in America,” he said. In conclusion, Kotrotsios said he would love to see a city in Chalkidiki eventually becoming sister cities with an American city just like Thessaloniki and Philadelphia which signed a business and cultural agreement in 2004, having Hermes Expo as a catalyst.
