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order to help it relive its golden years, include the
doubling of building coefficients –respecting, of
course, the environment– and the reduction of the
plot ratio. Such a model has been implemented
abroad and could lead to some kind of relaxation
of building restrictions for a period of some years,
until the country regains its growth momentum.
The measures put forward by the sector's experts
include the provision of incentives and the estab-
lishment of a stable framework regarding con-
struction in tourist areas and islands, which
could attract foreign, as well as domestic,
investment in the form of either hotels, or luxu-
ry villas. Providing for construction to be 50 or
40 meters from the shore, instead of 100
meters, would drastically assist the effort to
attract these much-desired investments, while
special emphasis should be placed on building
restoration. According to market participants, a
first step for reinvigorating the construction sec-
tor would be to support building restoration
through the provision of certain incentives that
would make it attractive to homeowners.
Public works
A great effort is being made both in Greece, and
in the European Commission. The first aim is to
restart the construction of five major motorways.
These projects will create thousands of new jobs.
These five motorway concession projects, which
account for 1,400 km of a trans-European net-
work, have a budget of 3.2 billion euros that will
be covered by both Greece and the EU.
However, construction work has ceased in four of
the projects due to the economic crisis, with major
repercussions for the projects' liquidity, traffic and
financing.
It is estimated that the completion of these proj-
ects would lead to the direct and indirect creation
of 30,000 new jobs, and would help boost invest-
ment and employment.
In this context, Greece and the European
Commission are negotiating revisions in the exist-
ing contracts, in order to ensure the projects' eco-
nomic viability.
The solution currently under consideration is to
provide funding directly from the European
Central Bank, as many major foreign banks have
walked out of the projects. The financing of the
projects will start through the EIB, since guaran-
tees will be given in order to avoid leaving large
projects unfinished and to support both the local
economies and the growth of the Greek economy
as a whole. These projects concern five motor-
ways that are being constructed by major Greek
companies, as well as French, Spanish and
German giants with a strong presence in Greece.
In this context, and despite the incessant cuts to
the Public Investment Budget, the government's
agenda for 2012 includes tenders for projects
Trade with Greece
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