Economy Minister Giorgos Stathakis told a German audience on Tuesday that his leftist government “was the sole political force” in Greece that was able to implement reforms over the last few years, as it was not beholden to “vested interests”, as he claimed.
He referred a modernization of the civil code to speed up the often creaky Greek court system, giving autonomy to the general secretariat of public revenue and what he called a “holistic strategy” to tackle the huge problem of non-performing loans. Other reforms he cited where a new pharmaceuticals pricing regime and licensing reform to cut through Greece’s notoriously thick “red tape”.
Stathakis spoke at a Berlin conference entitled “Restoring Confidence and redefining Business and Investment Ties between Greece and Germany”.
Meanwhile, speaking at the same conference, Deputy Foreign Minister Dimitris Mardas said Greece needs an “investment shock” of more than 100 billion euros by 2022.
Mardas said Athens is working to cut the time needed for licensing to a maximum of six to eight months and is promoting the low prices, as he said, of disused facilities at industrial zones around the country. He also said the emphasis is on international companies that do not have a presence in the Balkans or Turkey.
Mardas repeated the leitmotif of Greece as a lying on “the crossroads of three continents” and enjoying close business and cultural ties to neighboring countries as a main reason why investors should chose the country.
On a more tangible note, he said Greece over the past four years is in first place in an OECD list as far as implementing reforms, with more reforms and market liberalizations ahead.
