The encouraging signs for the economic relations between Greece and Germany and their aligned course on the path of growth, through important trade agreements and investments, were stressed by Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs for Economic Diplomacy and Openness Kostas Fragogiannis during an online event organized by the Hellenic-German Chamber of Commerce and Industry on Wednesday, May 4.
At the event for the presentation of the main conclusions of the study titled “The imprint of of German entrepreneurship on the Greek economy”, conducted by the Foundation for Economic & Industrial Research (IOBE), the Deputy Minister referred, inter alia, to the 50 actions scheduled under the National Strategic Openness Plan for 2022 relating to Germany. These actions focus on attracting investment, boosting exports by supporting Greek participation in international exhibitions, and organizing targeted events with the aim of improving the access of greek products to the german market. Also included is the organization of the 6th Hellenic-German Economic Forum in collaboration with the Hellenic-German Chamber of Commerce and Industry and the Association of the German Chambers of Commerce and Industry, the support of business missions, as well as events on e-mobility, digitization, biotechnology and start-up businesses.
Presenting indicative figures for the economic relations with Germany, Mr. Fragogiannis noted that Germany ranked second in the list of destinations of Greek exports for 2021, with a percentage of 7.3%, while the value of transactions reached 2.9 billion Euros. He also spoke about the impressive performance of German investments in Greece, as net Foreign Direct Investment inflows from Germany reached 413 million Euros in 2021, making Germany the third country in terms of net FDI inflows – after Switzerland and Cyprus – for the decade 2011-2021.
As the Deputy Minister emphasized, many important investment projects have been implemented during the last five years in the fields of tourism, renewable energy sources, information and communication technologies, food and beverages and transport, proof of the confidence of German businesses in Greece and its highly-skilled human capital.