Attracting investment constitutes the greatest
challenge for the government: private invest-
ments; small, medium, and large; Greek and for-
eign – given that the public sector will not create
any jobs in the following years, since it does not
possess the resources to do this, and anything
else stated on the matter wanders far from reality.
A good illustration of this philosophy is the new
Investment and Development Law –a draft law
which aims at materializing and simplifying the
procedure of approving investments– which pro-
motes the procedure of residence permit licens-
ing for foreign “strategic” investors that are third-
country citizens, as well as for their personnel and
family members, with the aim of ensuring their
work/employment in entities of strategic invest-
ment materialization.
Further relative regulations will be effective for
those foreign citizens, and the members of their
families, who purchase and acquire residential
property in our country. Moreover, all necessary
action is taken to disentangle investment plans
locked in the drawers of Greek bureaucracy.
Finally, the issue of developing catalysts: a
good example is the exploitation of public prop-
erty. Indeed, procedures have begun in regard
to the major privatization projects. Tight time
schedules are already being implemented (i.e.
Organization of Football Prognostics [OPAP]
and the Public Gas Corporation [DEPA]), while
public-private partnerships in waste manage-
ment are progressing at a satisfactory pace.
Another example is the exploitation of the Attica
Seaside Front, with a project life-span of 50
years. It includes the administration, manage-
ment and exploitation of public and private prem-
ises in the area. In addition, there is the project of
the exploitation of 37 regional airports of our
country –their transformation from mere take-off
and landing sites to poles of regional develop-
ment– as well as the re-opening of large motor-
ways, which are expected to contribute to the
immediate creation of 30,000 jobs, and about 50
to 60,000 jobs in the near future in more remote
regions.
In Greece, we have achieved much during the
last few months. And this has been done thanks
to the effort and toil of the Greek people. With a
disproportionate cost for Greek society, since,
during the period 2010-2012, measures amount-
ing to €49 billion were taken, in order to curb the
deficit by €23 billion.
A lot remains to be done to bring about changes
in the productive model, as well as the mentality,
of the country, in order to welcome recovery and
prosperity.
Trade with Greece
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