Long before the 2004 Olympics come to town, the entrepreneurial
potential in Greece is shining brighter than a gold medal. It's
easy to understand why--the cradle of former civilizations is
dashing toward the new millennium at a record-setting pace.
Quickening the strides are a number of factors. Among them:
Greece has inflation under control, at 3.5 percent, for the first
time in two decades; it's lining up to join the European
Monetary Union in two years and the Athens Stock Exchange performed
as well as others in the world last year. Another catalyst is the
Hellenic Center for Investment (ELKE), a European Union and Greek
government-funded nonprofit organization designed to help bring in
new business to serve the nation's 10.6 million residents and
the rest of the Mediterranean and North African regions. Empowered
to promote applications for government grants and counsel potential
investors, ELKE is winning kudos for greasing its country's
entrepreneurial wheels.
"ELKE was very cooperative and played a critical role in
[our efforts to] bring a big project to Greece," says Richard
Lewis, president and part-owner of Lewis Mechanical &
Metalworks Inc. in Pocatello, Idaho.
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In his case, that meant obtaining a grant of "quite a few
million dollars" to open a $25 million specialty-plastic
producing plant in Komotini, Greece, with co-owner Polyform
Manufacturing and partner Science International, a Mobile, Alabama,
specialty chemicals manufacturer. Construction should be finished
by September.
"Greece offered us the most flexibility with the least
amount of strings," says Lewis, 45, for whom ELKE helped win
the grant from the Ministry of National Economy.
Hot opportunities, though, aren't limited to manufacturing.
"Many sectors offer promise for investors," says Raymond
Matera, editor of the American-Hellenic Chamber of Commerce's
Greek-American Trade. "While many of these areas
require huge investments by large corporations, there are always
parallel and subsidiary areas where smaller companies can play
vital and profitable roles."
According to Matera and ELKE officials, some of these direct and
indirect opportunities include:
- Tourism. ELKE reports that Greece ranks in the Top 20
destinations of the global tourism market, with more than 11
million visitors annually.
"The best opportunities for smaller hotels are those that
work in a niche market," says Matera. "Greek hotel
companies could use American partners in specialty areas such as
health spas, conference development, sports tourism and the
like."
- Aquaculture. Fish farming is booming, with 19 percent of
Greece's total land area providing an abundance of locations
for it. Greek seafood, of course, is already well-positioned in
European and Mediterranean markets.
- Food processing and packaging equipment. "Greece
produces an abundance of fruit and vegetable products," Matera
says. "Fast-food restaurants are proliferating. We could also
use more ethnic foods."
- Information and telecommunications. This is the
fastest-growing industry in the country, leaping 15.3 percent from
1996 to 1997, a figure almost twice the European Union's
average.
- Building products and medical supplies. "At a
recent delegation of U.S. representatives in Athens," Matera
says, "the representatives said most inquiries from Greek
visitors were for building materials and medical equipment and
supplies."
- Golf courses. Ten million people, four golf courses--you
do the math.
And don't forget to figure in the potential for incentives
the government offers on many projects: a cash grant of 40 percent
of the project's cost, a 40 percent loan interest subsidy and a
40 percent leasing subsidy. You can also choose Curtain No. 2 and
take a tax allowance of 100 percent and a loan interest subsidy of
40 percent.
Christopher D. Lancette is an Atlanta-based freelance
journalist who covers international business for a variety of
local, national and international publications.
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