The Minister of National Economy and Finance Kyriakos Pierrakakis highlighted the strategic upgrading of Thessaloniki as an international supply chain and humanitarian support hub during his address at the inauguration of the new Supply Chain Management Centre of the International Organization for Migration (IOM).
The minister described the establishment of the Centre in Thessaloniki as a “national success”, noting that the choice of the city was not self-evident, but the result of a coordinated effort by the Greek side. As he underlined, the new structure strengthens Greece’s role in international logistics networks and creates prospects for investments, new jobs, and greater participation of Greek businesses in the Organization’s international procurement.
At the same time, he announced that the permanent IOM Logistics Centre will be housed in a new modern facility in Kalochori, with the National Development Fund undertaking the preparation of the project, with a total budget of 5 million euros.
Kyriakos Pierrakakis also stressed that, at a time when supply chains constitute critical infrastructure for addressing international crises, Greece can leverage its geographical position as a strategic advantage, strengthening its international role and credibility.
What follows is the minister’s full address
“Ministers,
Deputy Director General of the International Organization for Migration,
Honourable representatives of the United Nations,
Ladies and gentlemen,
In the 21st century, geography alone is not enough.
A country’s position on the map is not enough on its own. Its real value is determined by its ability to turn its geographical position into connectivity, its infrastructure into reliability, and its strategic location into a meaningful operational advantage.
The Centre we are inaugurating today reflects exactly this transition.
Allow me, at this point, to say a few words in Greek, addressing especially the citizens of Thessaloniki and of our homeland.
Today is particularly important for Thessaloniki and for our entire country.
The establishment of the Global Supply Chain Management Centre of the International Organization for Migration here, in Thessaloniki, constitutes a national success. It was not a self-evident development. We claimed it, worked systematically, and succeeded in bringing to Greece a structure of global reach.
Thessaloniki has historically been a bridge of continents, peoples, and trade routes. Today, this historic role is acquiring new content. The city is being upgraded into an international logistics and supply hub, creating new jobs, new investments, and new opportunities for Greek businesses.
Above all, today’s development confirms that Greece can claim, win, and host activities of global strategic importance.
When an international organization chooses a city from which it will coordinate its response to global crises, it chooses reliability, institutional adequacy, and operational effectiveness.
It chooses the certainty that, when a need arises, the institutions will function, the mechanisms will respond, and the aid will reach the right place, at the right time.
The choice of Thessaloniki was the result of a coordinated and multidimensional effort. Ministries, public services, local authorities, and the Permanent Representation of Greece in Geneva worked consistently so that this undertaking could become a reality within a short period of time.
And I would especially like to thank Ambassador Ioannis Gikas and the Deputy CEO of the National Development Fund, Panagiotis Stampolidis, for their systematic efforts, which contributed decisively to the implementation of this project.
The speed with which this process moved forward says something essential about today’s Greece: that when we set a strategic goal and work in a coordinated way, we can achieve tangible and measurable results.
However, this is only one dimension of the picture.
The other lies in Thessaloniki itself and in the comparative advantages the city offers.
Thessaloniki lies at the crossroads of Europe, the Balkans, and the Eastern Mediterranean. It connects maritime transport with inland markets and offers access to a wider region of growing geopolitical importance, stretching from Southeastern Europe to the Middle East and North Africa.
Its port, transport infrastructure, access to the Single European Market, and highly trained human resources make up a unique set of operational advantages.
This investment also has a clear economic footprint.
The International Organization for Migration manages humanitarian aid procurement worth more than 1 billion dollars every year, while in some cases their annual volume reaches 1.7 billion dollars. This creates significant opportunities for the Greek economy, businesses, suppliers, supply chain companies, as well as for research institutions and universities that can contribute with innovation, expertise, and specialized knowledge.
Greece continues to occupy a relatively low position in IOM procurement. This means that there is significant room for growth. This Centre can act as a multiplier for Greek entrepreneurship, opening the way for greater participation in international procurement and global value chains.
And, most importantly, we are not talking about an infrastructure project that may bear fruit at some point in the future. We are talking about a structure that is already producing tangible results.
Within its first months of operation, the Centre supported 21 international missions, managed more than 20,000 cubic meters of humanitarian material, and contributed to addressing emergency needs in crises ranging from Afghanistan and Myanmar to Mozambique and Sudan.
This is, perhaps, the most essential element.
Because it proves that Thessaloniki now hosts an active hub of international operations and humanitarian missions.
And here a deeper truth about the world that is taking shape emerges.
We live in an era in which supply chains have evolved into infrastructure of critical importance for the resilience of societies and economies.
When a war breaks out, or when natural disasters, such as the recent devastating earthquake in Venezuela, strike entire regions, or even when populations are forced to abandon their homes, the speed of response becomes a decisive factor. At such moments, the supply chain ceases to be merely a technical function of the economy and turns into a factor of stability, security, and protection of human life.
From Thessaloniki, the support chains that will reach people being tested by crises thousands of kilometers away will be organized.
And this gives the Centre we are inaugurating today an importance that far exceeds the limits of an infrastructure.
The power of states depends increasingly on the position they hold in the major international networks. Those who are at the core of these networks gain greater resilience and strengthen their strategic importance.
Today proves that Thessaloniki can play such a role.
And it confirms that Greece can continue to strengthen its position:
- by turning its comparative advantages into real power,
- by upgrading its geographical position into a strategic advantage.
- by claiming a stronger presence in the world that is taking shape.
I would like to personally assure the International Organization for Migration that Greece will support this effort with all its strength.
And before I conclude, I would like with particular pleasure to announce today an important development, which will further strengthen our cooperation.
The new Supply Chain Centre of the International Organization for Migration will be housed in a modern facility in Kalochori, which is already being suitably configured for this purpose.
In this context, I have already instructed the National Development Fund to proceed with the preparation of your Organization’s new permanent Logistics Centre, a project with a total budget of 5 million euros.
This is tangible proof of our steady and unwavering support for your strategic choices.
We believe in the power of cooperation, in the opportunities it creates for the local economy, and in the added value that this joint effort creates for the wider society.
Our ambition is not merely to host this Centre, but to become a stable, reliable, and long-term partner in its mission.
Thank you very much.”