The Globe and Mail reports in its Wednesday, March 20, edition that Toronto's Fairfax Financial Holdings bet heavily on the Greek turnaround and became one of the biggest foreign investors in the country. The Globe's Eric Reguly writes that Fairfax's holdings include 32 per cent of Eurobank, one of Greece's largest lenders. In an interview Tuesday, Fairfax's chairman and chief executive officer, Prem Watsa, called Greece "the best country in Europe for investments."
The Greek economy is expected to grow by 2.3 per cent this year, up from 2.2 per cent in 2023, the European Commission said in its winter statement. Still, the country's economy is almost 20 per cent smaller than it was before the financial crisis, and needs additional reforms to make it more competitive.
Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis said he hopes to make Greece, which already has one the Mediterranean's biggest container ports, a logistics hub with a supply chain that extends to India. He recently visited India, where he and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi discussed what they called the India-Middle East-Europe Corridor. Mr. Mitsotakis says, "Greece is a natural entry point for trade from India, or European trade to India."
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