Landis+Gyr: How record-breaking licensing times brought a major industrial investment in Greece

When Landis+Gyr’s investment was announced last week, and with a personal involvement of the Greek PM, Kyriakos Mitsotakis, many wondered if such an agreement could be reached in the midst of the coronavirus crisis.

In fact, according to information of ypodomes.com, the preparation of this investment had already started quietly since the beginning of the year, when the Ministry for Growth and Investments became aware of the Swiss giant’s initial interest.

The reason was the search for a new factory in Europe. The final choice was reportedly between Romania and Greece.

The Greek State expressed its enthusiasm from the first day it was notified with the challenge being the very narrow timeframe that had been requested and for the licensing procedure within just two months, when admittedly, it takes about 1.5 years to go through the rambling greek bureaucracy.

The mission was jointly undertaken by the Secretary General of Strategic Investments and PPPs, Mr. Nikos Mantzoufas, and the Secretary General of Spatial Planning and Urban Environment, Mr. Efthymis Bakogiannis, representing the Ministries for Growth and Investments & Environment and Energy, respectively.

Licensing in record-breaking time

The result was to complete in a record-breaking time, just 45 days, the licensing, followed by a notification to the potential investors that secured the choice of Greece.

Landis+Gyr’s investment concerns a construction of a factory unit in Corinth and the creation of 170 new jobs by the company, which is the world’s leading supplier of integrated energy management solutions, in terms of ‘smart’ meters and ‘smart’ infrastructure in general.

This success marks two points: that Greece can be a destination for large-scale investments as well as a place for high-level industrial production.

Now, the big goal is to send the message to the global investment community in order for other companies to be encouraged to develop industrial units in Greece.

Their ally in this is the highly qualified staff of the country and the abundance in scientists and graduates.

Equally helpful is the fact that the country now has a network of modern infrastructure such as motorways and connections to ports and airports for the transport of products worldwide. T

he country has recently acquired a double-track electrified railway line that can quickly carry industrial products to major markets of Central and Eastern Europe, with a comparative advantage over its geographical location.