Trade with Greece
47
Closures and unemployment
In 2014-2015, total employment in SMEs is esti-
mated to fall by 106,000 people, while the total
number of enterprises will be reduced by 40,000.
The final figures for the previous year are expected
to include a 2.8% drop in enterprise added value
and a 3.6% drop in employment, while these neg-
ative rates are estimated at 1.4% and 2.2%
respectively for the next year. In Greece, based
on the latest available data, as per the end of
2014 there were 531,059 SMEs that employed
1,757,129 people, generating an added value of
€34 billion. Almost 280,000 commercial enterpris-
es employed 624,500 people, accounting for
17.6% of total employment in the economy, and
D
uring his last visit to Washington, on the
occasion of the Transatlantic Trade and
Investment Partnership, Mr. Michalos, in
his capacity as the Deputy President of
Eurochambers, stressed that “we will have to
ensure the SME’s representation in any institu-
tional mechanism that will be created by the
Partnership, including the SME Committee.”
In Greece, in particular, this is the sector that has
suffered the greatest pressure and has borne the
brunt of the cost imposed by the crisis.
Unfortunately, many small and medium sized enter-
prises were forced to shut down, while even more
are currently fighting tooth and claw to survive; not
only for themselves, but also for their workers.
There is a dire
need to support
SMEs,
the backbone
of the economy
“Without businesses there can be no
employment.” This maxim, by the
President of the UHC and the ACCI,
Constantine Michalos, highlights the
importance of small and medium-
sized entrepreneurship, which is,
admittedly, the backbone of the
Greek economy, as well as of many
other economies throughout the
world.
By Yannis Kanoupakis
