The four main directions for the reform of the institutional framework for Business Parks were set out by the Minister of Development Takis Theodorikakos, during the first meeting of the Legislative Drafting Committee.
Participating in the meeting were the Deputy Minister of Development, responsible for Industry matters, Lazaros Tsavdaridis, the General Secretary for Industry Lefteris Kritikos, the members of the Legislative Drafting Committee, whose chairman is Professor Panagiotis Delis, representatives of SEV and SVE, and ministry officials from the Ministry of Development.
Mr. Theodorikakos underlined that the organized spatial planning of manufacturing and the supply chain lies at the core of the new production model:
“The reform of the framework for business parks is at the center of the government’s interest and policy for production. It is a priority of Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis, as was also confirmed at the meeting of the Government Committee for Industry in August”.
Referring to the current picture of business parks in Greece, he noted that “our record included 59 institutionalized organized receivers: 46 completed and 13 that had not been completed”, pointing out that approximately 18 to 19 operate at full capacity and that in the rest there is significant room for utilization and development.
“On the visible horizon, in the next 10 years, we are talking about approximately forty more parks and a total network on the order of one hundred”, he added, clarifying that these include parks of individual large units, as well as those that will arise from informal industrial concentrations.
“Our aim is for every prefecture with corresponding production needs to have at least one suitable organized receiver, of the size and with the infrastructure that suits it”, Mr. Theodorikakos said.
The four directions set by the Minister of Development to the Legislative Drafting Committee are:
Faster licensing, with clear responsibility for decisions and the ability to address the particularities of each park. As he stressed, each park requires examination of its own data, within a stable framework of rules. He requested that a proposal be submitted for the creation of an interministerial mechanism, with the participation of the competent general secretaries and the coordination of the Ministry of Development, which for each park will gather pending issues, identify solutions, and ensure that decisions are taken within binding deadlines. “It must be clear who makes the recommendation, who decides, by when, and who checks that the decision was implemented. That is where the effectiveness of the new mechanism will be judged”, he underlined.
Strengthening transparency in the relations of the established businesses with the management bodies. As the Minister of Development stated, the investor of a park needs a safe and predictable framework, while the business that settles in it commits capital and organizes its production there for many years. “Business Parks constitute infrastructure of public interest and the state must ensure that the charges, the services provided, the obligations of each side, and the dispute resolution procedures are clear, transparent, and understandable”, he underlined.
Incorporation into the law of the directions of the new Special Spatial Planning Framework for Industry and the Supply Chain. The Committee is called upon, in cooperation with the Ministry of Environment and Energy, to submit a specific legislative proposal for Industry or even Supply Chain Receivers of Intermediate Degree of Organization (YVEVO), for the conditions of their creation, the infrastructure, and the obligations of those participating. As the Minister of Development stressed, the aim is to organize areas with existing productive activity and facilitate their gradual transition into business parks.
Financing tools for infrastructure and substantial incentives for businesses. “In shared infrastructure, significant economies of scale and environmental benefits are achieved, in water and waste management, in energy, and in flood protection”, Mr. Theodorikakos noted, explaining that alongside internal infrastructure, the projects connecting the parks with their surrounding area must also proceed: access to the road network, rail connection where feasible, and electricity, water supply, and sewerage networks. He requested proposals for an applicable package of financing tools and incentives, with particular care for the businesses of informal industrial concentrations, so that their transition to an organized receiver becomes feasible and economically attractive. As an example of good practice, he mentioned the provision in the Development Law for more favorable support for eligible investments in organized receivers.
The Minister of Development pointed out that with Law 4982/2022 the institutional framework was unified, spatial planning, urban planning, and licensing issues were addressed, and the conditions were created for the development of new parks.
As he stated, after approximately a decade of stagnation, Thess INTEC and Oinofyta have already been approved, while the parks of Chania, Agria of Volos, Corinth and Thriasio are at the stage of final maturation or signatures.
At the same time, he underlined that 25 interventions in Business Parks have been completed, with public funding of approximately 40 million euros, for the upgrading of infrastructure that in many cases had remained without substantial interventions for decades.
Mr. Theodorikakos asked the Committee for specific and applicable legislative proposals within a reasonable period of time, preceding the end of the current governmental term.
As he stated, with the amendment of the relevant Act of the Ministerial Council, the Committee will be integrated into the working structure of the Government Committee for Industry, so that its work has the interministerial support and the systematic monitoring required for its implementation.
“The result must be measurable: shorter licensing time, timely completion of infrastructure, clear terms for investors and established businesses. And a permanent mechanism that will identify problems and promote solutions as the needs of production evolve”, he concluded.