need to be made, and the desirable focal point.
We meticulously attempt to stimulate new invest-
ment inflows in both public and privately-held pro-
ductive infrastructure, utilising the Juncker growth
initiative, as well as the interest expressed by
major European investment institutions, such as
the European Investment Bank, the European
Investment Fund, and the European Bank for
Reconstruction and Development. Our goal is to
fund investments under an entirely new concept,
oriented towards the acquisition of geographically
coherent results with a positive developmental
and environmental impact, thus leaving in the
past uncoordinated interventions that resulted in
disconnected and uncompleted projects.
To address funding and economic recovery
issues, we are currently developing the new fund-
ing tools of the NSRF 2014-2020, which will focus
on reducing investment risk, enhancing sustain-
able lending for activities with high returns, facili-
tating high needs in working capital, and using
equities as a form of co-funding. The new
Development Fund, which is in the process of
being formed, as well as the collaborations with
the European Investment Fund and Germany’s
KfW, will strengthen the funding tools manage-
ment system, facilitate the transfer of financial
know-how with regards to advanced funding
tools, and create a climate of financial stability
against the extreme economic uncertainty experi-
enced today.
Last but equally important, in the field of produc-
tive activities and with the support of NSRF 2014-
2020, we are interested in enhancing innovative
entrepreneurship in order to generate sustainable
employment, reverse the perpetuating brain-drain
phenomenon that is due to both the financial cri-
sis and the shallow domestic production system,
and eliminate red tape and other obstacles, which
block or delay entrepreneurial risk-taking and
increase transaction costs. Innovative research
activity on one hand and entrepreneurial spirit on
the other, share a common interest when it comes
to seeking opportunities in innovation, product dif-
ferentiation, quality, and high returns; we estimate
that as of the second half of 2016 and throughout
the following year we will be in a position to elab-
orate a comprehensive plan that will identify, and
give prominence to, the common ground between
all interested parties. We strongly believe that the
future of entrepreneurship does not lie in enhancing
the patterns of the past, but in outward-oriented
value chains, which embrace a broader spectrum of
sectors, activities and professions.
Our interventions in the aforementioned fields of:
a) development institutions, b) infrastructure and
projects of major importance, c) leverage meth-
ods, and d) enhancement of value chains, form a
comprehensive plan. It is our strong belief that
such initiatives will set off a process of endoge-
nous growth, which may prove to be the most
attractive factor for foreign direct investment.
When the growth process is not characterised by
a high degree of endogeneity, it results in occa-
sional investment inflows and in the formation of
a non-sustainable entrepreneurial environment
that is sensitive to variability. The economy needs
trust and long-term planning, and that is exactly
what we are seeking to establish.
Trade with Greece
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