Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Kostas Fragogiannis’ interview with “Kathimerini” newspaper and journalist Ilias Bellos (12.11.2022)

JOURNALIST: What can we expect from your trip to Silicon Valley? What comes after Google? What will the next step be?

K. FRAGOGIANNIS: The wager and the goal of this particular trip were to conquer Silicon Valley. We managed to present the modern face of Greece in general and the Greek innovation ecosystem in particular to the Mecca of technology and innovation. Greece now means business, as evidenced by all of our contacts and meetings. Our presence in San Francisco for 7 days aided significantly in communicating with business decision-makers. We carried out a well-organized and well-thought-out trip for our interlocutors and their plans. Since our return, we have been working hard to meet the demands of San Francisco businesses and institutions in order to make progress on new partnerships and investments. You know, in this Government we’ve learned to make announcements when we have deliverables that we’re working on with great dedication and hard work. Along with Deputy Minister of Development, Christos Dimas and the Secretary-General for International Economic Affairs and President of Enterprise Greece, Yannis Smyrlis, we held many meetings with financial investment funds, but also with entrepreneurs outside the narrow spectrum of technology. Of course, we also visited all the giant companies that have already invested in our country as well as Greek firms that excel in Silicon Valley.

JOURNALIST: What are the investment climate and approach to contacts in your meetings in San Francisco?

K. FRAGOGIANNIS: It’s a time in Silicon Valley when layoffs at Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram have fueled a climate of concern about a tech crisis. Still, this business shuffle and the availability of high-value employees in the market create opportunities for startups. Dr. Sean Randolph, director of the Bay Area Council Economic Institute, whom we met and who represents over 330 San Francisco and Silicon Valley businesses, told us that there are always opportunities behind a crisis in the tech mecca. He even stated that Greece is a target country for the Institute so as to open communication and cooperation channels with Greek enterprises. The country’s image has changed and this is already evident in the meetings we hold. Greece is visible in the research programs of the universities as well as the investment exercises that the business staffs do, as evidenced by meetings with Microsoft and Google and visits to Berkeley, the University of San Francisco, and Stanford. After the pandemic period, which drastically altered the way people worked in the high-tech industry, the world is changing rapidly. Big corporations have plans in the pipeline, but it will take a lot of effort to make them a reality.

JOURNALIST:  Which sectors for investment prospects are you targeting with this visit of yours?

K. FRAGOGIANNIS: We arrived in San Francisco with a clear focus on the technology sector.  But we also kept an open agenda, as evidenced by our meetings with aerospace companies as well. Our planning focused on three key areas:
●     to start the process of establishing an institutional framework for the Silicon Valley Greek Hub and symbolically connecting it to the start-up companies whose representatives accompanied us
●     to open up, through our visits, meetings, and presentations at the Universities of Berkeley, Stanford, and the University of San Francisco, new prospects and create momentum for their connection with Greek research and educational institutions
●     to broaden technology giants’ perspectives by presenting the full range of opportunities offered in our country, following the significant investments these giants have already made in our country
During the meetings we held with the officials of the City of San Francisco, which manages the city’s airport, we were assured that they have a strong interest in launching a direct air link between Athens and San Francisco, aiming at the direct connection between the two cities. We were asked many questions by several corporations and we owe clarifications, on a path that opens up new horizons for Foreign Direct Investment in our country.

JOURNALIST: How will the year 2022 end in terms of FDI, and what is the valuation from 2019 to date? What can we expect in 2023?

K. FRAGOGIANNIS: The upward trend in Foreign Direct Investment over the last three and a half years is truly impressive. The year 2021 was a milestone year, as 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.