Georgiadis: Greece is recognized as an attractive investment destination for German companies

Greece is now a very attractive investment destination for German companies, mainly due to the progress it has made in the production of renewable energy sources, said Development Minister Adonis Georgiadis, expressing his satisfaction with the positive climate he encountered during his contacts yesterday with representatives of the business community of Germany, in a visit, which he also described as “healing the damage suffered by Greek-German relations in the past decade”.

“The climate for Greece has changed, the representatives of the business community that I met expressed their admiration for the achievements of the Greek economy in the last three years and it seems that there is a very strong mood to start making a lot of investments,” he said in APE – MEP Mr. Georgiadis and assured that in the coming months the two sides will cooperate intensively in order to make the positive climate a reality. “I’m much more satisfied than when I was coming (to Berlin). I was coming with about 1/3 of what I met in mind,” said the Minister of Development.

Answering a question about whether the crisis also gives Greece opportunities, Mr. Georgiadis pointed out that the current crisis is pushing the German economy to look for new ways and places of production “and Greece – with the progress it has made in the production of renewable sources energy, which they are very interested in – , is now a very attractive investment destination for them”. The trend of relocating factories within Europe started with the coronavirus pandemic, explained the Minister of Development, but the energy crisis is giving it a very big boost, as now such a thing also makes economic sense.

Speaking to the Greek correspondents, Adonis Georgiadis also noted that during his contacts with representatives of both the Central Association of German Chambers of Commerce and Industry (DIHK) and the Association of German Industry (BDI), he found the great interest of German businessmen in repatriating industrial units from Asia to Europe.

“They are thinking of moving their factories to other countries,” said the minister and emphasized that “it is extremely realistic that Greece will take some of them”, while he said that he explained to his interlocutors, among other things, the possibilities of granting low-interest loans from the Recovery Fund.

As part of exploring the prospect of such investments, the DIHK undertook to organize visits by both the minister and representatives of the foreign and development ministries to German states in order to make direct contacts with interested companies. He gave a time horizon of 18 months for these investments.

According to Mr. Georgiadis, a particularly attractive element of Greece is the rapid progress in the field of renewable energy sources, which is highly appreciated by German companies, but it has now been consolidated and that “Greece has turned the page”, the minister added and mentioned that the interest of the German side was focused, on the one hand, on the speed with which the digital transition takes place and, on the other hand, on the high growth rates of the Greek economy.

Regarding the possibilities of Greece to respond to a possible increase in foreign investments, Adonis Georgiadis highlighted the fact that this year Greece will achieve a historical record of investments, but also the development of RES.

As he indicated indicatively, the target of 20 GW in 2030 will already be reached in 2024 and without discounts on environmental sensitivity. “The future of Greece is to become an exporter of renewable energy sources in Europe”, underlined Mr. Georgiadis and explained that this will give a competitive advantage to industry – with cheaper electricity – and a boost to tourism.

RES-EMP

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