Greece is strategically located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Situated on the southern tip of the Balkan peninsula, it shares land borders with Albania, the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Bulgaria and Turkey. Greece consists of nine geographic regions: Macedonia, Central Greece, the Peloponnese, Thessaly, Epirus, the Aegean Islands (including the Dodecanese and Cyclades), Thrace, Crete, and the Ionian Islands. Greece has the longest coastline on the Mediterranean Basin and the 11th longest coastline in the world, featuring a vast number of islands, of which 227 are inhabited. Greece is also known for its mountains the most famous of them is Mount Olympus, home to the Gods according to the Greek mythology.
Thessaloniki was founded on the 4th century B.C. Today is the second largest city in the country and the most important centre in the area. It holds the title of the co-capital of Greece, the only city in the world that holds that title. Built by the sea, the Thermaikos Gulf, where one of the most important ports of the country, as it serves commercial trades between the Mediterranean and the Balkan, is located.
Characteristics described higher up and many more make Greece and especially Thessaloniki an ideal strategic investment destination.
The PM of Greece announced together with the CEO of Microsoft a massive new investment plan ($1, 17 billion) that the US company will execute. Microsoft intends to build new data centers which will establish a Microsoft Cloud region in the country, adding Greece to the world’s largest cloud infrastructure footprint and delivering access to low-latency, enterprise-grade cloud services. Microsoft also announced its plan to give digital technologies skills to approximately 100,000 people in Greece by 2025.
Amazon impressed by the entrepreneurial environment in Greece announced that is going to open Its Amazon Web Services office after already operating a CloudFront location.
Pfizer already launched its Global Center for Digital Innovation in Thessaloniki and planning to invest more than 100 million euro’s in the second hub in the city and hire more than 300 professionals by the end of this year.
In 2018, Deloitte launched in Thessaloniki, Deloitte Alexander Competence Center (DACC) S.A., a hub for the development of its next generation services and talent. DACC was setup as a competence / excellence center to capitalize on the abundant of talent of Thessaloniki and to serve the growing needs for skilled resources of Deloitte.
It’s been less than a year since Cisco opened its International Digital Transformation and Digital Skills center in Thessaloniki, making the city a part of a club of only 15 metropolises around the world that accommodate similar Cisco centers.
Thessaloniki incorporates in its everyday entrepreneurial life many success business stories and start up stories. Businesses that had started in Thessaloniki and they’ve been known for their products and services, operate around the globe. Chimar is responsible for the creation of technology that is used by 10%+ global wood panel production businesses, Schoox, world leader on learning management systems, Kleeman, one of the largest lift companies, β Beta CAE systems, responsible for the No1 state of the art computer aided engineering software in the world, Veltio, the largest integrator of Oracle Retail Planning and Optimization worldwide, Alumil, Apifon, Exothermia, are among those businesses to name a few. Instashop, a start up that is located in Thessaloniki is the biggest buyout deal that ever occurred nationwide.
Not to mention that Thessaloniki is going to host the filming of the latest Antonio Banderas action thriller. The city is going to become a huge movie set in the following days.
With the addition of the Thessaloniki metro, the renovation of the TIF Helexpo exhibition center and the expansion of the port, rail and transportation networks that will enhance its position at logistics hub, the dynamic and cultural city of Thessaloniki is forging an identity of its own, showing the rest of the world that it is second to none! Need to say more?
For further information, click on the links below:
- https://www.reuters.com/article/greece-microsoft-int-idUSKBN26Q15N
- https://www.in.gr/2021/05/19/english-edition/pfizer-100-million-investment-second-hub-thessaloniki/
- https://greekcitytimes.com/2021/06/06/pfizer-thessaliniki-digital-strategy/
- https://foreignpolicy.com/sponsored/thessaloniki-the-vibrant-and-bustling-city-greece/
- http://iasfm.org/iasfm17/welcome/
- http://www.investinthessaloniki.com/
- http://www.investinthessaloniki.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/Presentation.pdf
- http://www.investinthessaloniki.com/#successtories
- https://techsaloniki.gr/2021/05/deloitte-alexandercompetencecenter-make-an-impact-that-matters
- https://www.ekathimerini.com/opinion/257122/an-investment-in-greece-s-high-tech-future/
- https://eacea.ec.europa.eu/national-policies/eurydice/content/political-social-and-economic-background-and-trends-33_en
- https://greekreporter.com/2021/03/01/impressed-by-greece-amazon-expands-further-in-athens/
- https://www.eliamep.gr/en/publication/%CE%B7-%CE%B5%CE%BB%CE%BB%CE%AC%CE%B4%CE%B1-%CF%89%CF%82-%CE%B1%CE%BD%CE%B5%CF%81%CF%87%CF%8C%CE%BC%CE%B5%CE%BD%CE%B7-%CE%B4%CE%B9%CE%B1%CE%BC%CE%B5%CF%83%CE%BF%CE%B3%CE%B5%CE%B9%CE%B1%CE%BA%CE%AE/
- https://www.ekathimerini.com/news/1162944/thessaloniki-plays-role-of-miami-in-banderas-film/