At the end of 2025, Pfizer’s Global Center for Digital Innovation (CDI) in Thessaloniki will have more than 1,400 employees, compared to 1,000 today, and “this is the proof of the success of the project we undertook”, pointed out the vice-president, head of Thessaloniki, Nico Gariboldi, speaking from the podium of the conference “The Fourth Thessaloniki Metropolitan Summit – Making pathways to prosperity, solidity and cohesion for south-east Europe” and specifically in the section on “Strengthening the development and competitiveness”.

Emphasizing that before the emblematic investment of the German multinational giant was made in Thessaloniki, other areas were also targeted, he emphasized that “the choice of the city located between East and West justified us and was crowned with success”, even saying with satisfaction that “today, the 15% of Pfizer’s workforce in Thessaloniki are highly qualified scientists who had left Greece during the crisis for destinations such as the USA, Australia, the Netherlands, and returned home to work for the company.”

Explaining the reasons why Thessaloniki was finally chosen in order to make Phizer’s investment, he said: “We knew that in Thessaloniki there was available human capital, there was highly specialized scientific potential. There was AUTH, the largest university in the region as well as others and there was also government support, which was necessary for our business plans”, he emphasized.

Noting that “our success lies in the people”, he added that “there must be a favorable environment and this was what weighed heavily on our own decision to invest in Greece and in particular in Thessaloniki”.

Among other things, he pointed out that an important role in the success of Phizer’s project in Thessaloniki was played by the upward trajectory of the national economy, the stable and continuous cooperation with the government and the involved bodies, and the business culture, which the company found in Thessaloniki.

“We create new opportunities and capabilities that lead to growth. We will continue to invest in human resources and in critical skills and abilities related to digital innovation” said the head of CDI, underlining that today from Greece and Thessaloniki, Pfizer runs projects in at least 50 countries of the world.