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Victoria Mindova

If you wonder why there are no exports, it is because there is no production. Manufacturing and industry in Greece have not been supported or encouraged in the past twenty years. It takes at least two years to obtain permission for any such business activity. This was the answer of Dimitris Matios, President of the Association Attica and Piraeus Industries, who was one of the guests at the forum on the Greek export.

He said that export activity is hampered by the Greek diplomats’ lack of commercial culture who, in his experience, do not consider the business and diplomatic support for Greek companies abroad a priority. The programmes of the Foreign Ministry and its employees have no real effect on the spreading of Greek business abroad and local entrepreneurs do not consider them effective. "When we travel on official business meetings with ministers, they are more concerned about the smooth running of the cocktail party or the restaurant where they will eat than what business contacts will be established," said the entrepreneur with bitter irony.

Dimitris Matios gave the example of the international forum of producers held in Portugal, where the Greek businessmen were the only ones with no support from the diplomatic mission in the country. "Everyone should understand that the source of wealth of a country is the manufacturer. " Matios explained that there is a serious problem in Greece with issuing visas to entrepreneurs from Iran, Iraq and Libya. "We can not prevent these people from entering the country just because it is considered by default that all residents in these countries are terrorists. These are businessmen who run companies gaining millions a year," said the Greek entrepreneur.  

In his opinion, the Organization for Foreign Trade has to invest in the promotion of typical Greek products such as olive oil, wine and feta. "The Italian entrepreneurs buy Greek olive oil in bulk, bottle it and sell it as Italian. How much longer?"  The businessman stated jokingly that Greece has the opportunity to make a new label for a much wider range of products than the world famous moussaka and sirtaki.

According to data provided by the Organization for Foreign Trade, Greece was ranked 24^th in the list of exporting countries in the world in 2009, contributing to the state GDP by 7.9%. To compare how far the Mediterranean country is from the successful model of foreign trade we could look at the data for Austria. Austria was ranked two positions behind Greece in the same year, 26^th, but the export share in its domestic economy was 35% of GDP. If the citizens of Sofia and Athens ask themselves why they buy Dutch potatoes from the super market instead of Bulgarian or Greek respectively, the answer is easy. The Netherlands was ranked 6^th among the exporters in the world in 2009 and its trade with foreign countries carried 53% of GDP.

These comparative data make it clear how far behind Greece is from the so coveted and widely publicized government campaign to look outwards and its serious programs to stimulate production and export.

The President of the Hellenic Chamber of Commerce Vassilis Korkidis explained that, if the government really wants to create an environment for the expansion of foreign trade, it must seriously address the facilitation of administrative procedures related with entrepreneurship. On the other hand, the consumption of Greek products on the domestic market has to be stimulated, which will increase production thereby reducing the cost of unit production. As a consequence of these improvements in the domestic business environment, the competitiveness of Greek products will increase and they will gain a better position on foreign markets.

"The times of easy money gaining are over. The era of excess demand has completed its course. What is needed to be a good exporter today, is a good deal of perspectives, a quality product and honesty in relations with foreign business partners."

A stable legal framework that allows the insuring of the export production is also an important part of the foreign trade development. Christina Sakellaridis, who is the chairman of the Panhellenic Exporters Association but also the president of the Export Credit Insurance Organization, presented the matter.

In connection with the recent developments in North Africa, Sakellaridis said that the organization chaired by her insures export goods for the risks associated with the political climate in client countries. "This is the big difference between private insurance companies and the Export Credit Insurance Organization." She explained that insurance against political risk is an institution that works with low fees and avails a guarantee fund of 1.5 billion euros.

The organization has paid compensations of 3.5 million euros in the past six years and Sakellaridis called large and small entrepreneurs to benefit from the services of this institution, because by paying a small amount they will be protected from the risk of a changed political climate in various countries in the world. The criteria that determine the degree of risk for each country are established by the European Commission and are updated based on the data it provides.