The Greek Business Plan

By Haris Avgoustinos. CEO of EXPO21XX | July 21, 2015

Hanover, Germany – How to achieve a Dubai like successful business story with only 30€/Month per citizen to create an 80 Billion Euro Venture Capital and Pension Fund owned by the Greek people generating an GDP increase of 40 billion Euro by starting the countries industrial revolution, creating 300.000 new Jobs and 5000 new companies. In contrast to collect merely tax money such a fund would yield a return on investment for every single Greek citizen plus higher tax income for the state.

The Greek Business Plan is intended to invest into eletromobility and renewable energy among others
© Gunnar Assmy / Fotolia.com

Greece falling GDP is mainly due to the lack of an industrial, financial and technology oriented ecosystems where national industries can cross-fertilize each other, acquire technological leadership and grow to multinationals. In addition the countries weak social security system is forcing the state to subsidize it with tax money which could be otherwise rather distributed to required public business and industry development investments.

This negative economic background could be solved through a common and national effort where every Greek citizen (depending on its income) would invest 30€/Month average or 20 billion € in 5 years a new Greek technological and risk oriented venture capital and pension fund. Let’s call it NIKKIVenture.

With the Help of the 30 billion Euro European Structural Fund by the EU and the new “Junckers Package”, 20 billion on private equity plus 10 billion from the Greek State (land and properties), NIKKIVenture would grow to an 80 billion Euro venture capital fund based on a mixed ownership model and partially owned by the Greek people. The fund would invest venture capital in new technologies, start-ups and business developments generating a new industrial and financial ecosystem with more than 5,000 new businesses and 300,000 new Jobs increasing Greece’s GDP by 40 billion and indirectly by more than 100 billion Euro leading to Greece industry and digital revolution within 5 to 10 years. On a long run, the investments which are purely venture capital will generate high returns on investment and could attract new foreign investors, considerably support Greece’s pension institution, increase tax incomes and contribute to the pay back the state’s dept.

The investments will be used in a strategic way to introduce new industries (Renewable Energy, Electromobility, smart industries and the Internet of Things) and strengthen existing ones (Tourism, Fashion, Mechanical Engineering). It will be about discovering synergies and deploying clusters of complementary businesses acquiring and deploying commonly new technologies, supporting each other, trading with each other and cross-seeding each other.

In the touristic sector NIKKIVenture could invest 8 billion € to build 100 new five star hotels and touristic villages with 100.000 Beds. To fill those beds and increase the countries touristic attraction, NIKKIVenture would provide 4 billion € venture capital for hundreds of event, sport, wellness and touristic Start-Ups to make out of Paros the world’s top sport destination (watersports, sailing, flying, running, biking…), Rhodes the world’s top wellness and beauty destination, Mikonos the world’s top summer festival destination and Crete one of the world’s top active holiday destination (golf, biking and trekking). To increase the yachting tourism, NIKKIVenture will invest 1 billion € to update the infrastructure of Greek Harbors with floating peers and yacht services to dramatically increase its yacht parking capacity. In Rhodes for example a new 30 mio € peer would increase the yacht capacity by 1000 yachts and 5 cruising ships. To support Greece’s touristic sector, NIKKIVenture would venture internet Start-Ups providing online Hotel, Event, Sports and Transportation booking, digital reality platforms and online cultural and touristic services with 500 mio. €. Finally NIKKIVenture would invest 2 billion € into worldwide touristic marketing and organize events like concerts, marathons, sailing races, water sport and air sport competitions in Greece. A single Marathon for example can attract 20.000 to 50.000 guests. A music festival can attract more than 50.000 guests. A high scale sailing race can attract highly valuable yachting and JetSet tourists. Those investments would create 75.000 new Jobs and lead to a GDP increase of 4 billion €.

In the industry and energy sector NIKKIVenture could transform the countries industrial landscape and improve the foreign trade balance by switching the domestic industry and transportation from fossil to solar energy. NIKKIVenture would invest 1 billion € to acquire one European solar manufacturer and move parts of its production to Greece and invest 12 billion € to deploy solar plants with a capacity of up to 40 Gigawatt electrical power based on solar modules made in Greece. To successfully switch to solar energy, the country will need a battery network to save and manage energy storage and delivery. This can be achieved the old fashioned way by investing large amounts of money into energy storage plants or more cleverly through a large fleet of 1 million electric vehicles working as energy storehouses when parking and plugged into the network. That way, NIKKIVenture would invest 8 billion € into the development of a Greek e-automotive (electric) and e-yachting industry with the target to produce 100,000 electric cars and boats a year. Particularly interesting is that Greece is the perfect country for electric vehicles. Due to the country’s size, big cities and small islands, Greeks don’t really need cars with more than 200km power range. Increasing taxes on gas, increasing the existing eco-zones, paying promotional fees when cars are used as energy storehouses and offering interesting car leasing models would make driving an electric car an accessible and money saving opportunity. In a 10 years’ period 20% of the Greeks 5 million vehicles could be substituted to electric power. To support the process NIKKIVenture would invest 4 billion € into the electromobility energy infrastructure (same way as Tesla does it in the USA) and venture IT and microelectronics Start-Ups developing smart grid and automotive IT solutions with 1 billion €. Those investments would create 60.000 new Jobs and lead to a GDP increase of 10 billion €.

In the high technology area NIKKIVenture would deploy a new technology cluster and venture new Start-Ups in the fields of Smart Cities, Robotics, Artificial Intelligence, smart products, cloud services and the Internet of Things with 8 billion €. It would also fund university research and connect it this new industry. Those new business and technologies will strongly be connected to all other touristic and industry investments to increase attractiveness and competitiveness of all other “made in Greece” products. To support the country’s required new digital infrastructure NIKKIVenture could as well invest into Start-Ups deploying state business IT and smart city solutions keeping part of those investments in the country. Athens and Thessaloniki could become world leading SMART cities (Internet of Things) and this new technology cluster could become a Greek Silicon Valley. Those investments would create 50.000 new Jobs, lead to a GDP increase of 5 billion € and transform the way the world sees Greece from a mainly touristic Country to a leading technology player.

In the chemical, food, furniture and textile industry, NIKKIVenture could invest 6 billion € to deploy new high quality mega brands under which small and middle size businesses works as part of a franchise model or merge into cooperatives giving them the power to establish their products on international markets and develop new technologies. Greek cosmetics manufacturers for instance could sell their products under one common Brand. Greek olive oil, cheese and wine manufacturers could concentrate under one umbrella to use common marketing, logistics and sales networks worldwide. Greek’s small businesses of the furniture and building industry could work together, to contract top designers and deploy high synergies to build new products with new technologies like electrical motion and the internet of things (developed by Greece Silicon Valley). Those investments would create 60.000 new Jobs, lead to a GDP increase of 6 billion € and transform the way the world sees Greece from no Brand country leading design location.

In a second Phase NIKKIVenture will invest further 30 billion € to support the most successful new companies under its investments and bring some of them to the stock market. The additional GDP generated by those blue chips should reach more than 20 billion €.

In the third phase NIKKIVenture could sell some of those investments and start this success story all over again.

Germany’s success story after its reunification, Dubai’s fabulous growth, Japans industrial revolution, China’s and Israel’s technological development which have all in common having been supported by heavy public business promotion and concentrated national deployment strategies are showing how fast a country can be transformed in order to acquire technological and business leadership. Within 10 year time, Greece could become a worldwide technology player with its own automotive, it and robotics industry and dramatically increase its attraction as a worldwide first class and active sports touristic destination.

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