Monday, March 11, 2013

138 European Companies Visiting Greece!

"To support SMEs and the restart of the real economy in Greece, European Commission Vice President Antonio Tajani travels today with Daniel Calleja Crespo, Director-General of DG Enterprise and SME Envoy to Athens, accompanied by representatives of more than 138 European companies. The EU companies will meet and talk with 413 Greek SME owners and managers about collaborations and trade partnerships, investment, and joint undertakings."

More here.

3 comments:

  1. These are good news, the interaction and the
    exchange of experiences in business level is something which will bring opportunities.
    Mr Horst Reichenbach is a very practical executive, he studied mathematics.in positions of responsibility Ι wish we would have less politicians in in positions of responsibility.

    MS

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  2. Excellent news, just did a quick look around the Greek media for any comment on this - nothing, nada, nyet - does not accord with their agendas.

    And in my opinion this yet more good news Chinese products bear ‘Made in Greece’ tag, avoid high levies

    That article mentions Lenovo (one of the COSCO/TRAINOSE candidates) in - Another, albeit rather expensive, solution is the acquisition of European brands. The buyout of an IBM unit by China’s Lenovo is a case in point.

    IBM is not and never has been a European brand - its a US icon, listed on the NYSE in 1915, first included in the DJIA in 1979! IBM does have some important operations in Europe such as the research centres in the UK and Switzerland - they are still there and still 100% IBM.

    Lenovo was already manufacturing IBM's personal computers in 2005. What it bought for $1.25B were the brands (Thinkpad etc), manufacturing licences, global distribution & marketing, patents, a research facility in Raleigh NC, and $500M of IBM's debt, IBM also got a 19% stake in Lenovo. The buyout was funded by TPG and General Atlantic (US PE firms), they've since sold their Lenovo stock on the HK exchange, as has IBM, all at a good profit, I would think.

    Lenovo's 12 person executive team comprises two Americans, one Dutchman, one Italian, one Australian (2ic), and seven Chinese (one from HK).

    The eKathimerini item also has this "They [the Asians] therefore bring the parts in, assemble them, and then export the finished products to other European countries labeled “Made” or “Assembled in the EU...”.

    I can supply a list of European & American companies that were already doing precisely that as long ago as the 1950's and earlier. How did VW get started in Brazil & Mexico - by sending 'knocked down' Beetles in wooden boxes and assembling them there.

    Today Brazil and Mexico have full function VW manufacturing plants, they ship Made in Brazil/Mexico components back to Wolfsburg that go into Made in Germany VeeDubs, along with the Made in Slovakia parts.

    I would make Logistics and Supply Chain Management a compulsory subject in all high school curricula - its fundamental to understanding how the world works today, which is more or less how its always worked.

    If Lenovo started manufacturing in Greece that would be fantastic - who knows in 20-30 years we might see chip foundries in Larissa and motherboard makers in Kalamata.

    CK

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  3. PM eyes corporate tax of 15 pct

    Opening the Europe 2020 conference organized by the government and the European Commission in Athens, the Prime Minister Samaras said that the hardship Greece is going through actually favors the development of enterprises, stressing that entrepreneurship is the way out of the crisis.

    CK «smile, smile, smile»


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