Trade with Greece
17
as a result of the economic downturn, but many
Greek entrepreneurs used their creative spirit to
keep their businesses going, get through the cri-
sis and even diversify or innovate. As a result, we
see a positive trend for Greek food industry exports
and the Greek tourism industry. Moreover, a new
generation of young Greek entrepreneurs is
emerging in IT applications, as well as in innovative
products and services that have the potential to be
exported around the globe.
I have personally supported the efforts of the
Greek government and SME stakeholders to
encourage entrepreneurship and create an
attractive, investment-friendly environment.
During the last two years, DG Enterprise organ-
ised two conferences in Greece, under my initia-
tive “Missions for Growth” to bring European
stakeholders and entrepreneurs to Greece, in an
effort to promote business partnerships with their
Greek counterparts. In our B2B promotion confer-
ence in March 2013 we organised more than
1,300 bilateral meetings between 418 Greek and
144 foreign enterprises from 26 European and
third countries. I have always maintained that
entrepreneurs are our heroes. Greek entrepre-
neurs, with their inventive spirit and enduring
efforts, will move on and create a competitive and
successful entrepreneurial Greece.
The Greek presidency will be the opportunity to
bring SME support and key entrepreneurship
issues into the spotlight and encourage more
European citizens to embark on their own entre-
preneurship journey.
I am looking forward to collaborating on this issue
with the vice-president of Eurochambres and
president of the Union of Hellenic Chambers of
Commerce Mr. Constantinos Michalos and I
would like to invite all Greek SME stakeholders
and entrepreneurs to join forces and contribute to
reigniting the European entrepreneurial spirit dur-
ing the Greek presidency. I thus wish to all the
Greek people a successful EU presidency.
