By Athanasios Adamopoulos

 

Greek exports are poised to break new records in 2023, after setting new records in 2022, with the aim of surpassing the barrier of 70 billion euros.

 

Christina Sakellaridi, the president of the Panhellenic Exporters Association, addressing the annual forum on “Redesigning the Map of Greek Exports, the Target-Countries of Greek Exporters”, said: “Everything shows that we move with a mathematical precision towards a new historic record of extroversion,” although she added that: “much will depend on geopolitical developments”.

 

Sakellaridi underlined that extroversion has become a national priority and estimated that Greek exports would reach 70 billion euros this year. She reminded that exports set a new historic record in 2022, at 54.68 billion euros from 40 billion in 2021, an increase of 36.7%, contrary to all adversities amidst a negative international environment.

 

Greek exporters said that emphasis must be given to fully exploiting funds from a Recovery Fund towards reducing the country’s trade deficit, upgrading productive infrastructure, expanding to new markets and exploring opportunities in existing markets with established activities by Greek exporters.

 

Development and Investment Minister Adonis Georgiadis, addressing the forum stressed that in 2009-2010 the total volume of exports as a percentage of GDP was below 10% and that it was currently above 23%, a fact highlighting the dynamism of the Greek economy. He noted that there could be no exports without increasing imports, due to raw materials, but added that the current account deficit will rapidly fall in the future helped by the increasing contribution of renewable energy sources on the country’s energy mix and a reduction in energy cost that will help enterprises to become more competitive.

 

Costas Fragkogiannis, Deputy Minister for Economic Diplomacy and Openness, addressing the forum said that Greece won a double bet in 2022 by recording a positive course towards progress and development and extending the extroversion growth trend in 2023. Presenting the most recent available data by Hellenic Statistical Authority, Fragkogiannis explained that “it was exaggeration to say that today we stand above Italy and France in the exports of goods and services as a percentage of GDP. Neither to say that with exports reaching 74 billion euros and direct foreign investments of 5 billion euros, the growth and resilience of the Greek economy is based –among others- on extroversion and investments, the strategic goals of Economic Diplomacy”. He announced that Greece will soon unveil the National Strategic Plan of Extroversion for 2023.

 

George Pitsilis, head of the Independent Authority of Public Revenue, referred to the custom services and the tools available for use by exporters and underlined that the digitalization and simplification of export procedures was underway.