Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis visited the new plant of the Greek pharmaceuticals manufacturer ELPEN on Saturday, located in the east Attica region of Keratea.

Evident in this project, noted the premier, is "the culmination of an effort that started in 2019, when, immediately after assuming the responsibility of governing the country, we met with the representatives of the Greek pharmaceuticals industry and discussed the possibility of using part of the co-called 'clawback' business principle as an investment incentive, to encourage significant investments to be made by the Greek pharmaceuticals industry."

Mitsotakis added that he has also visited such facilities in the city of Tripoli that are currently being built.

"When I see the overall footprint of this effort," he noted, "I find with great joy that we can - the public and private sectors, if we align incentives correctly - achieve what is the central goal of our economic policy, which is none other than attracting significant investments, in this case from Greek companies, which will create added value and at the same time create many well-paid jobs".

Greece "exports about 10% of the generic medicines consumed in Europe as a whole, and you realize that in a post-pandemic era - where issues of strategic autonomy are strongly coming back to the forefront - the possibility of being able to at least cover the European market without being dependent on other countries becomes crucial."

In discussions at the European Council, Mitsotakis pointed out, "we are generally concerned with the question of the European industry's competitiveness. Explaining, he noted that this relates to "how will we deal with, on the one hand, with the US, which follows a deeply protectionist policy, and on the other, with countries in the Far East, which do not have issues of state aid," stressing that "Europe must also carve out its own strategic autonomy in terms of the competitiveness of its industry."

The new 10,000 sq. m. factory features two production units and focuses on inhalable and solid-form medicines. It employs 120 workers, who are expected to reach 200 by March 2024 while the aim is to create 800 new jobs of which 30% concern highly skilled positions.

The Greek pharmaceuticals industry "has an important role to play," Mitsotakis pointed out, as Greece has "a very important domestic infrastructure, with know-how, with the possibility of innovation, but also because we have the possibility to attract to our country important people from abroad, who can come to Greece and do what they did successfully elsewhere, mainly in the US."

Many people who are currently active in the pharmaceuticals industry and in biotechnology in the US are either Greek or of Greek origin, Mitsotakis underlined, therefore "the presence of the Greek element is really impressive."

After ELPEN, Mitsotakis visited the central square at Keratea, where he chatted with people and local shop owners.