Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs for Economic Diplomacy and Openness, Kostas Fragogiannis emphasized the government’s commitment to defending and continuously strengthening Greek economic and commercial interests, in his remarks at an event themed “Trends, Challenges and Opportunities in the Field of International Economic, Commercial and Business Relations”, held in Thessaloniki on Friday, July 15 2022.
The event was jointly organized by the Hellenic Association of Entrepreneurs, the Panhellenic Federation of Tourism & Shipping Entrepreneurs (PFTSE) and the Federation of Entrepreneurs of the Regional Unit of Thessaloniki (F.E.R.U.TH).
Referring to the tangible results of the government’s policy in the critical sector of Economic Diplomacy, the Deputy Minister pointed out that regarding the total volume of exports per country, Greece emerged as the European champion in 2021, with an annual change of 21.9% compared to the average of 11% for the Eurozone countries.
As regards investments, Mr. Fragogiannis stated that for the years 2021 and 2022 there was a double-digit increase, with foreign direct investment recording an increase of 72.3% in 2021. The Deputy Minister noted that forty-three (43) strategic investments totaling 4.8 billion euros were approved in 2021.
“These figures confirm Greece’s constantly improving position in the international investment environment”, the Deputy Minister said, adding that “Greece is becoming a reliable regional business centre for the wider Eastern Mediterranean and South-Eastern Europe region, with emphasis on the critical sectors of energy, interconnectivity and data transmission” as a result of the government’s reforms and legislative initiatives.
Addressing the members of the business associations that attended the event, the Deputy Minister presented how the structure of Economic Diplomacy operates and the tools available to Greek enterprises in order to help them open up to international markets, encouraging local entrepreneurs to make use of all the tools provided in order to highlight the comparative advantages of both the country and their enterprises.