Macedonia is becoming a pillar of development and innovation in Southeast Europe, Foreign Minister George Gerapetritis, speaking today at the event “Macedonia: Pillar of Development and Innovation in Southeast Europe”, as part of the 89th International Exhibition.

Mr Gerapetritis pointed out that last year we had 222 investments that entered the development law, more than 300 million, while in the new development plan, the prediction is for 6.8 billion, which he said will have a very large multiplier effect, ” and interconnection. “

Referring to energy, he said that Thessaloniki has been developed not only as a node, but as a gateway to Southeast Europe.

“TAP and IGB are of course our vehicles, through which the basic routes in terms of energy resources go through. In northern Greece, the FSRU in Alexandroupolis is a key, passing 25% of liquefied natural gas. The effort made after the Russian war in Ukraine for energy differentiation has highlighted the comparative advantage of Macedonia because all alternative forms were developed. To evaluate the fact that today we have managed our energy mix to be more than 50% renewable energy, of great importance for the viability and differentiation of our energy resources. And therefore, at the moment, we can be praised that Macedonia has indeed become an extremely important energy hub in Southeast Europe and as a whole, ”said Gerapetritis.

Referring to the ports of Thessaloniki, Kavala and Alexandroupolis, he said they were on a high -growth orbit, interconnected both rail and road with the big axes, while referring to the rail network, which is growing.

“The combination of transport, energy resources, digital data is something that is absolutely critical to Macedonia, northern Greece and the country,” he said.

He stressed that the government’s goal is to simultaneously grow up in a virtuous budgetary cycle.

“Greece will never risk its financial viability in order to have ephemeral benefits. And in this context it is important to have a responsible government and to have political stability, ”said Mr. Galpetritis.

And ended up:

“Extraversion is in fact the gate of Greece and we must all understand that if something guarantees the country’s economic future it is its extroversion. Because Greece’s extroversion is nothing today, it goes back to centuries. And today is the time, with so many challenges that are developing in the world, we should get out of this joke stronger, more extroverted, with a larger and stronger economy, with a larger international footprint. “

KD Melissopoulos