Government vice-president and Foreign Minister Evangelos Venizelos addressed the 1st annual meeting of Ambassadors accredited to Greece, "The Ambassadors Circle," on the subject of Re-launching the National Product of Greece, at the Athens Hilton, on April 29.

In his opening speech, Venizelos stressed that the country will not need a new loan, neither programme nor memorandum; he referred to the regional initiatives undertaken by Greece, noting that the Greek EU Presidency will host the Ministerial Conference of the 28 (EU member states) with the six Western Balkan countries in Thessaloniki, on May 8 and the meeting of the 28 EU Foreign Ministers with their Arab League counterparts, in Athens on June 10.

Reminding the audience that "Greece was done a grave injustice in public discussions through the repetition of unacceptable stereotypes," Venizelos underlined that is now a country that "overcomes the crisis and becomes self-reliant again in the EU, the eurozone and international markets."

Tourism Minister Olga Kefalogianni, who also addressed the meeting, referred to the tourism’s contribution to Greece's growth. "Today [tourism] represents 16.5 % of GDP and 18.5% of the country's total employment," she said. "2013 was a record year for Greece, at both the level of arrivals that amounted to about 17.9 million visitors and at the level of revenues that amounted to about € 11.7 million."