OT at TIF – Development Minister: Investments in Greece broke a 30-year record in 2021

Investments in Greece broke a 30-year record in 2021, as stated by the Minister of Development and Investments Adonis Georgiadis, speaking at the OT Forum, taking place in the context of the 86th TIF, while the figures for the first half of 2022 show that we are doing better by 11% compared to last year, so this year will break all records.

The minister also compared the first half of 2019 under the SYRIZA government with the corresponding period of 2022, stressing that this year there is a 38% increase.”We are talking of another Greece,” Georgiadis said, noting that “the laws we passed, the incentives for investmenst that were given, the reduction of social security contributions and taxation, all these decisions have a positive impact”

The best TIF

The  Greek development minister said that this year’s TIF is the best ever and particularly praised the pavilion of the honoured country, the United Arab Emirates, saying that “no such exhibition pavilion has ever come to our country.”

Referring to the energy crisis, Georgiadis highlighted the fact that natural gas is currently 6.5 times more expensive than oil and that is why the Greek government is now urging citizens to turn to oil for heating in view of the upcoming winter. However, referring to the 700,000 or so gas customers, he stressed that they would not be left to their fate but that there would be a subsidy for them as well.

Taking stock of the beginning of the current government’s term, the Minister of Development and Investment said that he was called upon to govern in “abnormal conditions” and that “everything went backwards”, as both the pandemic and the war in Ukraine created unprecedented conditions for the government’s work and the country. Therefore, the government was forced to use ‘non-normal tools’ in relation to its ideological positioning, proceeding with state subsidies and support for households, businesses and workers, especially during the period of the pandemic. “We went aggressively with allowances, refundable advances, NSRF programmes and other financial tools,” said Adonis Georgiadis explaining why the government decided to intervene the State so as to keep the economy alive.

He estimated that Greece in the coming months “will surprise us positively” and that it will have the largest debt reduction, in 2022 and 2023, in the euro area.

Regarding his assessment of the next elections, Georgiadei predicted that “at the end of the four-year term, the Greek Prime Minister will win the elections” and even said that investors he talks to from time to time have the same belief.