Minister: Greece Still Winning Investors’ Vote of Confidence

Greek Development & Investments Minister Adonis Georgiadis. Photo Source: @Ministry of Development and Investments

Despite the Covid-19 crisis, Greece is still winning over investors as landmark projects like Hellinikon enter materialization phase, said Greek Development & Investments Minister Adonis Georgiadis during the “24th Roundtable with the Government of Greece” organized by The Economist.

Referring to Hellinikon, Georgiadis underlined that the government’s first priority was to unblock the investment and finally see it implemented.

He said the project was now in the preliminary phase and would quickly move into the next stage as soon as 2021 following the Council of State decision to be announced this week on the future of the integrated casino to be run – following the decision – by Mohegan Gaming & Entertainment (MGE).

“Basic construction work on the project will begin… demolition works are underway. So works can start and in 2021 heavy-duty works in this area will start,” he said.

Photo Source: @Ministry of Development and Investments

Georgiades also referred to the interest on behalf of investors to bet on Greece, announcing the intention by Dutch firm Reggeborgh Invest to acquire 5 percent of Greece’s Ellaktor.

The minister underlined that the Hellinikon project as well as the Reggeborgh Invest – Ellaktor deal demonstrate investors’ vote of confidence in Greece.

With regard to competitiveness, Georgiadis said Greece had moved up nine spots in the international competitiveness index and estimated that the country would be moving up the “Doing Business” index “demonstrating that we have already started to change towards a more business-friendly mentality”.

Georgiadis estimated that recession will not exceed 8 percent for 2020, “which is very high for a country like Greece, but certainly better than expected” and stressed the importance of supporting the European economy to address the challenges posed by Covid-19.