Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras highlighted the importance of growth and investments for the Greek economy, in a one-on-one public discussion with former U.S. president Bill Clinton headed "Advancing Growth in Europe: The Greek Crisis & Beyond", on Sunday (27.9), at the Clinton Global Initiative (CGI) 2015 Annual Meeting in New York City.

Focusing on how Greece could overcome the crisis, Tsipras underlined that this is feasible only via a return to growth while maintaining social cohesion, and emphasized the need to attract investment, mainly in research and technology. He also pledged to reform the public sector so as to attract foreign investment, and called for support from the international community, especially Greek-Americans, in the effort to reconstruct Greece.He insisted that his government will conduct the necessary reforms to make Greece more attractive to investors.

The Greek PM further stressed that the EU must remain united, but that it could only be if it focuses on solidarity and social cohesion amongst all of its member states. He noted that Greece will fulfill its obligations, but that it is also necessary for its creditors to keep their promises on debt relief.

Earlier on Sunday, addressing the 2015 Sustainable Development Summit at the U.N. Headquarters, Tsipras pledged that he would consistently promote and support policies aimed at a European and global economic and financial system favouring growth, and he put the issue of dealing with Greece’s sovereign debt on the international stage: "We cannot talk substantially about aid in developing countries or loans in developed ones, unless we tackle the issue of debt as an international challenge at the centre of our global financial system," he said.

Tsipras is currently in New York to take part in the 70th meeting of the UN’s General Assembly, where he will address the assembly on October 1. In the course of his visit, he is expected to have a number of meetings with foreign officials while in New York, including the UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, the US Secretary of State John Kerry, as well as with His Eminence Archbishop Demetrios of America, the New York Mayor Bill de Blasio and representatives of Greek Diaspora organizations.