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Trade with Greece
1
G
iven the above, it is obvious that any
strategy for exiting the crisis must nec-
essarily focus on supporting and
strengthening small and medium-sized entrepre-
neurship. Enhancing the liquidity of SMEs is a
matter of survival, not only for them and their
employees, but also for the Greek economy as a
whole.
In this context, top priority must be given to three
areas:
First, to the completion of the programme for the
recapitalization of Greek banks. We believe that a
key issue is to safeguard the private character of
Greek banks and encourage private investor
involvement in the recapitalization process.
Otherwise, both the banking system and the coun-
try's economy run the risk of suffering a major
regression. The last thing Greece needs today is to
return to the era of state-owned banks that operat-
ed almost exclusively on the basis of political
patronage and partisanship, providing services to
“our people” and accumulating losses.
The involvement of private investors in bank
recapitalization is indispensable, in order to con-
vey a message of confidence in the Greek bank-
ing system, facilitate the Greek banks' access to
the markets, accelerate the creation of liquidity
and ensure competition in the market – the nec-
essary condition for the provision of new innova-
tive products and services to businesses.
Another top priority is the as efficient as possible
utilization of a series of financing tools, placing
emphasis on the facilities of the European Union
and the European Investment Bank. More specif-
ically, it is necessary to:
•
Increase the resources available through the
SMEs can be
the pillars of
growth
It is well-known that Small and Medium-sized Enterprises
are the heart of the European economy. In Greece, in par-
ticular, enterprises with fewer than 100 employees account
for more than 99% of the total number of businesses, and
provide work to almost two-thirds of the labour force, in
the secondary and tertiary sectors.
Constantine Michalos,
President of the ACCI
editorial