The Minister of State in charge of the Monitoring and Coordination of the Government Project, Akis Skertsos, spoke about a development leap of at least 100 billion euros.
For investment package of at least EUR 100 billionwhich will help the country make one growth leap and converge to the rest of Europe, said o Akis SkertsosMinister of State in charge of Monitoring and Coordination of Government Project, during a discussion on how to attract investment in the fields of digital technologies and innovation, in which he participated, in the context of the Money Review conference entitled: “Technology Summit: Shaping the digital transition”.
Mr. Skertsos spoke positively investment stream created towards Greece.
“The Recovery Fund, the new NSRF and the Rural Development Program. These cumulatively bring in € 80 billion without the leverage that private investment will bring. These essentially create the famous package of at least 100 billion euros of investments that were missing from the Greek economy during the years of crisis and will cover the deficit of investments in capital equipment and human resources that were not made in previous years. So they will help the country make the big growth leap so that we can converge with the rest of Europe. “This is one of the main goals to get closer to the European core in order to upgrade the quality of life of citizens and the activity of businesses,” he said.
According to Mr. Skertsos, the crisis of more than ten years was due to an institutional deficit of government, which had a catalytic effect in every sector of the State, making it impossible to evolve based on the demands of the modern administration. Something that has changed drastically from the current government, such as the operation of the autonomous Ministry of Digital Government, which was the only gathering place for all actions and strategies regarding the formulation and implementation of a coherent digital strategy in our country at public level. sector.
“Until then, each ministry operated in the light of the silo, following – at best – an individual digital policy, proposing piecemeal digitization actions, without, however, having the required vision and consequently a coordinated pace towards the future. Now, our country has developed and implemented a long-term digital strategy with a horizon of 2030, possibly beyond, while in the next five years through the Recovery Fund, the NSRF, the Public Investment program and the Rural Development program, cumulative of the order of 7 billion euros in the direction of the implementation of innumerable digitization actions of the state, the national economy, the enterprises, the infrastructures, the processes, but also of the human resources. “Our strategy includes interventions, funding, reforms, but also projects,” said Mr. Skertsos.
Networks and interconnectedness define an attractive investment destination
The stated goal of the government is for Greece to be an attractive destination for attracting investments, businesses and human resources, which will be able to enjoy a high level of services and interconnection.
“In order for this to happen, acceleration is required in a number of areas, such as e.g. upgrading networks that in turn will ensure uninterrupted connectivity at high speeds. To this end, we have developed an ambitious public investment program through the Recovery Fund, but also private ones. I remind you of OTE’s announcement for the development of high-speed networks, totaling 3 billion euros, regarding the doubling of the speed of home connections to 50 Mbps, but also by 2027 to connect about 3 million businesses and homes in high-speed networks speeds “, Mr. Skertsos emphasized characteristically.
Asked about the ingredients of … “secret sauce” that ensures commitment to foreign investment, the Minister of State in charge of Monitoring and Coordination of Government Project stressed that interested investors are looking for a government that will be inspired by seriousness, will have vision, will move in terms of reliability and will primarily prove effective in the field. “Storytelling is not enough in this case, while plans on paper without a substantial degree of implementation and implementation do not move -now- a serious investor …”, he said characteristically.
He also considers important the fact that movements such as e.g. that of Microsoft with the creation of data center, function as the best – as well as the most effective – advertisement about the investment landscape that prevails in our country, acting multiplier on its credibility.
Greek startup companies are on the international map
Asked whether new investments with a technological tone are expected in the near future, Mr. Skertsos stressed the existing interest in the field of research and development of innovation in general. “A decade ago this sector was non-existent, while today it numbers more than 500 companies, whose market value exceeds 8 billion euros, which” translates “to 4-5% of the Gross National Product of our country. Undoubtedly, the domestic ecosystem of young entrepreneurship is dynamically placed on the international map of startup reality, while the value and specialization of their staff is an asset for them, but also for our country as a whole “.
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