The approval of 50 local Leader programs for the programming period 2023-2027, amounting to 236 million euros, was announced by the Minister of Rural Development and Food, Kostas Tsiaras, during the opening meeting of the Clld/Leader interlocal cooperation project, entitled “Cooperative Development “, in the context of sub-measure 19.3 of the RDP 2014-2020. The presentation was also attended by the Minister of Social Cohesion and Family, Sofia Zaharaki.

The goal, as underlined by Mr. Tsiaras, is to immediately announce the new invitations from the local action groups, with more simplified procedures and digitization, in order to facilitate the entrepreneurs, as well as the development companies and other agencies, that will participate.

“It is a particularly powerful tool, in order for local societies to be strengthened effectively and inclusively to innovate, to deal with the problems of mainly farmers, but also to strengthen the social cohesion of the region”, he noted.

The Minister of Rural Development and Food, emphasized that the Leader programs are among the most typical examples of success for the drawing up and implementation of a “bottom-up” development policy for the Greek region, i.e. a policy that is designed from the bottom up. As stated in a related announcement, these development policies are paying off, both in terms of development and employment, because they are designed and implemented by local communities. Local people know better than anyone the characteristics of their area, weaknesses and opportunities, and that is why they can achieve their goals, create new opportunities and new jobs and reduce inequalities, keeping young people in the periphery .

Mr. Tsiaras underlined that the “Development of Karditsa” is such a successful example and pledged that he will be present throughout the process. “We closely monitor the development of the programs and plan together a better future for our country and our fellow citizens. Firmly together, we are working to take advantage of all the opportunities given to us by EU financial tools and all the development potential of our country,” he said.

At the same time, the general secretary of Union Resources and Infrastructure of the FSA, Dimitris Papagiannidis, announced that any overcommitment requested in Thessaly will be approved for the further support and restructuring of the region.

In the presentation of the plan, which was coordinated by Evangelos Sakellariou, general director of AN.KA. A.E., the parliamentarians of the ND of the Karditsa prefecture, George Kotsos, Asimina Skondra and Aristotelis Spanias, the regional governor of Thessaly, Dimitris Kouretas, the mayors of the Karditsa prefecture, as well as representatives of the local government, the church, the cultural clubs, were also present. and institutions of the prefecture of Karditsa and wider Thessaly.