Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis visited Platykambos of the Kilelere Municipality during his tour of Larissa.

“I landed a while ago at the 110th Fighter Wing and had the opportunity to see the tangible examples of the very close strategic cooperation we now have with the United States, with the presence of American drones here in Larissa.

It is just one small indication of how we have upgraded the role of Greece geostrategically and geopolitically. Greece today is much stronger at all levels than it was four years ago”, said the Prime Minister during his greeting to representatives of the Local Government and citizens who welcomed him.

“We put a lot of emphasis on supporting the agricultural world”

“Now is not the time to tell you everything we have achieved in these four years. I will only retain what the speakers said, regarding the very strong emphasis we have placed on supporting the agricultural world through financial tools, which the country has never had at its disposal. I want to remind: New NSRF, more resources for the regional programs, for the PEP of Thessaly. New rural development programme, I negotiated it personally in Brussels and ensured that we have no reductions in the basic subsidies of our farmers.

And of course, the important additional tool of the Recovery Fund, from which we will channel many resources into projects that are extremely important to you. I am referring to new irrigation projects, we will say more today at noon about all the irrigation projects that we are implementing. But also in projects for the production of cheap energy, so that you can combine the production of cheap energy with the cultivation of products which must now be competitive and find places in the world markets, based on their quality”, noted Kyriakos Mitsotakis.

“We return the product of development to the citizens”

“We are returning all the excise tax on diesel for the whole year, we are implementing this commitment, 80 million costs.

But we can do it and I want to emphasize this, because our economy is growing faster than we expected. Why are we attracting investments, because we have already put the country on a different development trajectory.

I want you to know that all that we are returning to the citizens, to our farmers, to the vulnerable social groups, to the households that are being tested, is not the product of additional borrowing or over-taxation. We return the product of development to the citizens and especially to the weakest social groups”, noted the Prime Minister.

“We want to make the primary sector a champion in Europe”

“Did we do everything right? No. Are there still many problems we need to solve? Of course there are. But there is no doubt that the country has now changed course, that the path we have set is a path of optimism and that all Greeks, including our farmers, have every reason to know that with this government they will have a partner who will be reliable, who will support their just demands and with whom we can work together to make our primary sector a champion in Europe as well. This is my purpose and for this purpose we will continue to work, always in collaboration with the Region.

They asked me on the radio – I appeared on a Trikala radio station – and they ask me: “and what will happen with the regional elections, he says, which are coming after the elections?” I say what will happen? Here we have the best Regional Governor of Thessaly whom we will continue to support and with whom we will continue to cooperate excellently.

So we will continue to speak the language of truth to you. We will abide by the truth agreement we signed, we will abide by it for the next four years. Because I want you to know that I really look forward to your support.

I look forward to the support of old and new friends of New Democracy, in the upcoming elections which will be held sometime in the spring.

Give us the possibility to continue the path we have set, to take the country even higher, to take Thessaly even higher. We can achieve it and we will achieve it”, emphasized Kyriakos Mitsotakis.

Buyer: Whenever needed, at any time you pick up the phone and provide solutions

“Dear Prime Minister of the country, Kyriakos Mitsotakis, I want to thank you. And I want to thank you, because whenever needed you pick up the phone, at any time and in difficult and great moments and provide solutions. I want to thank you for being present even in difficult times. You were present with deeds, not with words”, said the Regional Governor of Thessaly Kostas Agorastos.

“For the first time in recent years, Thessaly can hope to solve its irrigation and water problem, with large projects, intergenerational projects, projects of substance, projects that touch the soul of the people of production, projects that give oxygen of hope to continue people their sustainable cultivation, here in Platykambos, but also throughout Thessaly”, he added.

“We have an excellent cooperation with the Region and the Ministries. The only thing I would like to emphasize to you is that the Municipality of Killeler wants you to know that it has 960,000 acres and 650,000 acres are arable. It grows everything. Here are young farmers, they listen to me. The most important problem we have, beyond the energy problem, the most important problem we have is the water problem. Indeed, the Municipality of Killeler has a huge problem, Thessaly has a huge problem”, noted the Mayor of Killeler Thanasis Nasiakopoulos.

“It is with great pleasure that we welcome you to the Municipality of Killeler. It is the most agricultural municipality in all of Greece with approximately one million arable acres. The Municipality with the demands of the Mayor and the Municipal Council and with the support of you and the government is a laboratory of projects.

Nevertheless, the rural world is suffering. We need support because after the quarantine and after the war in Ukraine we have paid very dearly for the supplies and we are getting very low prices”, said the Deputy Mayor of Administration and Economic Technical Projects of Killeler Alekos Chondronasios.

“It is our great pleasure that you are here, it is our great pleasure that your government and you as Prime Minister have practically supported the agricultural world and especially the agricultural cooperatives. A 50% tax reduction is a very important sign of what it means that a government wants to support a cooperative in practice. You are on a very good path, we hope you continue on this path.

Thank you for everything. Of course, there are issues in the agricultural world, as the Deputy Mayor also said, which are also issues in the primary sector, considering the cost of production and oil, you have taken important steps, you have returned oil that other governments cut off, Mr. Prime Minister , you gave it back to us.

What we are asking is that you can now institutionalize rural oil. And of course, infrastructure projects for the water that is missing in Thessaly, so that it can continue to produce, because if there is no cheap electricity – which you have already turned your back on for the electricity too”, said the Deputy Mayor of Rural Development and Civil Protection Killeler and President of the Agricultural Platykampos Cooperative, Yiannis Koukoutsis.

The Prime Minister walked the streets of the village and talked to the people.

Kyriakos Mitsotakis was accompanied by Larisa MPs of the New Democracy, Maximos Harakopoulos, Christos Kellas and Stella Biziou, Trikala Member of Parliament of the ND Katerina Papakosta, the Secretary of the Political Committee of the ND Pavlos Marinakis and the Secretary of Organization and Director of the Office of the President of the ND, Stelios Kontadakis.

“JOIST” Innovation Park: A modern and functional hub

Afterwards, Kyriakos Mitsotakis visited the “JOIST” Innovation Park, in Larissa, which has been operating since May 2022. It is a dynamic phygital ecosystem that enhances innovation and knowledge transfer in the fields of entrepreneurship, technology, science, of art and design and is the largest Innovation Park in the whole of Southeast Europe.

“It is very interesting to see this development aspect as well. We don’t often associate it with Larissa, we think of Larissa as a city that primarily deals with the agricultural sector. The fact that it is turning into an innovation center with actions that are really competitive, not only at the Greek level but at the global level is extremely encouraging”, said Kyriakos Mitsotakis.

The Entrepreneurship Development Institute, startups of different sectors and one of the seven European digital innovation hubs approved by the Ministry of Digital Governance, the Health Club, are active in the Park. Companies are also hosted – technocrats, start-ups and four startups from Larissa. It works closely with research centers, such as EKETA and the Universities of Thessaly, Aegean and Ionian. “JOIST” is also the seat of the Competence Center “PYTHEIA” which is funded by the Ministry of Development and Investments and is active in the field of digital health and medicines.

The Prime Minister was given a tour of the park and was informed about its activities by the Deputy Minister responsible for Research and Innovation Christos Dimas, the owner and President of the Innovation Park, Tassos Vassiliadis, the General Manager, Vassilis Avramoudis and the Vice President, Antonis Kyritsis.

Kyriakos Mitsotakis had the opportunity to stop for a while at the “PYTHeIA Competence Center”, which aims to create a center for the digital transformation of the Health sector, and to talk with partners of the startup “Chronicles Health”. He also visited the offices of the Institute for Growth and Entrepreneurship, an award-winning non-profit organization that aims to foster innovation, promote and empower the entrepreneurial spirit, where he spoke to young people.

The next stop was the Future Learning Lab, where the Prime Minister had the opportunity to use the GIGXR AR platform, through the hoolens application (augmented reality glasses) and see the “ducky code” robots, which aim to teach, mainly in guys, the basics of programming.

Together with the JOY robot, Kyriakos Mitsotakis headed towards the Co-working Space, the shared work and collaboration space of the Innovation Park and the central auditorium of “JOIST”.