A forum to tackle long-standing industrial sector issues, as has been pledged by Deputy Industry Minister Theodora Tzakri, is being assembled with the aim of providing proposals for solutions by the end of February.

The forum will need to act fast and offer solutions to industrial sector concerns overlooked by the Greek state for years. It has not delivered a national industrial strategy, a coherent policy, failed to offer investment incentives, maintained high energy costs and a frightening level of bureaucracy, all of which has significantly contributed to the country’s gradual deindustrialization.

The consequences of all these factors are clearly evident in official data provided by the national statistical service, which has shown a steady decline in the country’s industrial activity.

Seeking to stop this slide will not be easy but is not impossible either. The forum, to include the participation of industrial representatives, state officials, and banks, comes as a promising step for the establishment of a specific industrial policy and strategy.

The forum’s task force will be sub-divided into six technical teams. These will prioritize local industry with the aim of determining sectors capable of offering steady employment and coping with international competition, explore the prospects of industrial innovation, reinforcement of smaller production facilities, and energy savings, look into financing tools and investment attraction, and analyze overall entrepreneurial conditions.