The Greek government's "main goal remains high growth that will far exceed the European average," noted Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis at the Hellenic Federation of Enterprises (SEV) general assembly meeting on Tuesday evening.
The premier participated in a moderated discusssion with SEV Chairman Dimitris Papalexopoulos.
Apart from the strictly fiscal characteristics of growth, which are determined by official statistics released by the Hellenic Statistical Agency and the European Commission, noted the premier, "growth must generate quality jobs, a growth leading to the convergence of Greek wages with European ones, a type of growth that will pay great emphasis to the idea of sustainability and of green transition."
On top of all this, Mitsotakis noted, even greater emphasis should be paid on resilience against the challenges of climate change, while "growth cannot turn a blind eye on the colossal changes in the world of artificial intelligence, and the next phase of digital upscaling, which changes everything in how we understand our relationship with technology."
Referring to the issue of energy, Mitsotakis stressed that more photovoltaic and wind farms are needed, underlining however that these technologies alone will not suffice if Greece does not address the issue of energy storage. Still, "Greece can become an energy exporter within the next five years," he said.
Regarding the state's efficiency and operations, Mitsotakis said that the fact that civil servants' salaries are increasing - not across the board - and in combination with the evaluation of civil servants' work is a radical shift in the public sector.
Concerning the judicial system and its slow process, the PM said, "We have lot of work to do, as it is a central reform axis for the next four years."