Pireaus: An exodus in the wind Business File, September-October 2017, No. 112 Shipping As the European Commission’s Directorate-General for Competition is causing uncertainty for the Greek shipping industry with its prolonged examination of its legal framework (taxation and the regulatory framework), the prospect of relocations by shipping firms from Piraeus to new bases offering more favourable conditions can no longer be ruled out. By David Glass Greece will need to work hard if Piraeus is to retain or strengthen its [...]

Resilient ports in an age of disruptions Business File, September-October 2017, No. 112 Shipping The world is changing rapidly and disruptive forces are posing new challenges. The new reality is that ports need to adapt, shift from reactive to proactive and increase their resilience in order to resonate. Major disruptions and transitions are now impacting upon business, economies, societies and, indeed, our daily lives. We live in a digital era that is continuously becoming smarter, more autonomous and self-organising. Global connectivity [...]

Jewels in the crown Business File, September-October 2017, No. 112 Professor Gregory Nagy, director of the Centre for Hellenic Studies at Harvard University, rediscovers the “humanism of the Hellenic civilisation” and explains why the Harvard Summer Program in Greece focus on “the jewels of the crown” (Olympia, Nafplion, Thessaloniki) in order to encounter with “Hellenic πολιτισμός”. Interview By Christian J. Hadjipateras Your established career, combined with your lengthy achievements, culminated in your naming of the Francis Jones Professor of Classical [...]

Paving the way for future generations: Greek pensions as an international warning Business File, September-October 2017, No. 112  Insurance The overriding lesson the Greek pension crisis teaches us is that the economy and the pension system are not independent of each other. It was pensions that were largely responsible for pulling Greece in crisis. It is pensions that are currently preventing its exit from the crisis. In both cases the factor responsible are the features that make pensions similar to national [...]

Billions of euros to be invested in new tourism resorts around Greece Business File, September-October 2017, No. 112 Investments Tourism real estate has started to reemerge. ere are already investments of over 8 billion euros already moving ahead. 250 project plans budgeted at 900 million euros have already been submitted to the economy ministry, while a series of projects budgeted at 3.2 billion euros are in the pipeline waiting to get the green light to proceed. Tourism real estate Investors [...]

Will Athens take advantage of the new political environment in Washington? Business File, September-October 2017, No. 112 US-Greek Relations Although the new administration has made it abundantly clear that it does not want to get involved in the discussions about the Greek debt, there is room for a new chapter in bilateral relations, if there is an accurate reading of the American strategic priorities in South Europe and Eastern Mediterranean. In addressing the relations between Athens and Washington, one can [...]

Young Greek scientists: Science today for tomorrow’s world Business File, September-October 2017, No. 112 Greek Scientists Despite the brain drain, caused by the continuing economic crisis, many graduates of Greek universities are following their paths in respective research fields, at an international level. Here are three exceptional examples.  Greeks make up less than 0.2% of the global population and yet the percentage of Greek scientists in the world totals 3%. This phenomenal statistic highlights the disproportionately large contribution a small country [...]

The Morava-Axios Canal Business File, September-October 2017, No. 112 World Trade Thessaloniki will be upgraded to a junction centre of world trade between Asia and Western Europe with Chinese support. The connection of the Black Sea with the Mediterranean Sea through a canal linking the Danube with the Axios/Vardar River has been a dream of several decades which will soon take o . Despite the keen interest of Serbia, the huge economic cost and construction problems involved were factors impeding [...]