The President of GSEVEE, Mr. G. Kavathas, attended a workshop organized by the General Secretariat of Industry of the Ministry of Economy and Development entitled “Forum Results for Industry Year One – Prospects” at the National Research Foundation, held on Thursday 25 May 2017 .
The President of GSEVEE in his address stressed that it is a top priority for the country to direct the agenda into development strategies, not just for market psychology, but because we have to move to a realism of action and creation, adapted to the Greek context. “By saying this, I would like to emphasize that, when GSEVEE calls for the adjustment of economic policies to the national economy, with the burden of tradition, culture, geographical identity and locality in general, it does not It means that we should stick to the sterile productive model of the past, which has exhausted its limits. On the contrary, we recommend that some of these particular features become comparative advantages that will attract areas we are interested in developing such as digital transformation, e-commerce, agro-food chain, construction, processing in the ceramics, silversmiths, Include a significant added value burden with a significant development dimension and a contribution to employment and craft industries. Some sectors are extensively analyzed in the Industry DG’s edition. ”
“It is a commonplace that the Greek economy must pass the threshold of the trading economy towards adopting a more outward-looking, investment model that will boost the processing and internationally tradable goods produced in the country. However, the simplistic view that first applying policies of internal devaluation, then shrinking domestic consumption and then developing tools to mobilize investment, is an outdated view of things with tangible results of failure. It is a recipe that struck at the same time trade, processing, primary production, a recipe that limited exports and synergies. ”
The President of GSEVEE submitted a core of proposals:
1) On the financing side, red loans are undoubtedly the biggest challenge of this period, as more than 45% of loans are not serviced smoothly. Accelerating effective implementation of the out-of-court debt settlement mechanism is a first-line issue. It is, of course, a matter of avoiding the facilitation of strategic bad payers, as well as the smooth servicing of those whose economic decisions have been driven by the brutality of adaptation, the ineffective economic policy program, excessive taxation. Although small and medium-sized enterprises account for 99.6% of businesses and account for 85% of employment, they are marginal to 40% of business loans.
2) Alongside the solutions for red loans, the necessary instrument is the institutional framework, which allows the diversification of the tools and sources of finance to suit the needs of Greek entrepreneurship. In this respect, the possibilities of promoting modern tools for microfinance, participatory financing, factoring and other forms of cooperative banking should be explored.
3) The creation of a development fund for SMEs, with the encouragement of institutional investors, international financial development groups, regions and small businesses (under the charging of tax-free funds for investment), will strengthen the prospects of the Greek economy and regional development.
4) Active intervention policies should be applied to business transfer procedures, particularly family businesses, to second and third generation entrepreneurs. But also for those who fail, provision should be made, which should not be confined to social policy actions for the marginalized practitioner, but especially social entrepreneurship actions and re-entry into the market. IME GSEVEE, in cooperation with the SEN, is already implementing the European Program for Early Warning for Businesses in Crisis and aspires to provide the state with the know-how and data to establish a rescue, rescue and second chance mechanism.
5) On the synergy side, conditions are mature to form a modern legal framework for the creation of cooperative associations / formations. It is a necessary element in encouraging new small and medium-scale investments. Subsequently, specific programs will need to be implemented to finance clusters, joint ventures, innovation synergies and open trade centers. The commitment of an enterprise to participate in an organized collaborative cluster may involve a unified configuration of spaces, warehouses, logistics-transport as well as joint market research and development of new goods. Priority should be given to outward-looking actions and the development of the internal market. This strategy should result in the inclusion of small businesses in value chains, in the cooperation of large and small enterprises.
6) In the promotion of entrepreneurship and the reduction of bureaucratic obstacles, we recognize that important steps have been taken,
7) Finally, I would like to mention two important dimensions for the participation of small and medium-sized enterprises, especially in the manufacturing sector, in the international and internal economic life:
(A) the participation of SMEs in public procurement is of key importance to local development and technology / innovation transfer. At a time when there is a threat of concentration of public procurement on pretext for budgetary reasons, procurement policies should aim to simplify, transparent and disseminate information and technical details in order to ensure maximum participation.
B) Greek manufacturing industries should also be involved in all processes related to the internationalization of the Greek economy, foreign direct investment. Critical areas such as shipping, transport, energy hubs, construction, digital development, defense industry require the participation of Greek companies (small and bigger) in both added value and the adoption of new technology. “