SEV’s General Assembly Open Event

 Watch here: https://ow.ly/T4G350TSET6 

Spyros Theodoropoulos: “Collaboration between the State, businesses, and workers is essential to achieve the investment leap that the country needs”

With the message “Together we achieve more” #SEV4GROWTH, SEV’s General Assembly Open Event took place today, Thursday, October 24, 2024, at Megaron, the Athens Concert Hall, attended by H.E. the President of the Republic, Katerina Sakellaropoulou.

The event was addressed by Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis, SEV’s Chairman of the Board Spyros Theodoropoulos, and the President of the European Movement International, former Member of the European Parliament, and former Prime Minister of Belgium, Guy Verhofstadt.

In his speech, SEV’s Chairman Mr. Theodoropoulos emphasized that entrepreneurship today faces unprecedented uncertainty in an increasingly unpredictable environment. “Geopolitical turmoil, climate change, technological advances in the Far East and India, and the ongoing economic standoff between the US and China cause major disruptions for businesses. At the same time, the US-led investment competition is intensifying. The urgency of the challenge facing the European Union is clearly highlighted in the Letta and Draghi reports. It is a clear message with which we agree: Europe must change, and it must change now.”

Mr. Theodoropoulos noted that despite this challenging environment, Greece has made significant progress in recent years, including achieving primary budget surpluses, reducing unemployment, securing economic resources through the Recovery Fund and ESPA, achieving investment-grade status, enhancing Greece’s international image, repositioning itself globally as an investment destination, and increasing Foreign Direct Investment.

Referring to the industrial sector, Mr. Theodoropoulos pointed out that it makes significant contributions, supporting the economy and employment. Industry represents 13.4% of Greece’s GDP, employs 1.1 million workers directly or indirectly, ranks first in exports of goods and services, and has tripled its spending on Research & Development in recent years.

However, he stressed that despite this progress, there is still considerable room for improvement. He highlighted both the long-standing issues businesses face and new ones, such as high energy costs, significant fluctuations, labor shortages across all skill levels, and the difficulty for SMEs to secure adequate bank financing. “At the same time, the Greek economy continues to face two critical challenges: improving the current account balance and boosting productivity. As a country, we need to produce more internationally competitive products to increase exports and reduce imports. We need a rapid and substantial increase in productive investments, especially those that create greater domestic added value. Such investments will allow for productivity growth which, while improving, remains low.” He added that productivity is the most critical factor for improving workers’ incomes.

Mr. Theodoropoulos acknowledged that recent announcements by the Ministry of Development are moving in the right direction. He added, however, that Greece needs to make an immediate investment leap that will extend beyond the Recovery Fund. Specifically, he proposed super-deductions for productive investments as an additional investment tool that would apply regardless of company size, industry, or location—whether for expanding or modernizing existing operations or creating new ones. This would prioritize the use of companies’ own resources with tax incentives rather than subsidies.

SEV’s Chairman stressed the importance of cooperation for a prosperous society and economy and called on social partners and the state to create a new social contract for the benefit of all.

Concluding his speech, he addressed business leaders, stating that regardless of the incentives provided by the state, the responsibility for improving productivity remains individual. “We need to invest more in our businesses and our people. We need to transform our companies even faster by adopting technological solutions, digital transformations, and pursuing innovation.”

In his speech, Mr. Guy Verhofstadt emphasized, among other things: We live in a new age of Empires in which not national states but big countries and continental organizations decide on the fate of the world. It is a brutal world based on political, military, economic and technological competition. Is Europe ready for this new world order? The answer is: we are not. We need urgently to build up a European Defense Union and complete our single market (Letta report) especially in the capital services, telecom and digital markets. This will need institutional reforms like the end of the unanimity rule and the establishment of a bigger European budget as proposed in the Draghi report.

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