Deputy Minister for Economic Diplomacy and Openness, Kostas Fragogiannis outlined the results of the systematic and targeted promotion of the country's economic goals regarding exports and attracting investments during the current government term, addressing the event for the presentation of the NSPE for 2023, held today, Tuesday, April 25, 2023.
The Deputy Minister emphasized that Greece's outstanding performance in all economic extroversion indicators over the last 4 years, despite international instability, pandemics, humanitarian crises, and economic turmoil, confirms the government's strategic choice to pursue a developmental and extroverted agenda for the country.
Referring to the contribution of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and, more specifically, the Economic Diplomacy in strengthening Greece's economic and trade position at a regional and international level, Mr. Fragogiannis provided numerical data and information on the actions of Economic Diplomacy. Indicatively, the Deputy Minister mentioned the reactivation of 8 Joint Ministerial Committees, the signing of 47 bilateral economic, trade Agreements, and 91 Memoranda of Understanding in various areas of economic cooperation, and the processing of approximately 24,500 requests from Greek enterprises. He also made mention of the 172 business guides compiled, the 96 business missions organized, the 327 participations in exhibitions worldwide, as well as the 45 strategic investments made in the country. As Mr. Fragogiannis emphasized, in 2022 alone, Greek exports exceeded €100 billion, and foreign direct investments totaled €7.22 billion.
In conclusion, the Deputy Minister warmly thanked Minister of Foreign Affairs Nikos Dendias for his unwavering support for Economic Diplomacy efforts, as well as all the staff of the General Secretariat of International Economic Relations and Openness, the Embassies, and the MFA Offices of Economic and Commercial Affairs around the world for their dedication and professionalism. He wished them even greater success in implementing the 2023 National Strategic Plan for Extroversion.
On her part, Vasiliki (Vicky) Loizou, Secretary-General of International Economic Relations and Openness of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Chairwoman of the Board of Directors of "Enterprise Greece", responsible for the development of the 3rd National Strategic Plan for Extroversion, stated that the National Strategic Plan for Extroversion is a living and dynamically evolving organism based on the triptych: COHESION, CONSISTENCY, and SYNERGY. Cohesion, because the Extroversion Plan has acquired an annual and systematic basis, which has begun to permeate the business world's consciousness. Consistency, as it confirms the commitment of all of us at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to implement targeted initiatives enacted in the field of Economic Diplomacy. Lastly, synergy, because its development is the result of cooperation between public and private sector entities.
Ms. Loizou remarked that "the National Strategic Plan for Extroversion, the roadmap of Economic Diplomacy, with its 779 actions in 46 target countries, has been integrated into our overarching vision for the country. The 779 actions are subdivided by priority sectors into 355 actions to strengthen exports, 88 to strengthen bilateral relations, 43 actions to enhance multilateral relations, and 30 actions to promote development cooperation. Additionally, 42 actions are aimed at attracting investments, 12 concern technical projects/environment, 79 are energy-related, 40 involve technology and know-how, 17 focus on transportation and the supply chain, and finally, 44 actions target tourism. Furthermore, 34 actions involving our country's participation in international organizations, and another 56 horizontal actions have been planned.
In conclusion, Ms. Loizou emphasized that the National Strategic Plan for Extroversion is the first step in developing a long-term National Strategy for Economic Diplomacy, a National Strategy with a five-year/ten-year time horizon, that will ensure timely action planning, the penetration of Greek enterprises into new markets, continuous and stable presence in markets of interest, maintaining the preferential relationship/position we already have in these markets, as well as better utilization of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ human and financial resources.
The event was addressed by Minister of Foreign Affairs, Nikos Dendias, who referred to the multifaceted work of modern diplomacy, an important aspect of which is economic diplomacy, while the National Strategic Plan for Extroversion constitutes a decisive tool for its effective exercise.
April 25, 2023