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THE NEW GOVERNMENT’S ASPIRATIONS FOR THESSALONIKI AND NORTHERN GREECE:
FING’S PROPOSALS FOR DEVELOPMENT
The Federation of Industries of Northern Greece (FING), as the main
representative of the industrial world of Northern Greece, believes that
the main goal for the new government is to place the various regions of
the country in the spotlight, through actively supporting regional
development and convergence of Regions, with emphasis placed on boosting
Northern Greece area. At the same time, Thessaloniki must be directly
and practically promoted as the country’s second pole of development.
For us, in FING, the main axes on which the development of the country
must rest in the coming years are the following:
Á] Industry must motivate development in the regions of Greece and
particularly in Northern Greece:
Faced with the pressure of international competition that has emerged in
recent years, Greek manufacturing is at the stage of adapting to the
reality of globalization.
Our proposals are the following:
1. Exercise of sector industrial policy.
2. A framework for the market operation that is more favourable for
business, more stable and less bureaucratic.
3. Creation of a framework for supporting enterprises’ innovative
activities.
4. Reinforcement of internationalization and extroversion of industry.
5. Improvement of all kinds of infrastructures that serve enterprises.
Â] Higher education must meet the needs of the new economy:
The perpetuation of incongruity between University curricula and the
labour market needs creates structural unemployment and activates
anachronistic reflexes in citizens, who place pressure on the political
system to create jobs in the public sector. As this situation undermines
the future of the country in the long run, we propose the following:
1. Establishment of drafting an annual or biannual action plan for the
country’s Universities, which will include measurable goals and will
place emphasis on the development of research activities.
2. Establishment of University reviews.
3. Connection of Universities with the market, through the creation of a
suitable institutional framework for the joint implementation of
research programmes with private enterprises.
4. Correlation of University curricula to the needs of the labour
market.
C] Decentralization of public administration services, aiming at
supporting regional development:
Currently, a hierarchical bureaucracy remains in force, impeding
development and particularly regional development. In order to
rationalize the public administration system, we propose the following:
1. Implementation of a clear regional development policy, which will
include decentralization of the powers of central government.
2. Decentralised planning of developmental policies instead of
centralized.
3. Creation of public service branches directly connected with the
operation of enterprises at regional level.
4. Initiation of public dialogue on the evolution of the country’s
current administrative model into a new one where the central
government’s competencies and powers will be transferred at the local
level.
D] The positioning of Thessaloniki in international markets:
The government’s declaration for Thessaloniki to evolve into a “City of
Innovation”, which took place three years ago, has only been realized in
part, since delays in making the relevant decisions has created a
climate of pessimism in local authorities and a feeling of stagnancy in
regard to decisions concerning the future of the city.
Therefore, we propose the following:
1. Acceleration of processes for implementing the “Thessaloniki
Innovation Zone” and grant of special incentives for the establishment
of new economy enterprises within its limits.
2. Provision of a time schedule for the creation of a logistics services
zone within Thessaloniki Port.
3. Creation of a new exhibition centre of modern specifications that
will once again place the City of Thessaloniki in the regional
exhibition market of Balkan countries.
4. Placing emphasis on the creation of Pan-European Axes X, IX and IV
within the framework of the current international transport policy.
Previous President's Messages
Zero profits for processing industries in Northern Greece in 2010, with one in three businesses reporting losses
Only daring decisions will take the country out of this impasse
The Federation’s Proposals for development
The need to take measures to immediately bolster the economy and improve business competitiveness
A new year – new expectations for growth and development
Developmental measures to offset unemployment benefits with job subsidies
Enhancing "Greek Value" by resolving problems that drag on
Greece’s rise in the IMD World Competitiveness Yearbook ranking is encouraging news amidst the crisis
The Federation of Industries of Northern Greece making a decisive contribution to manufacturing strategy up to 2020
The government's immediate priorities in 2010 to develop the infrastructure in Thessaloniki and boost the competitiveness of manufacturing enterprises
Expectations from the new government: the manufacturing sector should be the new government’s focus
Industry should be among the Government’s policy priorities
Industry centre stage again
Proposals for avoiding the financial crisis
Bold decision-making for avoiding the financial crisis
Prospects for growth in Northern Greece in an environment of international crisis
Investment Law and Northern Greece
The market of izmir: the next goal for outward-looking enterprises of
northern greece
The
new government’s aspirations for thessaloniki and northern greece:
fing’s proposals for development
Thessaloniki and Northern Greece in International Markets
Regional
development policy as an engine for local industrial development
Global
orientation, productivity and realistic management of the National
Strategic Development Plan (NSDP). The challenges for 2007
Investment Law and Northern Greece
The new
legislative framework for research and technology in Greece: a
government nod of approval for the proposals made by the Federation of
Industries of Northern Greece (FING)
Thessaloniki has the potential to become the second pole of development
for Greece and the headquarters for development organizations nationwide
Changing
attitudes to combat unemployment – Proposals for creating closer links
between education and production
Support
for the Regions: From now on, policy actions and not just policy
announcements
The
business community – a force for social cohesion in Northern Greece
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