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Socrates Lazaridis, the head of the Athens Stock Exchange, believes that the Greek financial market has great potential to contribute to the recovery of economic growth in the country. Although the capitalization of banks is 20 times below the levels of 2007 and that of the public sector is 4.3 below the levels of five years ago, the stock exchange attracts investors looking for new investment opportunities. "The stock exchange can directly connect international investors with local enterprises. The international capital does not seek companies all over the world. It seeks serious businessmen who speak the same language and who can draw up a serious business plan in order to be provided with resources. This is a basic condition for makling investments." Lazaridis said that nobody has lost from his cooperation with major Greek entrepreneurs who have submitted a sustainable business plan with real prospects.

Antonis Ahileudis, who is the executive director of the corporate Axia Ventures Group, is clear that the investor outlook on Greece has been dynamically changing in a positive direction. "Investors, who have capital and managed to make money in times of a global crisis, look at Greece as a country of recovery, not as a country of failure." Ahileudis insists that international investors have more confidence in the government now than a few years ago. It is mainly due to the implementation of the consolidation programme and the determination of the government to restore the Greek economy. From this perspective, countries that are in transition and reconstruction always seem attractive for investment. The transfer of key sectors of the economy from the state to private hands can become the basis of economic recovery, if privatization takes place correctly.

Yiannis Papadopoulos, who is the CEO of Attica Ventures, argues that in a period of reform, Greece must create a new open market that is characterized by transparency and competitiveness. Monopolistic and publicly managed structures do not provide an incentive for economic growth. If DEI (the Greek Public Power Corporation) is privatized, it should not be owned by one private company but by five private companies that are competing with each other, says the financier.

Papadopoulos is confident that good enterprises can always overcome obstacles, even in times of crisis and they are of interest to investors. Tourism, energy, agriculture and manufacturing are the key sectors that can become the basis of the economic recovery. To attract external funding, Greece must stabilize its tax system. It has undergone at least 15 drastic changes in the last two years. Financiers are adamant that the government should give assurances, which it will later fulfil, namely that taxes and fees will not vary according to the needs of the annual budget. "Nobody cares about the amount of rates. The most important thing is that they do not change. You cannot make business plans for long-term investments without knowing the amount of tax payable for a longer period of time," investors conclude.