Investing in Greece

For people believing that “the worst is behind us”, Greece is at the moment the ideal place to invest and expect high rates of return.
In more detail, in comparison to other advanced European economies, real estate prices (including rents) and labor costs in Greece are extremely low. Moreover, the country’s workforce is of a very high quality and consists of a large pool of young people who have studied at top-class universities both in Greece and abroad. It must be also noted that among the southern European countries, Greece and Cyprus are by far the countries with the highest rate of English-speaking citizens, a fact that allows the formation of international partnerships or the foundation of foreign affiliates. Lastly, EU subsidies are available and can facilitate the execution of business projects.
On the downside, Greece is still suffering from time-consuming bureaucratic procedures and unfortunately lacks land zoning. These factors are very often responsible for preventing the implementation of large scale investments. Other factors portrayed as hostile to international (and national) investment are the following:

• court cases (mainly administrative) often need a long period of time before they are finalized,
• the tax system is complex and tax rates have not been stable through the years
• the country’s negative fiscal history.

Nevertheless, current events such as the implementation of numerous structural reforms and the achievement of a primary fiscal surplus (that is projected to be pertained for many years to come), generate the belief that the effects of the above negative factors will be overturned or at least decreased. Moreover, Nafplio courts issue decisions in a much shorter period of time in comparison to Athens Courts of Justice.