The Minister of Shipping and Island Policy G. Plakiotakis, speaking at the Circle the Med Forum, characterized shipping as the biggest challenge and at the same time the biggest opportunity that he has been called to face in terms of the "green" transformation.

"We have the largest coastal shipping", he noted and continued: "We connect global destinations where millions of passengers are transported, goods are transported and this is a challenge that has already set an example for the implementation mechanism for other European states and has already been requested by Greece to lead such initiatives at the European level".

As he stated, "The General Secretariat of the Aegean and Island Policy, is already leading the first study concerning the issues of insularity by the European Commission's general directorate of reforms to lead a proposal together with Croatia and Sweden and currently form the first European funded study on the cost of insularity where the example of maritime transport and the needs of transformation is one of the priorities".