“A Time for Responsibility, Decisions, and Action”

22nd Annual Economic Conference
December 14, 2011
Hotel Athenaeum Intercontinental 

(as prepared)

Distinguished Guests,
Ladies and Gentlemen,
I would like to thank the President
of the American-Hellenic Chamber of Commerce,
Mr. Yanos Gramatidis,
for inviting me
to be here with you today. 

It is an honor for me to participate in this annual conference with members of the Chamber and the many distinguished guests from business, academia, and government.

It has been an eventful year since we last met. 

Much has changed in the past twelve months; but despite the painful sacrifices the Greek people have made, Greece’s economy is still in recession.

Unemployment is still high. 

And investment is still low. 

As Secretary Clinton and Vice President Biden made clear during their visits this year to Athens, the United States supports  the Government of Greece  in its reform efforts. 

We recognize how difficult reform is, but we also believe it holds out the promise of a brighter and more prosperous future.  To return to growth in the future, Greece needs to lay the foundation now for sustainable
private sector-led enterprise that is based on productivity and competitiveness.

I know the potential is here. 

In my time here in Greece, I have seen an eagerness on the part of many young Greeks to embrace a shift in how the economy functions. 

This readiness was most evident to me in the response to a conference
in October on entrepreneurship that our Embassy in Athens co-sponsored with Young Leaders Hellas, the Niarchos Foundation, and the General Secretariat for Youth.  Over 400 young people attended the event, which featured an inspiring keynote speech by a 22-year old American entrepreneur from Silicon Valley as well as a number of workshops offering practical advice for aspiring entrepreneurs. 

In addition, a dynamic group of women entrepreneurs from Athens and Thessaloniki have reacted with similar enthusiasm to their opportunity to participate in the “Invest for the Future” project that Secretary Clinton initiated. 

That group of women is spearheading an initiative to mentor young Greek women about entrepreneurship.

These efforts to inspire a new generation of entrepreneurs, along with the critical education reforms that the Greek Government is implementing, will hopefully better enable Greece to take fuller advantage of its most valuable resource – its tremendous human capital. 

Given the opportunity, we know what Greeks can achieve.  No one who has ever been involved with the Greek community in the United States
would doubt the tremendous potential or the determination of Greeks to achieve great success in any field.

Greece has other comparative advantages as well. 

Shipping and tourism are the two most obvious, but there are many others. 

Greece’s plentiful sunshine and wind make it ideal for alternative energy
and renewable energy companies. 

Its strategic location makes it an ideal location to serve as a hub between the energy resources to Greece’s east and the markets to its west.  Information and communication technology, safety and security,
and waste management are all sectors ripe for development. 

And now, as never before, Greece’s international partners are prepared to assist in the development of the country’s comparative advantage. 

The EU funds available to Greece are a source of liquidity that can help re-energize investment, promote growth, and -- crucially -- create jobs. 

As is always the case in times of challenge and opportunity, leadership will be crucial. 

The current Government of Greece, which brings together the two major factions, provides an excellent opportunity to make the structural reforms needed to move the country forward. 

And you in this room are in positions that allow you to support, encourage, and guide the efforts of the government to make the changes that Greece needs to thrive. 

The easiest way to unleash the potential of Greece’s resources, including the potential of its population, is to remove the entrenched obstacles to their full development. 

That means removing the obstacles to productivity, efficiency, and competitiveness that you all know so well.

Rigid regulations that protect special interests are one of the biggest impediments. 

Preventing new economic actors from entering the market and keeping markets skewed in favor of entrenched interests essentially eliminates competition, without which there is no incentive for efficiency or increased productivity. 

Complex and inefficient bureaucracy compounds the difficulties and stifles growth, from the start-up business that cannot get the operating licenses it needs, to the older, well-established business that cannot get permission to expand and diversify. 

Paralyzing and often contradictory regulations and inconsistent enforcement has too often in the past caused many potential investors to shy away from Greece.  

And lack of transparency has also discouraged potential investors from taking a chance in a market they cannot fully comprehend and predict.
Changing the Greek economy is possible.  It will not be easy, nor will it be quick.  

But I can cite a recent example of successful change as cause for optimism:  the government’s recent decision to proceed with the elimination of all restrictions on cabotage, enthusiastically welcomed by the cruise line industry, which has long recognized the potential in the Greek market and has been pressing for exactly this kind of far-reaching reform for years.  Piraeus is the third most frequently visited port on the Mediterranean cruise circuit, and the lifting of cabotage restrictions
together with other measures to facilitate this trade can allow Greece to become a hub for European and international cruise lines. 

These reforms have started to bear fruit.

One American cruise line already has committed to home berth its vessels in Piraeus.

We know these are challenging times. 

But I want to stress again that this is also a moment of opportunity
for Greece.  It is an opportunity to rebuild the economy on the solid ground of productivity, innovation, merit, and competitiveness. 

It is an opportunity to modernize Greece’s way of doing business – to ensure that everyone has a fair chance at success and everyone pays their fair share. 

It is an opportunity to create a sustainable future for Greece’s next generation, who will examine what the current generation did while in power and judge, for better or worse, this generation’s actions at a critical moment in Greece’s history.

In the midst of these challenges, we should never forget that this country has faced and overcome greater challenges in the past. 

This past October, a group of prominent Greek Americans launched the first Oxi Day Celebration in Washington to honor the courage and sacrifice of Greeks in the Second World War. 

That inspiring event served to remind all Americans that Greeks have always been and will always be a heroic people. 

Thank you very much.