Behind the scenes, Greece is making great strides developing a modern, resilient tech economy. It’s forcing a recalibration away from its historical economic bedrocks of tourism and hospitality. In 2013, in an effort to diversify its economy, the Greek government took a courageous step. They decided that technology would be the most important driver of future economic growth. This strategic shift is designed to jumpstart our economic recovery. It further aims to mitigate against the financial crisis-enacted brain drain that pushed thousands of highly-skilled workers away.
Under the leadership of Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis, Greece has initiated various programs designed to attract talent and foster innovation. The Prime Minister himself has deep roots in venture capital starting Greece’s first incubator back in 2001. He feels that the country is now offering predictability, stability and momentum, elements that were certainly absent during the peak of the crisis.
Through this initiative, Greece is taking risk and ambitious steps to attract talent and businesses. They’ve coughed up a super-duper generous 50% income tax holiday for seven years! This tax break is part of a broader strategy to make Greece a desirable destination for both returning expatriates and foreign talent.
“The tax breaks are there – a 50% discount on income tax for seven years.” – Kyriakos Mitsotakis
Greece’s government has taken remarkable steps to digitize public services. Their implementation is frequently ahead of other European countries, including Germany. These initiatives include several pilot programs, including one for an artificial intelligence system supported by Microsoft. This revolutionary technology has slashed government contract review times from hours down to minutes. These improvements are important because they emphasize the government’s focus on staying current and its desire to adopt a new startup mentality.
“We’re not just talking about what the startup community is doing. We are the clients of the technologies. And we want to have more of a startup mentality as a government.” – Kyriakos Mitsotakis
The government’s focus on nurturing startups while modernizing its operations indicates an understanding that technology could play a pivotal role in Greece’s economic future. To Mitsotakis, it’s no stretch for technology to make up 10% of the country’s economy—a goal that he says is within reach.
“Tech could be 10% of our economy. This is perfectly doable.” – Kyriakos Mitsotakis
Greece’s positive tide of tech goes beyond Athens, featuring dynamic new centers of innovation such as Thessaloniki and Crete, home to thriving universities and IT incubators. These advances are intended to spread economic opportunity more equally across the country and better serve the growing technology industry. The government’s approach has largely prevented Greece from facing bloated valuations. This strategy has further protected the nation from traps that have felled older ecosystems in other parts of the world.
Greece’s troubles are hardly in the rearview mirror. Fortunately, legal reforms can’t come fast enough. We have an emergency here with late-stage capital to grow our successful startups into big companies. On top of that, the challenge of simply being able to do business across the wide European market continues to be a significant hurdle.
To further strengthen its workforce, Greece launched two new programs last year to attract foreign skilled workers and immigrant entrepreneurs. Competition is stiff, in what Mitsotakis terms a “global war for talent.” It’s vital to ensure a warm welcome awaits both Greeks returning home and the diaspora and foreign professionals you hope to attract.
“This is a global war for talent. We need to make it easy for either Greek talent to return or for people who can live anywhere to choose to work here.” – Kyriakos Mitsotakis
