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Sev General Assembly: Trust in Foreign Investment Has to be Regained

The Hellenic Federation of Enterprises (SEV) held its General Assembly on Monday 18th of May 2015 in the presence of Greek officials and significant guess speakers from abroad.

During the first part of the Assembly, a discussion with the topic «A Growth Strategy for Europe», brought together prominent representatives of European industrial organizations, such as the President of the Federation of German Industries Mr. Ulrich Grillo, the Vice President of the Spanish Confederation of Business Mr. José Vincente González, and the Director General of BusinessEurope, Mr. Markus I. Beyrer.

The discussion was also addressed by SEV’s President Mr. Theodoros Fessas while the overall coordination of the discussion was the responsibility of the journalist Mr. Alexis Papahelas.

The Leader of the Opposition, Mr. Antonis Samaras, the President of the Republic Mr. Prokopis Pavlopoulos, the Finance Minister Mr. Yanis Varoufakis and the Prime Minister Mr. Alexis Tsipras addressed the Assembly’s attendees. Additionally, the President of BusinessEurope Ms. Emma Marcegaglia was amongst the distinguished speakers.

The President of SEV, Mr. Theodoros Fessas, urged authorities to proceed with a realistic and sustainable compromise to halt uncertainly and close a deal with creditors. He stated: “We are experiencing a painful asset drain, flight of people, capital and business which evolves into a huge value drain for our country. Lost skills, expertise, reliability, perspective and hope. But the problem can be solved”. He asserted that Greece has taken significant steps since the huge deficits encountered back in 2010 or 2012, which gives faith and “the right to demand an agreement with the partners, with main emphasis on reforms and development, without losing fiscal discipline and social cohesion”.

Mr. Fessas additionally listed a few investment plans that are at an advanced stage, and when the economic and political uncertainty is lifted they can be carried out. For example, he mentioned a subsea interconnection to power islands, storage and distribution centers, infrastructure for new forms of tourism etc.

“Reforms, agreement and implementation of the agreement to recover confidence and to invest in Greece" was the central message of European industrialists who participated in the open discussion organized by SEV. The president of the Federation of German Industries, Ulrich Grillo, said that "we all want Greece in the EU and the euro, but certainly some reforms and measures are needed”. He expressed the conviction that many German companies would be willing to invest in Greece when confidence is regained. Mr. Gonzalez, Vice President of the Spanish Confederation of Business gave assurances that the European business community wants Greece in the Eurozone but stressed that reforms should be made.

The President of BusinessEurope, Ms. Emma Marcegaglia, referred to the need to substantially reduce energy costs and high taxes for European companies and to remove obstacles for foreign investment, given that the share of EU foreign investment fell to 17% in 2013 from 40% in 2000.