They discussed the opportunity given to our country to create at this stage an attractive environment for investors, utilizing its natural beauty, the available resources, but also reforms that can be made in the business ecosystem, answering the questions of Tasos Zahos, Editor in Chief, Fortune Greece Dimitris Skalkos, General Secretary of Public Investments and NSRF, Hlias Korosis, Partner, Head of Growth Investing and Strategy at Hermes GPE, Eva Ados, Partner, COO & Chief Investment Strategist, ERShares and Stavros Siokos, Managing Partner , Astarte at the 7th Delphi Economic Forum entitled “New Realities”, which takes place in Delphi April 6-9 and is under the auspices of SA. of the President of the Republic, Mrs. Katerina Sakellaropoulou.
Starting the discussion, Tassos Zachos mentioned the important fact that there is, in the year 2022, one billion euros for investments in our country, an amount six times from 2020 with Dimitris Skalkos emphasizing that the Ministry of Development is mainly interested in digitization investment projects and circular economy and green energy, while there is a focus on green infrastructure such as broadband networks, “green” islands, transport systems. However, in the coming years, as he stressed, there will be expansion in all areas of entrepreneurship.
On the other hand, he mentioned the problems such as the legislation which he characterized as rigid and “heavy” for investors, adding that important steps have been taken, but there is still much to be done in this direction.
“An important issue is the huge investment gap that Greece has, as the economic crisis has hit us hard. We need to promote investment in general, to show foreign and Greek investors that it is worth investing here. They need to show that we have “Several funds, resources from investment funds and Europe, that there is a national plan from the Recovery and Sustainability Fund. At the moment there is a paradox: We have more resources than we can absorb.”
He also stressed that in the coming months there will be even more tender announcements, especially in the field of green economy for international investors, while he mentioned the new financial instruments, which will be integrated in the Hellenic Development Bank. , which in the last two years alone has financed investments of EUR 200 million.
Hlias Korosis, Partner, Head of Growth Investing and Strategy at Hermes GPE, focused on the fact that Greece has never been more ready for investment, referring to the great potential that exists in our country at this stage for the development of technology and clean energy and on a small and large scale.
He also referred to the need to develop the technological side of this process, arguing that a brand name should be created in Greece in ESG technology in small households, as branding is what investors are looking for.
According to Mr. Korosis, there is now the right environment to create a favorable business ecosystem in Greece, as the business culture changes. “Greece can become an investment destination. At the moment we do not have a Venture ecosystem, we have a lot of work ahead of us. But gradually Greece can become a hub, a global investor will want to come to such a hub,” he said.
Eva Ados, Partner, COO & Chief Investment Strategist, ERShares spoke about the lack of STEM skills in Greek executives, but also in the business opportunities presented by the cybersecurity and defense sectors, adding that there is a question of trust for the Greek company, the which is something that needs to change.
According to her, there is also a need to create an environment for Greek businessmen to come back to Greece, typically saying that in the US where there is a successful company, there is always a Greek businessman behind it.
For her it is an opportunity to create tech cities in Greece as well as abroad, adding that our country has all the guarantees to attract investors for these projects, such as its natural beauty, talents and resources.
In her presentation, she mentioned, in addition to the opportunities that are created at this stage in areas such as cybersecurity and defense, while she added that if an innovation hub is created in Greece, investments will soon come. The fact that there is a large per capita debt, however, is a big problem.
According to Ms. Ados, it is also important that there is a question of trust for companies in our country, but also the lack of a database for all companies in Greece, with her emphasizing that because of this the opportunities for investment they are not often very obvious.
Stavros Siokos, Managing Partner, Astarte mentioned the legal obstacles that exist in our country, in the effort to complete a business project, emphasizing, nevertheless, that its business ecosystem has developed, there are talents, there is a will and the society is ready to move forward. He made special mention of ESG projects, emphasizing that trees are the best technology for the absorption of carbon, there is technology available for this and that ESG is considered in Greece an environmentally friendly project and has a social impact. “This is the right time to take advantage of the Greek environment. We must not miss this opportunity,” he said.
Besides, in his position, the specific executive focused on the need to promote new talents in industry from the reservoirs of Greek universities, as, as he estimated, the future of entrepreneurship will come from the university institutions.
Source: Capital
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