inch Greece means business ” A couple of days ago, I returned from the multi-day trip to San Francisco plus Silicon Valley, aimed at discovering the business plans that the technology giants are working on for our country. A positive atmosphere prevailed in all 20 meetings we held there. Executives from Google, Microsoft and Apple, but additionally from all the investment money and financial institutions recognized all of us as reliable interlocutors and Greece as an appealing expenditure destination. The political balance, social cohesion and development achieved since 2019, in the middle of successive global crises, have previously significantly benefited the country’s international image. This is a excellent advantage for attracting brand new investment. However , in this govt we only make notices when we have deliverables where we’re currently working with great dedication and hard work. Because, you know, attracting investment capital is more complicated than it seems.
The upward trend associated with Foreign Direct Investment during the last three and a half years shows the work we have done so much in Economic Diplomacy. 2021 was a milestone year, when one of the largest increases in FDI was recorded at seventy two. 3%. According to obtainable data, (net) FDI inflows amounted to €4. 6 billion, the largest FDI inflow since 2002. For the very first half of 2022, (gross) FDI amounted to EUR 4. 3 billion, which refers to 86% of the 2021 FDI inflows, in total. In the strategic investment part by itself, we have approved business plans of over €8. 5 billion and there is another €6 billion in the pipeline to be approved. The contribution of these investments to the work market is estimated with approximately 4, 500 work. The current investment activity, valuations carried out, which in some cases go beyond the most optimistic expectations, and the presence of large funds in the Greek market, just about all point to one thing: (that) international investors see Greece because having the potential to generate substantial capital gains over the long-term. We are optimistic that this pace will be maintained in 2023, with new investments in energy, life sciences, the development of digital hubs, and the supply chain.
The government’s choice to establish economic diplomacy within the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is a reform planning to extroversion, without putting the country’s traditional multilateral international economic relations in second place.
In the energy sector in particular, our own country is gradually becoming an energy hub for the broader region. Regarding natural gas, the Trans Adriatic Pipeline FAUCET, the Greece-Bulgaria Interconnector IGB, and the planned Greece-Northern Macedonia Interconnector are investments that, due to the Russia-Ukraine war, highlight their strategic importance and value. In the field of electricity, the country has forged units in the Middle East with nations such as Egypt, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates, with which we are promoting contracts on the transmission of electricity generated by renewable energy sources. “Doing good will attract good”, as I often say, and this applies to more than just the financial progress that countries can perform through this kind of investment. Greece now “means business” in the international community.
