Greek companies are in no hurry to invest in development

According to Grant Thornton’s annual survey, Greek businessmen are reluctant to undertake any investment initiatives in the near future, despite the funding opportunities created by the recovery fund and the improved business sentiment.

6 out of 10 corporations in Greece say they do not intend to make any investments in new facilities, engineering equipment or research in the foreseeable future.

In the tech sector, however, the picture is reversed, with six out of 10 companies saying they are willing to invest because they largely recognize their value and then consider an opportunity rather than a threat.

The survey covered 400 enterprises from all sectors of the economy and was presented at the annual Business Awards, organized in cooperation with Eurobank. Judging from the responses, the resistance is also reflected in the attitude of Greek enterprises towards the greatest growth opportunity they had, that is, towards the funds to be received under the Greece 2.0 program.

Grant Thornton found that seven out of every 10 businesses believe their investment will be significant to the economy, but only four out of 10 believe the investment will matter to themselves – as much as the potential users of the Recovery Fund. Of those four out of 10 that will use Greece 2.0 funds, only 10% have already developed a complete plan, while 40% are in preparation and 50% are in the initial assessment of future opportunities.

Greek businesses seem to rely on internal procedures to grow their operations and profits, Grant Thornton notes. This includes reorganizing their internal operations (nine out of 10 respondents), reducing costs (8/10), targeting domestic markets (7/10), and marketing practices and / or optimizing sales tactics (7/10).

Apparently, mergers, acquisitions and strengthening of management concern only a small proportion of companies (only one in five). A more encouraging signal comes from 6 out of 10 firms that said they are looking to launch new products or services, and five out of 10 are looking for new markets.

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