The start of the construction of its significant investment Data4with an initial value of 300 million euro in Peaniathe prime minister launched today, Tuesday Kyriakos Mitsotakis.

This is the new data center campus in Peania of the French multinational which will be built on an area of ​​75 acres with a time horizon of operation in 2027. Data4’s investment in Greece is part of an extensive investment program to expand Data4 in Europe, amounting to 7 billion euros up to in 2030, with the aim of becoming one of the strongest “players” in data center services.

The Prime Minister’s full address:

Your Honor, Mr. District Governor, Mr. Mayor, ladies and gentlemen, colleagues in the government and in Parliament, dear Olivier, Madam Ambassador, ladies and gentlemen,

I had prepared a greeting plan but allow me to speak from the chest influenced by what Olivier also said, starting with the obvious point that a company called Data4 has the obligation to definitely build four and not two data centers in Greece.

So we are really happy that today we are here, in this very beautiful place, to establish the first of the two data centers that Data4 has planned to build here in the wider area of ​​Attica.

And let me start by thanking Olivier for his very important point that “of all the countries in which he has been active so far, Greece has been the friendliest to welcome such a significant investment by a French company”. I will come back to the great importance I attach to the European dimension of this investment.

And obviously, congratulations are due to all those who worked during the licensing process, to reach today the point where this important investment begins: the relevant Ministries, the Region, the Municipality, the ADMIE, which will provide electricity to run the data center.

I think it is a very good example of how the perception of this government has changed the image of the country. We are now a country that is friendly to foreign investment. This is something that is demonstrated not only by the investment of Data4 but overall by the increased number of investments that are launched in our country.

And of course, it is also a confirmation of the overall very good course of the economy, of the fact that Greece no longer faces virtually any real political risk, of the stability that this government radiates and of the certainty that it finally gives to important foreign investors to invest significant funds -in this case, 300 million in the first phase- to launch their investment plans.

And I was thinking, in fact, how much time has passed since the times of January 2020, when for the first time I had tried to convince a large American company to build a data center in Greece. Back then it was much more difficult to talk about Greece as a country – friendly investment destination. Today things are easier, but obviously we are not complacent because we still have many steps to take in order to cover the investment gap that still separates us from the rest of the European countries.

So why do we put so much emphasis on attracting data centers to our home country? I think the reason was explained very simply by the Minister of Digital Governance. Data is the new great wealth, processing it leads to great innovations, which we are already seeing through the artificial intelligence revolution. And Greece has two, I would say, additional significant comparative advantages in the global geopolitical distribution of data center investments.

The first comparative advantage is its geographical location. I think you also saw on the related map, some arrows pointing where? To the Middle East, to India, to the Far East. And obviously data centers are also combined with very significant investments made in data transmission cables. Greece is at the crossroads of three continents. And for a company that provides data management services, this is extremely important.

Our second major comparative advantage is our country’s access and ability to provide cheap clean energy from the sun and wind. And obviously, this is something that is of particular interest to large data centers because, as you know, they are extremely energy-intensive, and the provision of stable energy, which is largely green energy, is something that our country can provide, without this – to emphasize – putting a total burden on other competitors who can request the same electricity.

This is one of the reasons that we see great interest in creating data centers in our country and one of the reasons also that significant investments are made in our networks so that we can provide this energy where the data centers need it. And obviously a large number of these investments are made here in Attica and especially in Eastern Attica.

You know that for our government the digital revolution around artificial intelligence is a big opportunity. If in the first four years our path was identified through the applications revolving around gov.gr, i.e. services that significantly simplify the state’s communication with the citizen and the business, I think that the second four years is the four years in which artificial intelligence will it “invades”, in a good sense, into our lives for good and we will be able to embrace it for its opportunities and protect ourselves from its threats. I had the opportunity yesterday, at an artificial intelligence conference, to talk in more detail about these grand challenges.

And of course, the fact that ecosystems are being created in Greece around the field of artificial intelligence has multiplying benefits in terms of the attractiveness of our country to approach such investments as a whole. Because each such investment attracts engineers, experts in the management of algorithms, technical experts.

And it puts another stone in this effort that we are making for Greece to be at the forefront of the new digital revolution, with a focus on artificial intelligence, without at the same time, Your Honor, ignoring the very important ethical dimensions that artificial intelligence has and the need , where required, to regulate its fields in such a way that artificial intelligence will never replace man, but will always be his partner, his fellow traveler and essentially a facilitator for improving human productivity.

I never imagine, nor do I think anyone can imagine, a future where human labor is largely replaced by algorithmic machines. But technology should always be a “companion” and a tool that will make human ingenuity and human productivity better. This is also our vision of how technology actually helps human progress.

And finally, let me close with something that Olivier mentioned and to which I attach great importance: Data4 is a European company. And I think this has a special significance at a time when large investments in technology infrastructure are primarily made by American companies, many of which are also active in our country – and we are very happy about that – but, obviously, the strategic autonomy of Europe also goes through bridging that productivity gap that separates the US from Europe and which the Draghi report attributes almost exclusively to issues of technological backwardness.

The fact, therefore, that a European company has the possibility to compete with large companies from the USA, to provide them with services, because these investments do not necessarily always work completely competitively, but above all to create domestic European know-how around a sector cutting edge, I believe it is of great importance, not only for Greece, it is important for Europe individually. And of course, dear Madam Ambassador, I would say that this investment in its own way covers the excellent economic relations between France and Greece.

In conclusion, let me once again congratulate all those who worked to launch this investment. To thank the company that chose our country, as the sixth European country, to expand its activities. I wish for a quick completion of the work.

To encourage, also, innovative thoughts on the utilization of the heat produced by the data centers. I found the idea very interesting. We are in an area, mind you, where we have an important primary sector and a period where we are very interested in developing greenhouse crops. It would be a real shame if the heat produced by data centers goes to waste in the environment, if it could be used for other purposes. After all, the original use of this area was agricultural land and this is perhaps a very interesting analogy for how traditional land uses can go hand in hand with the new investments that our times require.

Good luck soon and in the opening of the first two data centers, with the hope of course, as I said at the beginning, that there won’t be only two and that there will be at least four.

Thank you very much.