On the crucial issue of attracting investment to the country focused discussion on the topic “Greek Turnaround: Charting a Course Towards Sustainable Economic Growth” in the framework of the 9th Delphi Economic Forum which takes place in Delphi April 10-13 and is under the auspices of A.E. of the President of the Republic, Mrs. Katerina Sakellaropoulou.

The discussion was attended by Managing Director of Macquarie, Mr. Eric Bjonerud, Mr. Marios Brustas, Managing Director & Head of Greece, Rothschild & Co, Mrs. Alexandra Palli, Deputy Regional Governor of Attica for Entrepreneurship and European Planning, Mr. Alexandros Ragoussis, Senior Economist, International Finance Corporation, World Bank, France, the CEO of Enterprise Greece, Mr. Marinos Giannopoulos, Mr. Panagiotis Stampoulidis, Authorized Advisor of TAIPED, executive member of the Board of Directors and head of the Strategic Contracts Unit and Mr. Yannis Sarakakis, President of Saracakis Group. The discussion was moderated by the Business Editor of Proto Thema, Mr. Stelios Morfidis.

From his side Mr. Stamboulidis, stated that TAIPED contributes to 5% of the GDP and functions as a key pillar of the country’s development. He underlined that a series of important investments have been made in the context of the privatizations he is implementing. He also underlined the contribution of the Strategic Contracts Unit to the maturation of complex projects and the management of public contracts.

As he already said, projects worth 2.5 billion euros have matured and this figure is expected to reach 3.5 billion euros, while he estimated that in the next period the Unit will become the recipient of other public contracts.

“There is great potential in Greece” he stressed from the side of Managing Director of Macquarie, Mr. Bjonerudreferring to the investments that the group has already implemented in the country.

The government, he said, is supporting this dynamic by promoting initiatives that enhance transparency, cohesion, stability and actually support the vision of what the country wants to become. “In recent years we have seen growth in the economy and reliability” he underlined and focused on the opportunities generated by Artificial Intelligence and new technologies in energy while underlining the wealth of the country in resources that can support the transition to a green economy.

Referring specifically to the recent acquisition of 50% of Enel’s subsidiary in Greece, which was renamed Principia, he emphasized that the group chooses to invest in companies that show prospects and can capitalize on the major changes taking place in the energy sector. From his side the Managing Director & Head of Greece, Rothschild & Co, Mr. Brustas stood on the upward trajectory of the Athens Stock Exchange which has registered record performances in 2023 and the first months of 2024.

In this context, he made a special reference to the IPO of Athens International Airport, which was the largest IPO since 2008 in Greece. Regarding private investments, Mr. Brustas said that there are now more Greek investment funds, banks are more open and willing to give loans on good terms to companies and these are things that investors see.

As he said, “we have left behind the time when investors said no when they heard about Greece, but we must get to the point where they say yes”. He emphasized that the focus is on investment and prospective investors look for the triple bottom line: ambition, stability and success when considering potential investment opportunities.

THE Deputy Governor of Attica, Mrs. Palli noted that the Region of Attica has secured funds of 125 million euros, of which 65 million euros will be directed to productive actions. As he said, the goal of the region is to be strict in their utilization while strengthening businesses in their efforts to extrovert, strengthen competitiveness and the green transition.

He made special mention of small and medium entrepreneurship, underlining the need for business support and information on access to financial funds. In this context, he said that the Region is running a five-year strategic plan in close relationship with the chambers, agencies and the banking system. Finally, he added that on April 19 there will be a consultation on the viability of SMEs while underlining the need for stability, the existence of a simplified regulatory plan and the reduction of bureaucracy in order to boost investments.

Three structural changes related to investments and which can be useful for the development of the country were mentioned by o Senior Economist, International Finance Corporation, World Bank Mr. Ragousis. These concern:

  • Turn to services that absorb over 90% of investments worldwide
  • Investment polarization between countries that are more politically aligned.
  • Concentration of investments in fewer, larger and more resilient investors.

As he said, looking at the long term, it is now necessary to focus on the fundamentals: “it is not what you do and what you produce that counts, but how” he said.

Finally, he emphasized that emblematic investments have the potential to change the development cycle of a country and underlined that it is a wrong policy to myopically treat investments exclusively as capital flows and not by examining development indicators.

In the pipeline of strategic investments under processing are 31 projects with a total budget of 6.3 billion euros that will create 9,000 new jobs, said the CEO of Enterprise Greece, Mr. Marinos Giannopoulos. Of these projects, 13 are requesting flagship investments, with 9 projects involving industry with a budget of 3 billion euros and the others in the RES, tourism and Real Estate sectors.

In addition, he listed the actions that Enterprise Greece implements to inform and guide executives as well as the tools it provides to businesses to promote strategic investments with a sign of sustainability.

“What we remember from the pandemic is that there is no development without mobility,” said Mr. Yannis Sarakakis, President of the Saracakis Group. As he said, Greece is currently in the last place in terms of the average age of vehicles, stressing that the modernization of this goal is an opportunity that will have a significant positive impact on the national economy, the quality of transport, the productivity of businesses and the environmental footprint. of transport in general.

As he said, Greece today does not have the means to cover the gap in the manufacturing sector in a world that is moving rapidly in technology and in the scale of production. “Greece, however, can find its place in the global supply chain” he said, citing as an example companies that are active in the conversion of trucks, stressing that it is a sector that has growth potential, especially in the context of the need to modernize the fleet.

Finally, among the challenges that the industry will face, he mentioned the development of the necessary new skills from human resources and the way to adopt new technologies. “Reason must prevail and not exaggeration in a technology that will soon be outdated” he concluded.