Article by Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Kostas Fragogiannis in the special edition of “NAFTEMPORIKI” newspaper
” Greece means business ”
A few days ago, I returned from a multi-day trip to San Francisco and Silicon Valley, aimed at exploring 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 also from all the investment funds and financial institutions recognized us as reliable interlocutors and Greece as an appealing investment destination. The political stability, social cohesion and growth achieved since 2019, in the midst of successive global crises, have already significantly benefited the country’s international image. This is a great advantage for attracting new investment. However, in this government we only make announcements when we have deliverables on which 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 of Foreign Direct Investment over the last three and a half years demonstrates the work we have done so far in Economic Diplomacy. 2021 was a milestone year, when one of the largest increases in FDI was recorded at 72.3%. According to available data, (net) FDI inflows amounted to €4.8 billion, the largest FDI inflow since 2002. For the first half of 2022, (gross) FDI amounted to EUR 4.3 billion, which corresponds to 86% of the 2021 FDI inflows, in total. In the strategic investment part alone, 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 labor market is estimated at approximately 4,500 jobs. The current investment activity, valuations carried out, which in some cases exceed the most optimistic expectations, and the presence of large funds in the Greek market, all point to one thing: (that) foreign investors see Greece as having the potential to generate significant 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 aiming to extroversion, without putting the country’s traditional multilateral international economic relations in second place.
In the energy sector in particular, our country is gradually turning into an energy hub for the wider region. Regarding natural gas, the Trans Adriatic Pipeline TAP, 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, our country has forged alliances in the Middle East with countries such as Egypt, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates, with which we are promoting agreements 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 economic progress that countries can achieve through this kind of investment. Greece now “means business” in the international community.