Ad. Georgiadis: More than 100 companies have expressed interest in meetings in Davos

The Minister of Development and Investment, Adonis Georgiadis, had meetings with businessmen and top executives of companies and investment schemes from all over the world within the framework of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.

This is noted in an announcement of the Ministry of Development and Investment while the minister noted today on SKAI 100.3 that: “the investment interest for Greece is very high, our country for the first time has its own space in Davos, the Greek home”.

He also stated that “more than 100 companies have expressed interest in meeting him and the other ministers, Mr. Dimas and Mr. Plakiotakis”.

He added that the Prime Minister, who is going to Davos to participate in the work of the World Economic Forum, will have high-level meetings with giant companies and huge investment funds.

Investments are going really well

According to the announcement of the ministry, Mr. Georgiadis was also a speaker at the Greek House Davos (GHD – Greek House in Davos) developing the following topics:

-Foreign Direct Investments (FDI) as a key driver for sustainable economic growth (Foreign Direct Investments as a key driver of sustainable economic growth) moderated by Mark Mueller-Eberstein, CEO of Adgetec Corporation.

-Positioning Greece as an Investment Destination: priorities and challenges in the post pandemic era (Turning Greece into an investment destination: priorities and challenges in the post-pandemic era) moderated by Ms. Rula Al Tarawneh, CNBC Arabia journalist.

In his speeches, the minister pointed out:

“First of all, the World Economic Forum Davos coincides with very good news for the Greek economy. The European Commission has officially announced that during the summer Greece will leave the supervision of the institutions, as we have complied with what has been agreed and we have completed the The EU has announced that it will take extra debt relief measures.

So, today, the Greek economy received a strong vote of confidence from its European partners. This did not come by chance but is the result of very hard work under very hard and unprecedented conditions, which our Government had to face during the three years of our rule.

This is because in the beginning, when we took over, our interest was focused on the implementation of those reforms that would contribute to the transformation of Greece into a country with an investment-friendly environment. We were sure that this policy would attract foreign direct investment, as it did.

Then came the pandemic, everything changed and we had to adapt to a very different environment. “And unfortunately, just towards the end of the pandemic, there was a Russian invasion of Ukraine and now we are facing different challenges, very difficult, to be honest.”

“I am very proud, as Minister of Development and Investment of Greece, that in 2021 Greece had the third best performance in the European Union and the eurozone in terms of GDP growth, by 8.3%, which may be a little bit. more when we have the final data.

This happened at the same time achieving the largest increase in foreign direct investment in the last 18 years. “Given the circumstances, it is a great success.”

“In 2022, as we see things today, because this war creates challenges that no one, in fact, can predict, it also seems to be a year of growth for the Greek economy, with a growth rate of more than 3%.”

“Investments are going really well. And I can tell you that the war not only did not stop investment in Greece but I dare say – without misunderstanding – that it helped us a little bit. And that’s because suddenly the global business community realized that “Greece is a country with political and macroeconomic stability – perhaps the most stable country in the region.”

“The renewable energy sector has huge potential in Greece, which has natural advantages that are obvious to everyone. And as a Government, we have changed the legislation and speeded up the licensing process to such an extent that if one comes to invest in Greece now, It is very easy to get a license for a wind farm, for example, which is why Greece attracts many investors from almost all over the world, very large companies in the energy sector have already come to Greece this year and very large companies will come in the coming months “.

“Apart from energy, an attractive sector for investment in Greece is information and communication technologies. I am very proud that in these three years we have managed to attract the most foreign direct investment in this sector, something we never imagined before. Pfizer, Microsoft “Digital Realty, Amazon Web Services, Meta (Facebook), all these global giants and many more chose Greece for their investments”.

“All of them choose Greece because there is stability at the political and macroeconomic level and they find highly qualified scientific potential. Both of these factors are very important for companies.

We have a lot of qualified people in the IT field. During the crisis most people went abroad to work. This was the brain drain phenomenon. “Now they are starting to return.”

“We believe that in this field, really, Greece has many potentials, this is the belief and the dream of our Prime Minister. That is why he entrusted me and my colleague, Christos Dimas, with the responsibility and the means to build “This digital technology society and attracting people to it. And it seems to be working.”

“We are still at the beginning, we still have a lot to do. It may be an exaggeration that a new Silicon Valley is being created in Greece, but the truth is that a large digital ecosystem is developing around these companies. And do you know how the market is moving? When it comes the first and the second and the third, then the rest follow because it creates a technological ecosystem with multiplier value “.

“In the new knowledge economy we are not number one internationally but we aspire to be, to be honest. And we will succeed in a few years.”

Source: AMPE