Productivity Reviews: Proposals for increasing the productivity and competitiveness of the Greek economy

Institutional reforms in the public sector and markets, incentives to encourage private investment in high-tech and export-oriented sectors, public investment in high-value-added sectors, improving business financing, education and skills development policies, and promoting mergers and partnerships , are some of the policies to enhance the productivity and competitiveness of the economy, which were proposed by the social partners and stakeholders, include, in the context of the first public consultation process conducted by the National Productivity Council of Greece and the publication of the first issues of Productivity Reviews.

This process is mainly aimed at collecting the opinions of social partners and stakeholders through questionnaires, analyzing them and disseminating them on issues concerning the productivity and competitiveness of the Greek economy. In doing so, it seeks to raise public awareness of these issues in order to achieve sufficient social consensus for appropriate policy initiatives. At the same time, a better coordination of policies is sought, taking into account the main economic and social challenges, such as the climate crisis, technological progress and the aging of the population.

The areas of consultation

The consultation covers key areas of economic activity to promote sustainable development, the twin (digital and green) transition of the Greek economy, and the role of education and skills. The findings demonstrate the significant diversity of perceptions and the complexity of policy options that could be considered appropriate to address important problems concerning the productivity and competitiveness of our country.

Regarding the views on the main sectors of the Greek economy, the findings show that a combination of short-term and long-term policies, such as increasing public spending, and boosting productivity in the secondary sector and promoting exports, could help boost of the Greek economy. In addition to supporting important key sectors such as various manufacturing industrial activities and warehousing and transport services, reducing dependence on imports could promote more sustainable and resilient growth and reduce unemployment. However, it is worth noting that the social partners and other stakeholders use different criteria for the selection of key sectors and do not sufficiently take into account the high import dependence of most sectors belonging to the secondary and primary sectors.

Green transition

Regarding the topic of the green transition, among others, the stakeholders raised the question of a just transition, while the most important proposed policies concern renewable energy sources and the circular economy, as well as recycling.

Regarding education, skills and labor market issues, more than half of stakeholder responses focused on how educational outcomes and labor market performance can be improved through

i) lifelong learning,

ii) reforms in higher education,

iii) the development of digital skills,

iv) the interface between education and training and the needs of the labor market and

v) reforms in secondary education.