“Greece: From a problematic child to a model student,” is the title of the report of the first channel of German public television ARD, which highlights the progress made by the country leaving behind the financial crisis, its investment opportunities and the “lesson” that Germany can take.

“Sun, beach, blue sea and beautiful small islands – they characterize Greece. From an economic point of view, one could say that they are the country’s assets, those that bring money to Greece. 30% of its GDP depends on tourism, says Christian COPF, head of the Union Investment markets. “Greece is a small economy -oriented economy. It’s a bit like Florida in Europe. Many people move there because it’s just a nice place to live.” COPF still remembers the time when Greece – despite its beautiful location and many sunny days a year – was on the verge of national bankruptcy.

“Greece experienced a major financial crisis in 2011. At that time, the government had taken on very high levels of debt, but it also had a very high budget deficit and investors were no longer willing to fund it,” the report said, and it is noted that Germany is the largest investor in the country. “After paying payments and many extraordinary loans, the country is in a better position. The state has restructured its budget and can re -borrow money from capital markets on more favorable terms. With these funds, Greece has invested significantly in the country’s infrastructure and thus attracted foreign investors, “says Marian Vent, head of the Athens Bureau of the Konrad Adenauer Foundation (KAS), and is reported in the case of the German Boehringer Ingelheim. German companies in total represent about 5% of GDP.

“Germany is the largest investor in the country with 20%. Italy follows up close, ”adds Mr Ved, saying that in addition to tourism, there are other interesting future markets in Greece, such as digitization, energy and health sector. “Something is growing there,” as the Greece’s economy is developed in total, with 2.3% in 2024, he says characteristically and explains that growth is due to tourism flourishing, but not only. “Greece has long been known as a transit hub. With the port of Piraeus, we have a logistics hub, between the East and the West, so we can serve the new markets to the Balkans very well.

Greece is the gateway to Europe, and the Chinese have cleverly used it, “the KAS leader in Athens points out and recalls:” During the public debt crisis, Greece’s creditors, including government creditors, pressed Greece to privatize its port. Afterwards, it was a bit short -sighted to give the strategically important port to Chinese hands. The Chinese are now using the port as a gateway to southern Europe to transport their exports. “

“What can we learn from Greece? Just do it! ”, ARD reporter notes and speaks of returning investors and mass arrivals of tourists, highlighting last year’s record of 40 million arrivals. The key word is: Digitization, “Marian Ved points out, explaining that the digital transition that has been noted in Greece in recent years” has greatly helped to combat undeclared work and tax evasion “as” every citizen can pay for anything, which is not a card, and if not a card, Tax revenue. “

In addition, “Greeks have more confidence in the private sector than in the state and a fairly open mood towards new things. Their mentality is, let’s start and solve the problems along the way. The Germans always think about the process first and, if the process is not 100% correct, they do not even start. They could learn something from the Greeks, “Marian Ved indicates.