Productive reconstruction and fair development, now and for all

By Nikos Pappas*

A few weeks ago, we reached the one-year anniversary from Greece’s exit from the memoranda. SYRIZA’s government succeeded in completing a long and difficult journey; we arranged the state’s financials and kept society standing.

The achievements resulting from this collective effort are clear and indisputable. Greece has recorded growth for 9 trimesters in a row, the debt was regulated and the 10 years government bond spreads have reached a record low. Foreign direct investments have doubled compared to 2014, reaching a record high for the last 12 years. During the last four years, we have reduced the unemployment rate by 10 points, created 400 thousands new jobs, completed the major highways projects and launched the development of next-generation networks. And the list goes on.

SYRIZA government did not view the day Greece exited from the memoranda as any other day. This would leave the country at the risk of returning to a “regularity” status, such as the one created by the parties of New Democracy and PASOK in the pre-crisis era. The day we exited from the memoranda was viewed as a starting point for the new era of Greece, the point which formalises the rebirth of creation and productivity, the point our country started assuming a leading role in the international scene. The plan we worked on was clear, including the following target goals, among others:

• We have strengthened our international relations and partnerships, and also established new to settle outstanding historical issues, such as the Macedonia naming dispute. By implementing the Prespa agreement we reached with our northern neighbours, we grant a leading role to Northern Greece and its businesses in the Balkan area. This was a strategy that showed responsibility
• towards our nation –a strategy lately endorsed by New Democracy- and helped us finally take off the “Macedonian struggle fighter” uniform.
• We have helped the households and the enterprises by means of legislating the first tax relief, gaining a margin from the reduction of the primary surplus targets from 3.5% to 2.5%. Unfortunately, Mr Mitsotakis hastily cancelled this reduction, insisting on high targets, which constitute an instrument for imposing neoliberal policies. It is clear that his choice deconstructed his campaign narrative about lowering taxation. The deception will be revealed very soon, both during the Thessaloniki International Fair and in the Parliamentary discussion on the national budget.
•  After consulting with local communities and institutions, we have developed a well-rounded development plan, which not only enhanced the production capacities of Greece, but also made the country an international telecommunications, transport, trade and energy node. Northern Greece, with its centre in Thessaloniki, emerged significantly upgraded from this planning.

SYRIZA’s development plan is a very well-structured programme on what needs to be done in each sector of the economy, what investment objectives need to be set, and what infrastructure projects need to move forward.

In this development proposal, which was established for the first time in the country, New Democracy party not only did not oppose the slightest plan, but did not even enter into the process of exploiting or debating it. New Democracy proposes a privatisation frenzy with the underlying idea that the state does not need to have a development strategy, priorities and principles on how investments should be made, but all this can be entrusted to the private initiative.

To date, New Democracy is completely focused on a limited number of projects, four or five, such as the Hellinikon Project with the well-known back-peddling in the last weeks, which in no way constitute a coherent development plan on their own.

What the country and society need is not neoliberal policies, such as the privatisation of public goods and infrastructure. This policy that has been tested internationally has failed, and has often led to the need to make them public again. What Greece needs is to continue on a path towards fair and sustainable development, in a way that our government had set it and implemented it.

Indeed, the neo-liberal perception of the ND is even more dangerous now that the international economic environment is unfavourable and the economic future uncertain. In such a situation, strong public intervention is needed, so as to mitigate the negative consequences deriving from the international environment. Greece can stand up in such a situation by taking advantage of a series of advantages.

It is situated at the centre of a market of 800 million people in Europe and Africa. As soon as they reach the Greek ports, the goods can be transported to any destination in the wider area within a day or two. The roadmaps that have been completed under our regime and the development of gas pipelines, some of which run through Northern Greece, give us new development prospects. The construction of next generation networks launched by SYRIZA will help to digitise our economy. The country’s ready-made development tools, such as the enacted Development Bank Act and the ready-made microcredit draft legislation, must be put to good use. The rapid and balanced diffusion of new technologies in production and public administration must also play a central role in a solid development strategy.

In the new era that has begun, we can and must pursue productive reconstruction and fair development, today and for everyone.