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Victoria Mindova

To strengthen the Greek economy we will do whatever we can, said the Economy Minister and Vice-Chancellor of Germany Philipp Rösler. He arrived on a two-day visit to Greece with about 50 German contractors, members of commercial and industrial associations. The same Minister Rösler said less than a month ago that the default of Greece and its leaving the euro should not be taboo. Now, his visit to the country shows a softer attitude towards the troubled Greece. He stressed that the Germans would like their investment to be safe and required improvements in administrative procedures in Greece. They should become more transparent and easier to facilitate entrepreneurship in the country.
  
Rösler pointed out that the funding of various economic development programs is still a problem. These difficulties are now being discussed at European and business level. The Vice-Chancellor of Germany said that there are also discussions for the establishment of a development bank in Greece, like KfW in Germany. He gave the example of Germany's experience in recovering the country after World War II when the German development bank contributed significantly towards restoring the local economy and securing positive economic growth. Rösler promised that Germany would advise and provide financial aid, trying to support the accumulation of funds for the new investment bank.
 
"The whole euro area, nay even the world is in a difficult economic situation, but as some of our businessmen have said, when there are difficulties, we should work harder to succeed," said Rösler. He repeated the examples of German businessmen in the fight against the crisis, "To go to work at least an hour earlier and to leave work an hour later."
 
The Economy Mnister and Vice-Chancellor of Germany Philipp Rösler spoke at the Greek-German Business Forum, organized by the Hellenic Federation of Enterprises. Its chairman Dimitris Daskalopoulos stressed that the private sector in Greece is the main drive of the local economy, despite the well-known administrative problems and unstable tax system. Industrial enterprises are the ones that pay about 68% of the corporate tax from the legal entities in the budget. They provide jobs for most of the labour force, but in the last two years alone, they have paid to the state treasury more than € 1.8 billion in extra taxes beyond the regular tax deductions.

To the criticism that local businessmen do not invest in the Greek economy, Daskalopoulos replied that Greece benefitted from the expansion of entrepreneurship in the region. It has guaranteed new long-term investments and laid the foundations of a more stable economy. "Nobody came to this meeting by plane, we all came by car from home. We live here, work here, and develop here. You can do business in Greece," the entrepreneur stated adamantly. Now the problem remains full market liberalization, the elimination of unnecessary bureaucracy and stabilization of the tax system to make Greek products competitive on the international market.

Marcus Keber, head of the union of German industrialists, stressed that he knows how difficult it is to rise up when the economy of a country has been suffering from recession and problems for years. He stressed that he believes in Greece's recovery, but that it requires serious efforts. Keber explained how Merkel requested that German entrepreneurs help Greece and after 18 months of studies, Western European entrepreneurs see opportunities for growth. When we got acquainted with McKinsey’s plan to change the economic model of Greece, we understood the vision and capabilities of the Greek economy. There are historical implications from the Greek crisis, noted he. Its problems exert a direct influence on other European countries, so we need to plan a common platform with goods and services and combine them with European products for world markets. I hope that after four or five years, the period 2010-2011 will be long forgotten.

Greek Minister of Development and Competition, Michalis Chrysohoidis, characterized the presence of the Minister of Economy of Germany as a vote of confidence to the future of the Greek economy. "The road is hard but secure," he said and stressed that all the reforms and measures taken are intended to make Greece once more a competitive and productive state. So far a one-stop-shop has been introduced which makes it possible to open a business in only one day and the price of the service has fallen by half. Major investment projects will be facilitated and there are now fast-track procedures for issuing permits for operating in the processing industry.
 
Nevertheless, the Greek Ministry of Economy still has a lot to do. Chrysohoidis continued to underline the achievements of his ministry and said with great pride that they have already approved three major investment projects worth € 1.1 billion under the new fast track law. He stressed that the new investment law insures transparency and effectiveness of procedures, which Eurostat reported as improved performance of increased exports by 41% during the first six months of this year and of tourism by 10% for the 2011 season. German companies are willing to invest in the real economy, the Greek Minister stressed. "We could increase our exports to Germany, and the investments of the country will open up new jobs. "