The climate in the economy and entrepreneurship after the recovery of the investment grade and the reforms-catalysts for the development course dominated the conference held by “Naftemporiki.”
“The Greek economy is on a good track. It has enhanced its attractiveness as an investment destination and we have seen and continue to see that the increase in foreign direct investment began long before we even reached the investment grade,” Dimitris Vergados, Director of the Media & Information Sector of the Hellenic Federation of Enterprises (SEV), noted stressing that “ now we have the opportunity to see where we stand and especially where we want to go.”
On his part, Vassilis Kazas, CEO of Grant Thornton, highlighted the increase in private investment as one of the main challenges for the Greek economy. “Without an increase in private investment and without the productive transformation of our economy, we have no future,” he said, noting that investment in fixed equipment in Greece is 14% of GDP, while the average in Europe is 24%. “This percentage must increase to at least 18% and concern specific sectors such as industry, infrastructure, energy, etc.” he pointed out.
“We are definitely living a growth story. Against all trends, forecasts, Greece has recently recorded higher growth rates than the European average,” Konstantinos Adamopoulos, CFO of Intrakat, underlined.
Adamopoulos referred to the investment gap, which – as he said – is not due to public investments, that are stable at the European Union average, but has to do with private investments, which fall well short of the European average.
