In her effort to escape a worsening economic upheaval, Greece embraces whoever wills to invest in its markets. This is excellent news to Israeli businesses.
The news that reached us from Greece via various international news agencies was joyously received by many Israeli businessmen returning from the EcoTec exhibition that was recently held at Athens, Greece. Only those who attended this colossal exhibition may comprehend the sheer size of the Greek ambition to pull investors into their country, the economy of which is so badly wounded.
The Greek Prime Minister, Lucas Papademos, as reported in an official announcement, declared that he intends to transform Greece into the number one exporter of solar electricity in the European Union. He emphasized that Greece's investment in renewable energies will be a central element in his country's economic recovery.
And indeed, the mood, the attitude and the tone that literally beamed from the faces of Greek administration representatives in the exhibition, as well as from the big corporate managers, were those of a genuine embrace and true encouragement to anyone who is willing to invest in Greek cleantech enterprises. This dramatic initiative in Greece that is undergoing these days is part of the government-backed project known as Helios, in which the Greek government plans to establish renewable energy installations over a 150,000,000m2 area in order to increase power production from 206mW to 2.2gW by the year 2020.
As the person behind the CleanTech event and exhibition for the last 17 years, I have attended the Greek exhibition and I have met with dozens of Greek businessmen in the cleantech field. I confidently ascertain that it is time to do business with the Greek. I do not recall such a positive and benevolent courtship after any Israeli agent.
Israel, it is sad to admit, is more isolated today than ever before, especially in our Middle-East neighborhood. The strained relationship with Turkey is common knowledge. Greece is in the height of an unprecedented economic upheaval, and it is determined to emerge from it as quickly as possible. Greece is committed to invest 20£ billion in solar energy alone as part of its broader plan to free Greece of its dependency on solid fuels.
This is a historic opportunity that mustn't be missed. I am also certain that the Greeks will not easily forget who reached out and helped their economic recovery during times of crisis. In short, this is the time for Greece.
The author is a co-CEO at Mashov Group Ltd.
