The 9th Athens Investment Forum got under way with a strong return under the title “Reinvesting in Greece: Prospects and strategic choices for the road ahead”, featuring speeches by Kyriakos Pierrakakis, Minister of National Economy and Finance and President of the Eurogroup, and Fokion Karavias, Chief Executive Officer of EUROBANK. The event is being held at the Athens Concert Hall and co-organised by the TEE and Vertical Solutions.
The Invest Ahead initiative could mobilise up to €20bn in new investment over the next decade, according to the Minister of National Economy and Finance. Speaking at the conference, the minister outlined the prospects for the Greek economy after the Recovery Fund and plans to continue attracting and financing investment, highlighting the Hellenic Development Bank, European funding tools and the potential of the banking system.
“It was with this philosophy that we designed the Invest Ahead initiative: an investment roadmap for the next 10 years, identifying around 30 specific investment opportunities in strategic sectors of the Greek economy,” Mr Pierrakakis said.
The opportunities range from agri-food and manufacturing to energy, infrastructure, high-tech services and the blue economy. The minister cited desalination plants on the islands and luxury yacht shipyards as examples, stressing the intention to identify specific areas for investment.
“We estimate that the potential impact of these opportunities could amount to €20bn in new investment over the next decade,” he stressed.
As the minister explained, the initiative aims to go beyond presenting the country’s general advantages. “With Invest Ahead, we are taking one step beyond traditional investment-attraction policies. In other words, we are not limiting ourselves to presenting the comparative advantages of the Greek economy,” he said, adding: “We are creating an investment roadmap for the next decade”.
He made particular reference to preparations for the period after the Recovery and Resilience Facility, which he described as a historic catalyst for mobilising investment. As he stressed, continued financing depends on combining the available tools and improving businesses’ access to capital.
“We are making use of the Hellenic Development Bank, European funding tools that will continue to become available, and the potential of the banking system,” he said. In this context, he referred to a new loan and guarantee programme backed by €1.5bn in public funds, with the capacity to mobilise total financing of €5bn, and highlighted the particular importance attached to small and medium-sized enterprises.
Outlining the trajectory of investment, the minister said it accounted for around 11% of GDP in 2019, compared with a European average of about 21%. He estimated that it would reach 17.7% in 2026, closing a significant part of the gap. The next phase, he explained, is the shift to a higher-value-added economy, which requires investment and confidence—confidence that Greece has regained.
He identified the scope for growth in an economy that has not exhausted its productive potential as its greatest advantage.
“Greece offers more than access to a market. It offers the opportunity to take part in the transformation of an entire economy,” he stressed.
As the minister underlined, the aim for the next period is to realise this potential through specific investment opportunities and financing tools. “The next decade must be a decade of creation and major opportunities,” he said.
Karavias: Greece stands out positively amid Europe’s crisis
Fokion H. Karavias, Chief Executive Officer of Eurobank, focused on the need to raise productivity and boost investment in productive capacity, linking economic growth with fiscal stability and social cohesion.
“In Greece, the need to maintain sustainable public finances has become widely accepted in the wake of the crisis,” he said. He warned, however, that fiscal policy continued to face pressure from the electoral cycle.
“Greece has made significant progress. Significant, but not enough,” Eurobank’s chief executive said.
He described public debate that focuses solely on “how to divide the pie” as unproductive, even at the risk of jeopardising fiscal stability, while proposals for growing it are absent. He stressed that it would be desirable for a significant share of investment to go towards new, highly productive activities with high added value.
He also referred to the contribution made by the banking system’s emergence from the vicious cycle of crisis. At European level, he warned of the breakdown of the social contract and the erosion of trust. “Greece stands out positively amid the current crisis facing Europe,” he said, calling for this difference to be used to attract more investment.