Red tape and corruption discourage investment
Local businesspeople and foreign diplomats argue that Greece needs an urgent overhaul of the state to eliminate red tape and corruption if it is to attract investment and solve its growing liquidity problem.
?When a country wins this battle, the victors are many,? British Ambassador David Landsman told Kathimerini.
?The good companies only stand to benefit from a business framework with the same fair rules for everyone and are able to tap their own high standards as comparative advantages,? Landsman added. ?Countries known for confronting corruption attract more businesses, more investment and benefit from the competition forcing prices down.?
Michalis Maillis, president of the Hellenic-German Chamber of Commerce and Industry, also considers that instances of corruption can cancel planned foreign investment projects.
?If business-friendly conditions are not created for enterprises, which means eliminating corruption and red tape, and forming a stable and friendly tax environment, there will be no foreign investment,? he said.
Hellenic Federation of Enterprises (SEV) President Dimitris Daskalopoulos described those using the state for personal gain as ?a source of corruption on a permanent basis.?
?A modern, outward-looking, socially responsible enterprise does not live and does not want to live off the state,? he said.
