Michalis Sallas
The economy’s adjustment to the global environment is the challenge we will all need to respond to, not just in 2006, but in coming years as well. The extroversion of Greek companies and the economy’s structural reforms, which are rendering Greek economy more productive and competitive, are the main parameters for us to broaden growth, incomes and jobs in a rapidly changing world. We must set fresh targets as the growth rates of China and India create a totally new situation in global economy. Eastern European countries are also growing thanks to cheap labor, while technology is still expanding, helping the US, Japan and Western Europe. In this environment the Greek economy needs to redefine and claim its place in the international work landscape, so as to broaden its economic development in the medium term. Greece is no isolated island in the global economic map. We must work hard for the best or at least to maintain what we have today. Opportunities for the Greek economy are increasingly related to the broader region and the supply of products and services of high quality and international demand. Balkan markets have big opportunities as they are now developing at very satisfactory pace. More than $25 billion has been invested in Bulgaria and Romania by foreign groups ahead of these countries’ EU entry. Our country also has plenty of opportunities, so long as development initiatives are taken on the political and business levels corresponding with the demands of the international environment, whether it is about tourism, cultural and recreational activity or high-quality services in health and education, or the primary and secondary economies. Standardization and high (and stable) quality are key assets in competing with cheap products from developing countries. Michalis Sallas is president of Piraeus Bank.
