French Prime Minister Manuel Valls called the French companies to invest in Greece, while he praised Greece’s efforts to deal with the difficult economic situation, during a joint press conference after his meeting with Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras on Friday.

Mr. Valls said that “if we supported Greece to stay in the eurozone and if we supported the courageous reforms it was because Greece is in the heart of Europe.”

He also highlighted that now Greece has turned over a new leaf and asked French businessmen to invest in Greece stressing also that a delegation of investors will visit the country in the autumn.

“Your visit to Greece, following the visit of President Hollande at the end of last year, confirms the very close working relationship and mutual understanding between our countries,” Mr. Tsipras said welcoming his French counterpart Manuel Valls at the Maximos Mansion.

“Greece and France share common values and many times in our common European course we have defended the democratic acquis of our people and the vision for a Europe of social cohesion,” he underlined adding that: “the French government supported Greece in very difficult times last summer, and that is something we must all recognize.”

“The difficult times for Greece have now ended and the country has turned page. Now we can be more optimistic for the future. Now we can plan the steps of a return to growth with social justice,” the Greek Prime Minister said stressing: “Your support in this new period will be as important as that you provided us in the past difficult period.”