Deputy Foreign Minister for Economic Diplomacy and Openness Kostas Fragogiannis on Thursday outlined the steps that Greece has taken to become an attractive destination for investments, as well as those that are being planned in order to sustain its current momentum, while addressing a panel discussion at the 27th Annual Economist Government Roundtable in Athens on improving Greece’s investment climate.
Fragogiannis was responding to a question on whether Greece can offer a stable environment capable of attracting investments to the emerging new generation of direct investors, amid intense global competition.
The minister emphasised the recent upgrading after 13 years of Greece’s credit rating by Standard & Poor’s to investment grade, calling it a “great achievement”, and noted that this was “just the first step”.
“Our focus now is on preserving this state of affairs and ensuring that investors will continue to have confidence in Greece as a strong and stable, investment-grade country, in spite of the escalation of tensions in the Middle East, possible migration flows, the climate crisis and the ongoing invasion of Ukraine by Russia,” he added.
As such, the minister added, the government was actively shaping Greece’s future as an attractive investment destination through carefully planned and strategic measures. He said this was a national strategy focusing on sustainable development and the green and digital transition of the Greek economy, embracing innovation and seeking to establish Greece as a foremost digital, energy and logistics hub in Southeastern Europe.
He also noted that Greece’s role as a regional hub for innovation and technology was already acknowledged by European and US companies and investment capital in the sector, while it also served as a gateway for natural gas to Europe and was systematically boosting its role in the energy sector.
“The energy corridors that are being planned and constructed, on land and at sea, aim precisely at facing current geopolitical challenges and promote the diversification of supply sources and corridors,” Fragogiannis said.
He noted that Greece was also seeking to be a supplier and exporter of green energy from renewables, a sector presenting numerous investment opportunities. “In May 2023, our country achieve a historic record of producing 54% of electric power from RES and is well on the way to achieving the national target of covering 80 pct of electric power production using RES by 2027,” he added.
As regards logistics, Fragogiannis spoke of the construction, now underway, of a rail network linking Thessaloniki, Kavala and Alexandroupolis with Burgas, Varna and Ruse in Bulgaria, which he said will facilitate the supply chain of the region and convert Greek ports into hubs providing integrated solutions.
Responding to questions by Economist analyst Joan Hoey, Fragogiannis said the success of the Mitsotakis government was precisely that it had understood the needs and demands of the markets and created the conditions that would attract them to Greece.
“The challenge for the future is to keep but also further strengthen the confidence of markets and investors, as well as their interest in Greece and we are working systematically in this direction,” he concluded.
The ANA-MPA is a COMMUNICATION SUPPORTER of the 27th Annual Economist Government Roundtable “The great transition: Geopolitics – Environment – Technology” held on October 24-26 in Athens. Video statements of the speakers will be posted at the webpages https://www.amna.gr/video-services/544358/Corporate%20Videos and https://we.tl/SG16Qml4bDδυτών
SOURCE; ANA-MPA
