Economist Summit: Greece Can Grow Financially Strong in Next Decade

Greece can achieve investments to the tune of 55 billion euros and create 650,000 new jobs in the next eight years, said George Tsopelas, senior partner and MD at McKinsey & Co Greece & Cyprus, during an Economist summit which took place in Frankfurt, Germany, last week.

Addressing a panel discussion on whether Greece can return to financial markets, Tsopelas said tourism was a major player with increasing arrivals but still had to bring in revenue.

Meanwhile, Georgios Triantafyllou, executive director, investment banking services Greece and SE Europe, Goldman Sachs, referred to the factors that have made investing in Greece difficult over the past decade, including among others “technical barriers such as lack of liquidity in Greek securities and fundamental risks such as the large number of non-performing loans and inadequate access to financing”.

During the discussion, which was also attended by Greek Finance Minister Euclid Tsakalotos, economy and finance experts underlined the potential of Greece returning to financial markets after tapping into interest by diaspora Greeks, promoting innovation, fostering outward-looking enterprise, and capitalizing on tourism and exports.