Business mergers and acquisitions are a catalyst for the Greek economy, leading actors on the business scene, government officials and representatives of the academic community told the Mergers & Acquisitions Summit held on Wednesday at the Athens Concert Hall, organized by Kathimerini’s Money Review website. During the conference, Minister of National Economy and Finance Kostis Hatzidakis announced the further simplification of the framework for corporate transformations, as well as the provision of tax incentives and increased grants from the NSRF and the Development Bank for mergers and investments in research and innovation.
The progress Greece has made in the green energy transition will allow it to become an exporter of energy, instead of an importer, National Economy and Finance Minister Kostis Hatzidakis said on Wednesday.
Speaking at the 8th Annual Economic Conference of the Hellenic Business Association, Hatzidakis added, “This is a factor of optimism for Greece, for its competitiveness and its prospects, not just of environmental and economic importance.”
“But what is also necessary is a substantial European policy, especially in the networks sector, as the Draghi report shows,” he stated.
Hatzidakis also spoke of the myth that Greece has become completely deindustrialized, a fallacy since industry has increased its contribution to GDP from 2019 to 2023, he said.
The minister said that “in recent years, the myth has been promoted in Greece that there is so-called complete deindustrialization, that every productivity process has stopped, and that Greece has exclusively become a services economy. In reality, facts show that very significant progress has been achieved in recent years; I would say, a renaissance of manufacturing and industry.”
Hatzidakis referred to data from the Hellenic Statistical Authority (ELSTAT), which shows that industry has increased its share in GDP from 12% in 2019 to 13.8% in 2023.
In addition, ELSTAT’s 2023 data show a rise of over 7% in the number of employees in industry from 2019, while the European Central Bank data show an increase of 20.4% in productivity from 2019 to 2023, he said.