The 49th Regular General Assembly of the Hellenic Association of Exporters (SEVE), the largest nationwide organization focusing exclusively on international business, took place yesterday, May 20, 2024. SEVE represents over 800 companies and business groups across Greece, with a total turnover of 40 billion euros, 70,000 employees, and 25 billion euros in exports, which account for over 50% of Greek goods exports. These figures do not include the indirect members of associations who are SEVE members as organizations throughout Greece. The Open Session of the SEVE General Assembly was attended by the Prime Minister, Mr. Kyriakos Mitsotakis, as the main speaker, while greetings were addressed by the Regional Governor of Central Macedonia, Mr. Apostolos Tzitzikostas, and the Mayor of Thessaloniki, Mr. Stelios Angeloudis. Among other important guests, the event was honored by the Vice President of the European Commission, Mr. Margaritis Schinas.
The Closed Session (for SEVE members only), chaired by Mr. Dimitrios Lakasas, CEO of Olympia Electronics and President of the General Assembly, preceded the Open Session, during which SEVE’s activities for the period June 2023-May 2024 were presented.
Ms. Maira Myrogianni, Secretary-General for International Economic Relations and Extroversion and President of the Board of Directors of Enterprise Greece, addressed the gathering, praising the excellent cooperation with SEVE and particularly with President Mr. Symeon Diamantidis and Executive Vice President Mr. Panagiotis Hasapis. She highlighted the importance of SEVE’s work for the benefit of entrepreneurship and the economy and emphasized significant joint actions of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Enterprise Greece with SEVE, which are particularly important for Greek businesses. She specifically mentioned initiatives to connect academia with the business community, ensuring specialized personnel meet market needs, as well as co-organizing seminars to inform Greek companies about the services provided by the Economic and Commercial Affairs Offices (ECAs) of Diplomatic Missions, enabling them to have greater and more direct access to reliable information on international markets. In this common effort, where Greece is transforming into a triptych of green economy – digital transition – innovation, Northern Greece can play a significant role in international trade as an energy hub and logistics center. She emphasized that a favorable environment for Greek outward-looking businesses has been created at multiple levels, such as the upgrading of the country’s international image, political and fiscal stability, and the recovery of the investment grade. The Secretary-General supported that despite unprecedented consecutive international challenges, Greek export companies have shown exceptional resilience over the past two years, with record performances of Greek exports.
The Prime Minister, Mr. Kyriakos Mitsotakis, in his speech mentioned that ‘between 2020-2023, the economy in our country grew by 5.3%, while in the European Union growth was only 2.3%. It’s a positive trend that will continue in 2024, 2025, and 2026, with exports constantly increasing their share in this developmental momentum, as progress in your sector is greater than the general increase in the national product.’ He also stated that ‘the role of Greek exporting companies will become increasingly crucial in our effort by 2030 to fully reposition and diversify the productive profile of our country.’ Furthermore, he referred to the critical role of investments with a rise of 9% this year and a forecast of 14% in 2025. He then emphasized the importance of actions by SEVE to inform Vocational Lyceums about the new skills required by today’s job market, as well as to map export activity by the Institute of Export Research and Studies (IERS) of SEVE, which ‘provides us with valuable data annually,’ as he said. Additionally, he highlighted SEVE efforts for European registration of the Collective Mark ‘Macedonia the GReat,’ stating that ‘our diplomatic response must be accompanied by a commercial counterattack, with the authenticity and quality of Macedonia’s products and services being in your hands to achieve it together.’ He further mentioned the progress of implementing the Thess INTEC Innovation Center and the importance of investment in research and innovation, as well as the progress in implementing major projects in Thessaloniki such as the extension of the Metro to the west and northwest, the circulation of electric buses, the ‘Flyover,’ the Thessaloniki International Fair project, and the creation of green spaces and cultural venues. Finally, he referred to digital transition, investments in infrastructure to access funding from the Recovery Fund and from ESPA directed towards the business world, as well as the next major challenge, ‘European common defense,’ as he said.
The 49th General Assembly finds SEVE at a very high level as the largest, most dynamic, and continuously reinforced entity with new members of nationwide extroversion and with a competent Board of Directors that will continue the significant work achieved in the last two years on matters of extroversion and international competitiveness, as well as in new areas such as employment and linking the labor market with education.
We warmly thank our sponsors for their support at the 49th Ordinary General Assembly of SEVE!
The sponsors of the 49th General Assembly of SEVE were as follows:
Gold sponsors: DIOPAS SA, AEGEAN, KONSTANTOPOULOS SA – OLYMP, Silver sponsors: ALUMIL ALUMINIUM INDUSTRY SA, KLEEMANN, MAKVEL, ISOMAT SA, HELLENiQ ENERGY, KTIMA GEROVASSILLIOU SA, AGRIFREDA SA, ELLAGROLIP SA, EXPOSYSTEM SA, Bronze sponsors: PALAPLAST SA, AKRITAS SA, VOULIS CHEMICALS, KOLIOS GROUP SA, TITAN CEMENT COMPANY SA, SIDENOR STEEL PRODUCTS MANUFACTURING COMPANY SA, EUROCONSULTANTS SA, ThPA S.A. – PORT OF THESSALONIKI, MYTILENAIOS SA, ELVIAL SA, MENEXOPOULOS BROS SA, AGGELAKAKIS ATHANASIOS & Co LP, ZIA INSURANCE, ETVA INDUSTRIAL AREAS SA, HB BODY SA, SOL Crowe, HELLENIC AQUACULTURE PRODUCERS ORGANIZATION (HAPO), VENMAN SA, TRIARIDIS GROUP, ARKAS LOGISTICS, Standard sponsors: OLYMPIA ELECTRONICS SA, HELLENIC FINE OILS SA , SUPERALLOYS ENGINEERING, ATLANTIS ENGINEERING, ZKP CONSULTANTS, GRECIAN MAGNESITE SA, LEX LEGAL SERVICES, MEGAGENCY SA INSURANCE CONSULTANTS, ICAP CRIF, VOYAGER TRAVEL & CONGRESS, Media sponsors: Athens-Macedonian News Agency, ERT3, Naftemporiki, Banks.com.gr, Voria.gr, GRTIMES, Macedonia Newspaper, makthes.gr
