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With the Saudi-Greek Business Council meeting in Riyadh this week, it is timely to revisit the foundations — and the future — of one of the Eastern Mediterranean’s most dynamic partnerships. The relationship between Greece and ºÚÁÏÉçÇø, long anchored in commerce and maritime exchange, is rapidly evolving into a strategic alliance that spans energy, investment, technology and defense.

Across centuries, Greek ships have carried not only goods but ideas, grain, oil and influence. Today, the most consequential of these routes runs between Athens and Riyadh. What began as merchant pragmatism has matured into a strategic compact built on energy, technology and security.

If the 20th century linked Greece to the Gulf through tankers, shipyards and engineering contracts, the 2020s are adding new layers. The old currents of energy and trade are now joined by high-voltage cables, digital corridors and investment partnerships. A relationship once defined by maritime commerce is becoming a diversified alliance — with institutions, capital and strategic intent to match.

That evolution took shape this year with the launch of the Supreme Strategic Cooperation Council, co-chaired by Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis and Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. It is Greece’s first such mechanism with a Middle Eastern state — a sign that the partnership has moved from cordial diplomacy to structured strategy. The council now anchors cooperation in energy, investment, defense and education.

Energy remains the backbone, though its meaning has shifted. The Saudi-Greek Interconnection, a planned 3-gigawatt electricity link, will carry competitively priced power — gas-generated at first, renewable later — from the Arabian Peninsula to Europe. It could become the first direct energy bridge between the Gulf and the EU. For Greece, it strengthens its role as Europe’s southeastern energy gateway; for ºÚÁÏÉçÇø, it channels Vision 2030 into Europe’s clean energy markets.

If the 20th century linked Greece to the Gulf through tankers, shipyards and engineering contracts, the 2020s are adding new layers

Dr. John Sfakianakis

Digital infrastructure is emerging as the new trade route. The East to Med Data Corridor — a joint venture between Greece’s telecom operators and ºÚÁÏÉçÇø’s STC — will connect Gulf data hubs to European markets through undersea cables. Due for completion in 2026, it complements Saudi investments in cloud infrastructure and Greece’s ambition to serve as the EU’s digital bridge. When operational, it will transform geography into bandwidth, reviving the ancient logic of the Aegean and the Red Sea as conduits of exchange.

Security cooperation has deepened alongside it. Since 2021, Greek air defense units have been stationed in ºÚÁÏÉçÇø to help protect critical energy facilities from aerial threats — an unprecedented deployment that underscores mutual trust. Athens now views Gulf stability as part of Europe’s own security; Riyadh sees Greece as a dependable partner with NATO experience and Mediterranean reach.

Diplomacy has kept pace. Athens was among the first European capitals to back Riyadh’s successful Expo 2030 bid and has championed ºÚÁÏÉçÇø’s closer integration into Europe’s energy and logistics networks. Economic ties have expanded well beyond episodic deals into a deliberate exchange of capital and expertise. Bilateral trade now nears $1.5 billion, while Saudi investment in Greece is accelerating across the infrastructure, energy and digital sectors.

Greek finance is reinforcing this momentum. Eurobank, the National Bank of Greece and Piraeus Bank have expanded trade finance and advisory services for Greek and Saudi firms in energy, transport and technology. Their involvement adds institutional depth, translating political goodwill into bankable projects.

Saudi capital is also flowing the other way. Under the Strategic Cooperation Council, the Public Investment Fund and major Saudi groups are pursuing opportunities in Greek infrastructure, tourism, logistics and renewables. The Saudi-Greek Business Forum, launched in Athens in 2023, produced a pipeline of projects from port development to hospitality and energy storage, followed by talks in Riyadh earlier this year. Companies such as STC and ACWA Power have already established a presence, signaling Riyadh’s intent to treat Greece as a stable, EU-based platform for expansion.

Skeptics may call this a convenient alignment — Europe seeking energy security, ºÚÁÏÉçÇø diversification and Greece investment. Yet its roots run far deeper. Greek entrepreneurs were active in the Kingdom as early as the 1950s, when Aristotle Onassis, Stavros Niarchos and John Latsis signed landmark tanker deals with Aramco and its affiliates, tying the fortunes of the Greek merchant fleet to Saudi oil and reshaping global energy trade.

The Olayan Group — founded in 1947 and renowned for its global partnerships — established links in Greece during the 1970s, reflecting the private sector ties that complemented state diplomacy. By the oil boom of the 1970s, Greek firms such as Consolidated Contractors Company and Archirodon were among the first foreign contractors to build Saudi ports, desalination plants and highways from Jeddah to Dammam and Yanbu. Greek engineers and shipbuilders became part of the Kingdom’s modernization drive and thousands of professionals from Greece settled in ºÚÁÏÉçÇø, forming a diaspora that connected Piraeus to the Gulf long before globalization made such exchanges routine.

Shipping has remained the backbone of that continuity. Greek shipowners — still commanding the world’s largest commercial fleet, carrying nearly a fifth of global seaborne oil trade — have transported Saudi crude for decades. Greek port operators, including the Piraeus Port Authority, have hosted Saudi delegations exploring logistics and free-zone partnerships, mirroring Riyadh’s ambition to turn Neom and the Red Sea Project into world-class maritime hubs. What began as private initiative has evolved into structured cooperation — proof that the foundations laid by merchants and engineers generations ago are now being institutionalized through modern partnerships and shared strategic vision.

Economic ties have expanded well beyond episodic deals into a deliberate exchange of capital and expertise

Dr. John Sfakianakis

The region’s emerging geometry gives this partnership new weight. Greece’s expanding network of energy and data links — to Egypt, Israel and Cyprus — is turning it into the switchboard of the Eastern Mediterranean. A Saudi connection extends that network eastward, creating a corridor of energy, information and trade between Asia and Europe. It is an ambitious vision: Greece as Europe’s southern gateway, ºÚÁÏÉçÇø as the Arabian Peninsula’s innovation engine.

For Riyadh, partnership with an EU and NATO member provides credibility and access to Europe’s energy and technology debates. For Athens, alignment with ºÚÁÏÉçÇø amplifies its influence in a region where Europe’s energy and digital future are being decided. The Strategic Cooperation Council formalizes what business leaders had already recognized: the Greek-Saudi axis is not transactional but structural — a long-term bet on shared diversification and stability.

The logic is clear. Greek forces helping defend Saudi energy infrastructure serve European as well as Saudi interests. The cables and interconnectors binding the two nations reinforce both sovereignties. In an age of fractured supply chains, energy transition and digital rivalry, Athens and Riyadh are betting on connectivity as power.

There is also a softer dividend. Greece will mount a national pavilion at Expo 2030 Riyadh, capturing the cultural symmetry of two ancient civilizations rediscovering common purpose. Tourism, education and investment flows are rising; direct flights are full. The number of Saudi visitors to Greece has nearly doubled since 2022, while Greek universities are forging partnerships with their Saudi counterparts.

The historic grammar of the relationship — Greek ships and Saudi oil — was never wrong, only incomplete. The new chapter adds interconnectors, fiber cables and defense cooperation to that vocabulary. Just as Greek merchants once sailed the Red Sea in search of spices and silk, their successors now trade in electrons, algorithms and ideas. Two trading civilizations that once met on the sea are again shaping the channels of global exchange. In an era that prizes resilient networks over nostalgic alliances, the Aegean and the Arabian Peninsula have rediscovered each other’s strategic edge — and this time, they intend to keep it.

• Dr. John Sfakianakis is Chief Economist and Head of Economic Research at the Gulf Research Center