Pierrakakis at Thessaloniki fair: Turn investment into jobs and income

Greece must turn investment into jobs and income, Finance Minister Kyriakos Pierrakakis said at the opening of the GrowthFund pavilion during the 90th Thessaloniki International Fair.

The fair, he said, is not only a place to present what Greece has already achieved. Its focus also looks ahead, toward the future and the goals the country still wants to reach. The GrowthFund’s message, “Value for the Future,” captures what Greece should do next, he said.

Pierrakakis pointed to the country’s recent economic progress: Greece has established its credibility, achieved fiscal stability, regained investment-grade status and returned to the European core of economic decisions. But he stressed that these achievements should serve as a foundation, not an endpoint.

The next task is to turn credibility into investment, investment into productivity, productivity into better incomes and growth into a better life for every citizen. Success, he said, should be measured not only through fiscal and broader economic indicators, but also by the economy’s ability to create more opportunities, better jobs and higher incomes in more parts of the country.

He cited the planned redevelopment of the Thessaloniki International Fair as an example of that effort. The project, described as the largest urban regeneration scheme in northern Greece, includes a 120-acre metropolitan park in the centre of the city, two new exhibition buildings, an upgraded Ioannis Vellidis convention centre and more than 1,000 underground parking spaces. The project, he said, would return a transformed part of the city to its residents.

“

Value for the Future