Gov’t targets key reforms by year-end
Key reforms will be in place by the end of the year, consolidating the Greek economy’s place in Europe and opening up new business opportunities, Economy and Finance Minister Nikos Christodoulakis said yesterday. Addressing a conference at an Athens hotel with the title, «Leading Greek Businesses to Meet the New Challenges,» organized by business consultants and auditors PricewaterhouseCoopers, Christodoulakis put particular emphasis on Greece’s current high growth rates and investment drive, describing its economy as «an oasis of growth in the European Union.» «The growth momentum of the Greek economy is the overriding factor in any discussion about economic policy,» he stressed. Referring to privatizations, Christodoulakis said the State will retain at least a 35-percent interest in key public enterprises, without seeking strategic investors or transferring majority interests to single private concerns. He said the government is preparing a bill introducing more flexible procedures and placing special weight on the influence which the government can have on the provision and pricing of certain important public utility services. Speaking at the same conference, Hellenic Center for Investment (ELKE) Chairman Costas Bakouris said that attracting significant amounts of direct foreign investment required continuous and long-term effort. «The Greek economy must convince the international business community that it possesses those competitive advantages required to attract foreign investment,» he said. Such an advantage is the fact that Greece plays an important role in business in the Balkans and beyond, a market of about 180 million people where more than 1,500 enterprises of a significant size are active. Bakouris said one of the initiatives ELKE has implemented is the creation of the Athens Business Club which targets 25,000 members by the time of the Olympic Games in 2004 and aims to foster closer ties with the global business community. Federation of Greek Industries (SEV) Chairman Odysseas Kyriakopoulos urged Greek enterprises to improve their competitiveness. «Today’s globalized business environment requires of entrepreneurs that their every activity be competitive, not merely as a condition for profitability but rather for survival,» he said. Athens Stock Exchange (ASE) Chairman Panayiotis Alexakis said priority must now be given to the introduction of International Accounting Standards.
