Photo: Marios Lolos; Source: Internet
Here we return to our initial topic, which was how efficient the presented government programme is and I said that it depends on how it will be implemented. The first measures presented do not provide anything for small and medium enterprises, nor do they contain something real to promote entrepreneurship. It is always possible that these things could happen alone if the country achieved relative stability. Unfortunately, we are still lacking the entrepreneur culture in Greece. It must be supported and not with subsidies. Instead it should be restored as a healthy way to success. The private sector can play its role in these changes by creating new fields of action beyond the traditional sectors in Greece. Redundant staff from the public sector can be helpful in this situation, as small and medium enterprises will play the main role in this type of development.
What are the preconditions for Greece in order for the country to emerge from the current crisis in the long term?
The first and foremost requirement is to achieve domestic stability with a sense of cooperation and trust. Infrastructure projects are important, although from the latest report of the UN Conference on Trade and Development it appears that Greece is coping well in this area, but improvements could also be made. If we are to see the country prospering in the long term, we need to give further impetus to entrepreneurship, outward orientation, to create conditions for investment (both large- and small-scale) and to emphasize the quality of education. Greece has an extremely high human potential and this is proven by the fact that we can see many good specialists in various fields, who are Greeks or of Greek origin.
What do you think are Greece's chances of managing to renegotiate the terms of the bailout agreement and what are the possible concessions?
I think the Ministry of Finance has established a very good strategy so far and appointing Yiannis Stournaras as Minister of Finance was a very wise choice. Creditors must give the government a chance to prove that its promises will correspond to its actions. It will not be easy to renegotiate the terms, mainly because our present actions have only made creditors sceptic, but I am optimistic. We will be given a last chance to prove that we can do things as they should be done, for our own sake, not because someone else tells us what to do.