On November 19, 2024, Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis attended the Foundation Stone Ceremony of the data center campus to be built by the French company “Data4” in Paiana (Attica), together with several ministers, the Regional Governor of Attica, the Mayor of Paiana, the Managing Director of Data4, Olivier Micheli, and the Ambassador of France in Greece.

During the event, Ambassador Laurence Auer noted that the campus is the latest milestone in rich and multidimensional Greek-French relationshighlighting the significant progress of the Greek economy in recent years, as well as its potential in the fields of advanced technologies. He added that the future campus in Paiana will be the new site of a French company known for its dynamism, its interest in European markets, its search for innovation and its attention to the environment.

Since its establishment in 2006, the Data4 has grown into a major player in the European data center market, with 35 such units in France, Germany, Italy, Spain and Poland, and has recently expanded significantly into Greece.

The project in Peania envisages construction two state-of-the-art data centers – the first of which is expected to be operational in 2027 – with possible expansion to a total of four data centers in the future. The total investment for the first two centers is estimated to reach 300 million euros, with the potential creation of around 500 specialized and qualified jobs. This is a result that benefited from the positive cooperation with the Greek authorities, both at national and local level, as well as with the Greek high voltage grid.

The campus is one of the most important French investments in Greece, in a sector with prospects for the future. It highlights the dynamism of the tech industry in both France and Greece and is a testament to Greece’s economic attractiveness – as its growth prospects rank among the best in the euro area for 2024 and beyond. This investment, moreover, underlines the high level of bilateral relations between the two countries, while bilateral exchanges have increased by 40% since 2020.

A diverse French team works to support companies wishing to discover the Greek market or invest there: the Embassy’s Economic Service, the Business France office in Athens, the Franco-Hellenic Chamber of Commerce and Industry, the French Tech network, as well as the network of French foreign trade consultants.