Joint Press Release by the Ministries of Finance and Digital Governance
The Ministry of National Economy and Finance and the Ministry of Digital Governance have announced a budget increase for the programme “Development of Digital Products and Services”, from €100,000,000 to €145,000,000. The purpose is to cover all approved investment projects, amounting to 368 after the completion of the evaluation process.
The “Development of Digital Products and Services” Programme is part of the Operation “Digital Transformation of SMEs”, which is implemented by the Ministry of Digital Governance and Information Society S.A., in the framework of the National Recovery and Resilience Plan “Greece 2.0”, funded by the European Union-NextGenerationEU.
It is worth noting that the great appeal this specific programme had on the SME technology market, combined with the high-quality investment plans that were submitted, demonstrates its solid design and its adaptability to the real needs of the market.
This particular Programme helps strengthen the investment projects of SMEs for the development of new products and services in the ICT sector, with the aim to:
- Strengthen healthy entrepreneurship through the appropriate utilisation of ICT;
- Strengthen the IT sector, in terms of competitiveness and extroversion;
- Create new, added-value digital products and services with strong commercial potential and sustainability
Dimitris Papastergiou, Minister of Digital Governance, stated: “Strengthening the digital maturity of small and medium-sized enterprises that are active in a wide range of economic sectors has added value in boosting entrepreneurship, as these are the backbone of our economy. For this reason, having a well-designed programme by Information Society in our hands, in conjunction with the real market needs and by identifying the impact it had in the specific sector, we worked to increase the budget so as to cover all the investment projects that arose from the evaluation process.”
Mr Nikos Papathanasis, Deputy Minister of National Economy and Finance, highlighted: “The Recovery Fund helps us support SMEs in the ICT sector, so that they can develop new digital products and services that will be sustainable and competitive in the Greek and international market. In general, in the Recovery and Resilience Fund, out of the 536 investment projects that have been submitted, 320 projects – with a budget of €4.76 billion – concern SMEs, as is also the case with 113 of the 240 contracted loans – with a budget of €1.33 billion.
In any case, the Government’s priority is to increase financing and promote the wider development of SMEs. This is evidenced, among other things, by more than 44,000 new loans to SMEs granted by the Hellenic Development Bank, the calls for the establishment and support of new SMEs in the regions of Western Macedonia and Megalopolis – with a budget of €20 million – and for the support of existing SMEs – with a budget of €30 million – in the same regions, the new actions to support the establishment and operation of new SMEs throughout the country – with a budget of €190 million – and the support of the establishment and operation of new SMEs in the tourist sector – with a budget of €160 million – within the framework of the “Competitiveness” Programme by the NSRF 2021-2027. This is also evidenced, of course, by the allocation of €300 million for the digital transformation of SMEs through the same Programme. The Government’s objective is for all European resources, which we have secured, to be allocated in favour of the real economy and society, with the aim of increasing the GDP, as well as the incomes of our fellow citizens”.
