2024-03-29 02:08:17
Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis had a discussion with businessman Nik Nanos as part of an Economic Club Canada event in Toronto, highlighting the opportunities that are opening up for investments in Greece.
Asked by his interlocutor to go back to 2019 and remember the first 100 days of his prime ministership, Mr. Mitsotakis described the economic situation in which the country was then, “still under the supervision of European institutions and considered by many as the “black sheep” of Europe, when it was not an attractive investment destination” and emphasized that the government’s goal was to lead the country to a path of high growth.
“Of course, the pandemic then had to be managed, but the government’s economic policy has been overall successful in that it has successfully reduced taxes without threatening the fiscal balance of macroeconomic projections, improved the regulatory environment by providing a stable and predictable framework for business that they would like to invest” he noted and said that he considered that the case of the Canadian mining company Eldorado Gold was in many ways indicative of the progress achieved.
When asked about how easily this progress was achieved, the Prime Minister emphasized that it was no cake walk. “There were quite a few obstacles. However, he managed to build a very good team and the fact that he had an absolute majority in Parliament helped the situation. Look at the European political environment right now. Governments do not have a very strong mandate. We don’t have a minority government” he said and referred to the example of Portugal.
He made special reference to the re-election of his government, when the Greek people gave it a majority after the double elections in 2023, it was something that made him feel that he had achieved the biggest and most crucial victory, managing to convince the citizens to trust him for another four years.
Then, after a related question, he emphasized that the economy is growing and believes that it will continue to grow at a better rate than the EU average. “We invest in a strong and stable macro-economy. The deficit is coming down very fast and we have nothing to do with what went wrong ten years ago. We have put them behind us and have a stable economy with leading sectors such as tourism attracting investment. We are leaders in the renewable energy market and other sectors,” he said. He also pointed out that in SE Europe, our country is a center of technology.
The prime minister then spoke about the Greek-Canadian cooperation and the strong ties between the two countries, pointing out that the challenge is their further development and the approach of a new generation of investors.
Asked to deliver a message to the Greek Diaspora in Canada, the prime minister made reference to the postal vote. He emphasized that for the first time in these elections expatriates can vote by mail. He mentioned that initially polling centers were created in embassies where there is a Greek Diaspora. “Now we are going one step further to give everyone the opportunity to vote by postal vote” he said and emphasized that it is very important to have a large turnout in the upcoming European elections in order to convince even the most cautious in the Greek Parliament and to expand this flexibility of voting in national elections as well.
“To become a transit center”
Mr. Mitsotakis made a special mention of the corridor through India. He estimated that by 2030 India will be the 3rd largest economic power and we need to find an alternative corridor to Europe.
“To become a transit center” as he said. He even emphasized that we are investing in this and believes that our country can develop into a global logistics center, which is of course a far-reaching plan, but given that he believes in India’s cooperation with Europe, the role of Greece will be pivotal.
For firefighting aircraft and the “green economy” in Greece, the prime minister underlined that every threat is also a potential opportunity. “We have to deal with climate change and that comes at a cost,” he added. He referred to the recent floods in Thessaly, “a phenomenon that occurs once every thousand years”, pointing out that we have to get used to these extreme conditions and it is more than necessary to adapt.
“To set clear goals at the European level and to act even at the level of prevention, with active management of forests and fires as well as investments in flood protection” he noted. He also underlined the impact that all this has on our tourism, “as we are a country that relies on this sector”.