Tsipras at the Athens Digital Forum: The crisis is exogenous, but Greece’s negative results are a reflection of government failure

In the policy changes that the industry needs of Technologies, Informatics and Communications said the president of SYRIZA Alexis Tsipras during his speech, today, at the Athens Digital Forum, speaking of “government failure” that is reflected in this sector as well.

“It is common knowledge that the Technology, Information Technology and Communications sector contributes approximately 8% of the GDP of the Greek economy and employs thousands of workers”, noted Mr. Tsipras, stressing that after the pandemic period the potential of the digital technologies.

He pointed out, “the dynamic course of the sector has all the conditions to continue in our country, as its available resources Recovery and Resilience Fund they are important and amount to 20% of the total budget, while the resources of the new NSRF 2021-2027 are also important”, adding that this is “an important opportunity that should not be wasted”.

However, he clarified that in addition to the “prospects” for the “possibilities”, the market situation also presents “very big challenges”, such as the difficulty of Greek businesses to integrate digital tools and the dependence of the sector’s companies on the projects of the State.

In this context, he criticized the government for the management of the energy crisis affecting the entire economy.

“The crisis is exogenous but all the negative firsts of Greece are nothing more than a reflection of the government’s failure in the practiced policy and above all its deliberate tolerance of a series of negative phenomena”, he said, referring characteristically to “obscene profit, the prevalence of oligopolistic interests in the functioning of the markets, the lack of transparency in the utilization of public resources and the lack of public policies with an inclusive character and character ».

“Finally, in Greece the markets must work to the benefit of all and the state must intervene and regulate the markets where phenomena of coordinated practices are observed”, he underlined adding that “transparency in the utilization of public resources is a necessary condition for a healthy economy” .

The president of SYRIZA he complained once again the “8.5 billion euros in direct assignments in the last two years”, while he spoke of the “clear exclusion of small and medium-sized enterprises from European resources”. “Just 210 typically large companies have applied with an average investment project cost of 40 million euros,” he noted.

“Because digital transition with justice means leaving no one behind. On the contrary, what is currently taking shape is a prohibitive framework for the majority of businesses in our country to be able to taste the fruits of the digital transition”, he added, explaining that for these reasons SYRIZA-PS committed to the “redirection of the European resources of the Recovery Fund and the new NSRF” but also “changes that only a progressive government can bring”, including the change of the production model.

However, he did not fail to emphasize the importance of government continuity in digital policy, building on the work that has been done in the past by all governments.

Besides, it was mentioned on the importance of the role of the private sector, “in the effort of productive restructuring within the framework of a single strategy that will have been formed through dialogue and the participation of all productive subjects”, pointing out, in fact, that “foreign investments such as those announced for the DATA CENTERS of Microsoft and Amazon and which contribute to the creation of jobs and respect European conditions in relation to the environment’, should be supported.

“For us, the digital transition can – and must – work in a human-centered way and for the benefit of society, in order to improve the quality of people’s lives and work”, he clarified and added: “We must on the one hand reap the wide-scale benefits of technological progress throughout the range of social activities and on the other hand their use should be done in a controlled and safe manner, so as to minimize the risks and negative consequences for individuals and society”. “Because for progressive thinking, it is not enough to ask what is technologically possible, but mainly what is socially, environmentally and economically beneficial for society as a whole”, he underlined.

Finally, Mr. Tsipras presented the main axes of the official opposition’s plan “for an alternative and progressive policy of sustainable and inclusive development in the ICT sector”.

This includes, the “increase of the domestic produced value”, through “the development of the endogenous forces of the Technology, Information Technology and Communications sector” and the “promotion of heavy training and retraining programs”, the “tax and insurance incentives for recruitment in the ICT sector”, the “completion of major infrastructure projects”, the “acceleration of the digital transition in the Government”, the “inclusion of SMEs in the digital transition”, the “creation of digital citizen support structures”, the “retraining of employees” and the ” personal data protection and cyber security”.

RES-EMP

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