37% of companies plan to invest, or expand their activities in our country, during the next year, while three out of four investors (75%) estimate that the attractiveness of Greece will improve further in the next three years.
It proves durable the attractiveness of Greece as an investment destination, in an environment of increased uncertainty in Europe, but also the whole world. As can be seen from the conclusions of the fourth major survey of EY Greece “EY Attractiveness Survey Greece 2022” which was carried out by Euromoney, between March 15 and April 15, percentage 37% of businesses plan to invest or expand their activities in our country, during the next year, while three out of four investors (75%)estimate that Greece’s attractiveness will improve further in the next three years.
The official presentation of the survey was made today by the managing director of EY Greece, Panagiotis Papazoglou, at the opening session of the 5th InvestGR Forum 2022: A New Greece Emerges. In a statement he said:In a year of increasing global uncertainty, the attractiveness of our country as an investment destination remains high, thanks to the important steps taken in recent years. This conquest, and the broad consensus, around the imperative need to attract foreign investment, with well-paid jobs and high added value for the national economy, we must guard it, through the mobilization of political and productive forces, the public administration, but also of Greek society. We must remember that we are operating in an extremely competitive European and global environment, in which all countries are currently intensifying their efforts and moving at a rapid pace to further strengthen their attractiveness. We must now compare ourselves with them, and not with our previous performances!».
According to the research, the war in Ukraine inevitably created a negative psychology in the global investment community. It is known that, one in three companies (32%) declares that it has delayed its direct investment plans for Greece until 2023, or even later, as a result of the war. However, more than half of respondents (54%) respond that there have been no changes in their planning, while 13% of respondents report that they are proceeding with a small (<20%) increase in planned investments.
Second best year in terms of the number of FDI in Greece
According to the EY European Investment Monitor, an extensive database processed by EY, 30 foreign direct investments (FDI) were made in Greece in 2021, a number that is the country’s second best performance since the start of the survey in 2000, after last year’s record number of 39 investments. cumulatively, investments in the last two years represent 24% of all investments made in the last 22 years. In 2021, the shift towards investments with high added value intensified. Based on the type of activity where the investments are directed, 30% concerns investments in corporate headquarters (headquarters), compared to only 4% between 2000 and 2020, and 7% in the whole of Europe in 2021, while in second and third place are respectively industrial activities (20%) and logistics activities (17%). Based on the sectors of the economy, at the top of the ranking are agri-food (20%), transport and logistics (20%) and software and IT services (17%), three sectors associated with significant comparative advantages of the Greek economy : the quality of its agricultural products, its geographical location and the skills of its human resources.
The percentage of businesses planning to invest, or expand their operations in Greece, over the next year, despite the difficult geopolitical conditions, increased for the second year in a row, reaching 37%, up from 34% last year and 28% in 2020 At the same time, 58% of survey participants state that their view of Greece as a place where their business could develop or expand its operations has improved over the last year, a marginally reduced percentage compared to 2021 (62%), while three out of four investors (75%) estimate that the attractiveness of Greece will improve in the next three years, a percentage that ranks Greece in first place among the countries under comparison, but also compared to the whole of Europe (64%).
A significant improvement is recorded in the views of the investment community regarding the following policies to improve individual aspects of the country’s attractiveness. This finding seems to confirm that investors attribute the improvement of the country’s image to the implementation of specific policies and no longer to the timing and the end of the period of uncertainty caused by the financial crisis. Specifically, policies for attracting businesses (81%), attracting human resources (78%), attracting innovative activities (75%), attracting capital (65%), attracting headquarters and decision-making centers ( 58%) and the creation of competitiveness centers & global hubs (55%).
As strong cards of the attractiveness of the country quality of life (75%), transport and logistics infrastructure (73%), telecommunications infrastructure / digital infrastructure (72%), Greece’s internal market (72%), and human skills are again highlighted potential (70%). On the contrary, the flexibility of labor legislation (46%), the geopolitical position of Greece (47%), the education system (48%) and access to financing and availability of funds in Greece (48%) are highlighted as less attractive elements.
The survey participants also rated Greece based on a number of criteria related to the sustainable development, technology and human resources, three of the most important factors influencing today’s investment decisions, and to which Greece has given special emphasis in recent years. In all the individual sectors, the majority of respondents consider that Greece’s performance is similar to, or even better than, the European average. However, in several areas, there are also significant minority percentages of respondents who consider the country’s performance to be lagging behind its European counterparts, recalling the tough competition and efforts that all European countries are making today to attract investment.
Investors estimate that, to improve its position, Greece should focus on improving the education system and human skills potential (40%), the support of the innovation and high technology sectors (37%), the reduction of taxation (33%) and the strengthening of small and medium enterprises (27%).
Finally, an impressive 90% of businesses, and 83% of representatives of businesses that do not yet have a presence in Greece, compared to 86% and 62% respectively last year, state that they would be more willing to invest in the country, if the negative points that today they act as a deterrent.
RES-EMP
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