AHI EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR AND ADVISORY BOARD MEMBERS PARTICIPATE IN 2005 HERMES EXPO INTERNATIONAL

WASHINGTON, DC—AHI Executive Director Nick Larigakis and Advisory Board Members Ted Spyropoulos, Kostas Alexakis and Thanos Basdekis, Esq., recently participated in the 2005 Hermes Expo International held at the Trump Marina Hotel in Atlantic City, New Jersey, on April 16-17, 2005.

The weekend’s events kicked off on Saturday morning with a Symposium entitled "Economic Diplomacy Between the United States and Greece: Prospects in the Post-Olympic Era." Mr. Spyropoulos served as Chair of the Symposium and Mr. Basdekis served as Moderator, while Mr. Larigakis and Mr. Alexakis served as panelists during the three-hour event. The keynote international speakers for the Symposium were the Honorable Nikos Tsiartsionis, the Minister of Macedonia-Thrace, who appeared on behalf of the Prime Minister of Greece, Constantinos Karamanlis, and the Honorable Vassilios Papageorgopoulos, Mayor of Thessaloniki. The keynote speakers from the United States were the Honorable Aris Melissaratos, the Secretary of the Maryland Department of Business and Economic Development, and State Senator Leonidas Raptakis of Rhode Island. Other panelists introduced by Mr. Basdekis included the Honorable Konstantinos Tzanakoulis, Mayor of Larissa, George Tsentos of the Thessaloniki Chamber of Commerce, Themis Kartsiotis, the CEO of HELLEXPO, and Manolis Meletis, the Director of the Evia Chamber of Commerce.

Mr. Larigakis also served as the Master of Ceremonies for the Annual Awards Dinner held on Saturday night. The honorees that evening included United States Congressman Mike Bilirakis (R-FL), George Bistis from the Voice of America, the Rev. Dr. Demetrios Constantelos, and Jason L. Read, Gold Medalist for the United States in Men’s Rowing at the Athens 2004 Olympic Games. During his remarks, Mr. Larigakis emphasized the tremendous success of the Hermes Expo and the unique role it has played during its 14 years in connecting businessmen from the U.S., Greece, and other Eastern Mediterranean countries. Mr. Larigakis offered insight into how greater business ties between countries almost invariably leads to greater political ties, and he thanked the Hermes Expo and its founder, Paul Kotrotsios, for his tireless efforts in that regard. Mr. Larigakis also thanked the evening’s honorees for their unique contributions to Hellenism and their tremendous efforts to further ties between the United States and Greece.

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For additional information, please contact Georgia Economou at (202) 785-8430 or at georgia@ahiworld.org. For general information about the activities of AHI, please see our Web site at http://www.ahiworld.org.

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