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abroad, and inform their members accordingly,
contributing, through the systematic diffusion of
information, to the wider utilization of business
possibilities and collaborations.
●They give responsible and well-documented
answers to questions that concern the business
world (taxation, finance, labour etc. issues), with
the aim of reducing business mortality rates.
●They implement, or participate in the implemen-
tation of, community programmes designed to
improve the business environment and encour-
age innovation.
●They popularize legal texts and analyse pieces
of legislation, in order to help the business
world avoid the erroneous interpretation of gov-
ernment decisions, also organizing one-day
conferences, conventions and symposiums for
the exchange of opinions between business-
people concerning the experiences of pioneers
and the possibilities of implementing innovative
forms of economic and social organization.
●They award esteemed businesspersons and
dynamic enterprises, presenting them as mod-
els of research initiatives, methodical work,
innovative spirit, social sensitivity, quality, and
extroversion.
The above examples of chamber actions and
interventions, illustrate the wider developmental
role of this institution and the variety of services
that the local chambers offer to Greek entrepre-
neurship and the national economy.
This role of the chambers is corroborated by the
main demands they submitted, given any oppor-
tunity, to successive governments during the past
few years:
●Significant downsizing of both the state and its
interventions in the economy, in order to make
more room for private enterprises, with their,
provenly, higher productivity, to utilize the
national resources more efficiently.
●Drastic overhaul of the narrow public sector,
through meritocratic hiring, the gradual evalua-
tion of its structures, and the simplification of its
procedures, in order to reduce the external
operating cost for enterprises, encourage new
investments and avoid the widening of fiscal
deficits.
●Elimination of diffuse disincentives to invest-
ment (high cost of energy, red tape, entangled
interests, failure to link the education system
with production etc.), in order to expand nation-
al output and improve its quality.
