The Minister of Development, Takis Theodorikakos, presented the pillars of the new productive model for Greece during his speech at the event titled: “Productive transformation, strengthening investments and industry, for growth and new jobs across Greece,” in the presence of Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis. The presentation took place at the National Gallery-Alexandros Soutsos Museum.
«Our challenge is to transform this decade into a period of successful productive transformation for the Greek economy, with the strengthening of industry and an increase in productive investments. Consequently, the goal we serve is growth for all, productive growth everywhere, sustainable and enduring. And growth requires investments, facilitation, and support for entrepreneurship. And continuous adaptation to the green and digital transition», Takis Theodorikakos emphatically stated, also referring to the dual challenge of convergence: «the convergence of incomes and living standards of Greeks with the average of European citizens, and simultaneously the reduction of regional, intra-regional, and social inequalities within the country».
Mr. Theodorikakos stressed that the Ministry of Development is proceeding with «immediate specialization of the national strategy for industry,» which is at the core of this plan, «because this contributes to making our economy more resilient to crises, and the trajectory of growth more compact and stable». He added:
«We are focusing on critical sectors, such as the vertically integrated agri-food processing sector – which is being boosted by the €600 million package announced by the Prime Minister at the TIF – the pharmaceutical industry and cutting-edge biotechnology, the production of equipment for renewable energy sources and energy saving, the circular economy, shipbuilding and ship repair which we aim to multiply and support with all our might, software applications, artificial intelligence, as well as the defense industry and robotics, and product research and development units».
As he stated, the emphasis in the new productive model is placed on the following areas:
- First, we are further improving the business environment, a goal specified through interventions to further reduce bureaucracy and improve infrastructure.
- Second, we are developing financial tools and incentives for investments, with an emphasis on large investments and disadvantaged regions.
- Third, we are investing in incentives for more innovation and research.
Regarding the first goal, Takis Theodorikakos noted that «with institutional interventions, we are attempting a new strong blow against bureaucracy,» stating that after the «development of an integrated information system for the digitization of licensing and supervision procedures – which will be inaugurated in a few days – within the framework of a reform coordinated by the General Secretariat for Industry, we are moving to the second wave of changes against bureaucracy: our goal is to reduce the administrative bureaucratic burden for export companies by at least 25% within two years by abolishing 15 time-consuming bureaucratic procedures».
He added: «Our priority is to further facilitate businesses operating within industrial parks with the same (i.e., as in the first four-year term) reformist logic: first I license, then I inspect, for both building and environmental permits». «At the same time,» he said, « we are implementing a program to upgrade infrastructure in 20 industrial parks with €90 million, of which €45 million comes from the Ministry of Development and its program in the RRF. We are funding with €33 million the development of the emblematic 4th Generation Technology Park “ThessINTEC” in Thessaloniki and with €13.2 million PPC, to make investments for strengthening energy substations and energy storage in nine parks. Our goal is to increase this program by another €20 million ».
The logistics program is also coming into focus, aimed at upgrading Greece’s role in the global supply chain. Takis Theodorikakos stressed that «we are planning and proceeding with the creation of two new logistics centers, one in Athens in Thriassio and one in Thessaloniki in the area of the former Gonos camp, with the aim of relocating a large number of transport companies to them, which will directly result in decongesting central road arteries and improving traffic in the two cities. The relevant tender procedures are underway by HRADF, with budgets of €150 million and €300 million respectively. At the same time, other areas across Greece are being examined such as port areas in Alexandroupoli, Volos, Patras, Corinth, Igoumenitsa, as well as Serres».
Regarding the second goal, the financing of large investments, with the aim of channeling over €3 billion into the market over the next three years, he said that, without questioning the country’s fiscal obligations and using financial tools from national and European resources, «the focus is on large investments, in border regions, across the entire northern arc of Macedonia and Thrace, as well as in Thessaly». He also presented the roadmap for the next 2.5 years, according to which:
- We maintain the institution of emblematic investments
- We give absolute priority to the regime of large investments, which will be innovative, use modern technology, and be implemented with a low energy footprint. €150 million in tax exemptions for the regime of large investments over €10 million.
- We promote a special General Business Regime for Border Regions and Thessaly amounting to €150 million for investments over €1 million to be developed in border regions
- All large investments over €10 million and investments in border regions are evaluated as strategic investments to demonstrate their importance for our Homeland
- We are allocating €150 million for the proclamation of a manufacturing regime: €75 million in aid and €75 million in tax exemption
- We are in advanced cooperation with the Ministry of Rural Development for the proclamation of an agri-food regime, which will complement the €600 million program announced by the Prime Minister at the TIF.
«All these regimes will be announced in February and March, applications will close in May and June, and final results will be out in October and November 2025. And the same will happen in 2026,» Takis Theodorikakos stressed.
Emphasis was also placed on the financing of the aforementioned investments, mentioning two pillars:
- The Guarantee Fund (in cooperation with the European Investment Bank) of €300 million, which will leverage €1.5 billion with very favorable lending terms, a guarantee from the Greek state, without burdening the deficit and debt, and
- The Development Law Financial Instrument Guarantee Fund (DeLFI GF) of €500 million, operated by the Hellenic Development Bank (HDB), which provides a guarantee for obtaining short-term loans against subsidies and long-term loans for the implementation of investment plans by micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises
The Minister also referred to the following sectors, which are eligible for support from the Ministry:
- We continue to support the pharmaceutical industry with €200 million, through the so-called investment clawback, in cooperation with the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Health.
- Added to these is the Ministry of Development’s €102 million program for the digital transition of SMEs.
- It is noted that 61 strategic investments, totaling €12.5 billion, are already underway and being implemented, as well as ESPA programs, run by the Alternate Minister of Finance, for digital and green transformation and the strengthening of new small and medium-sized enterprises, totaling €1.4 billion.
- Furthermore, €100 million from the RRF – through the Hellenic Development Bank of Investments – is being channeled for the creation of a technology transfer fund, and another €200 million from ESPA is being utilized for the creation of EquiFund II – managed by the European Investment Fund (EIF) – for investments in biotechnology.
- At the same time, an extremely important program is being implemented and progressing, prioritizing Western Macedonia, Megalopolis in Tripoli, and the North Aegean for a Just Development Transition, totaling €2.5 billion.
Regarding the third goal (incentives for research and innovation), he stressed that «we are investing over €300 million in incentives for research and innovation and another €350 million for upgrading the infrastructure of research and technological institutes, of which €212 million comes from the RRF».
And he specifically said:
- We are funding with €300 million the action “Research – Innovate” for research projects by individual SMEs, groups of businesses, or business partnerships with research organizations and HEIs.
- And, of course, there is the very important package of measures to support startups, recently announced by the Prime Minister at the TIF, expanding tax incentives for investor participation in them.
