The Foreign Ministry’s Secretary General for International Economic relations, Giorgos Tsipras, addressed the “Diligently, Making Business 2015” workshop held on Tuesday, 19 May, and organized by the ACCI and the Hellenic Institute of Entrepreneurship & Sustainable Development.
In his address, Mr. Tsipras referred to the difficulty of developing specific mid-term planning in fields of the economy, as long as we are in an environment of uncertainty and constraint. He talked about the perpetual ills that for years led to the crisis, within which there was never a change in the essential terms that would enable entrepreneurship, specifically, and the economy in general to return to a growth track.
As he stressed, “on the one hand, the recession worsened at precisely the moment when anti-recession policies should have been exercised – the very same is a point in the current negotiations – and on the other, conditions deteriorated at precisely the time when the business environment should have been improved to facilitate investments and favor growth.”
He then underscored the need for a combination of jumpstarting the economy with reforms and changes in policy that will shape an attractive environment for investments and entrepreneurship, which depends first and foremost on the intensity of the internationalization of the Greek economy. “We are pursuing this field in particular because it is objectively critical to the country’s economic course. The internationalization of Greek business, the intensity of this direction, is what can, in combination with anti-recession policies, trigger the recovery of the economy,” he noted.
Within the framework of his competencies as Secretary General for International Economic Relations, he highlighted that the government will also assist in opening up new paths to overcoming obstacles to diversified markets for increasing exports of products and services. Moreover, he noted the importance of formulating a framework that will make Greece more attractive to foreign productive investments. Finally, he referred to the need to work with better planning on the lifting of obstacles, with the aim of increasing tourist flows into the country from both traditional and new markets with a proven dynamic.
Mr. Tsipras closed his speech by inviting the business community to share ideas and proposals that can contribute to the achievement of these goals.
May 20, 2015