ATHENS, July 4 (Xinhua) -- A total of 67 percent of CEOs of multinational companies operating in Greece expect that Greece's image as an investment destination will improve in the coming years, according to a survey published on Wednesday.
Dozens of top executives from multinationals in Greece along with Greek officials, businessmen and scholars participated in the first "InvestGR - Foreign Investments in Greece" forum which took place on Tuesday in Athens.
The polling firm Metron Analysis conducted the survey on the CEOs and presented the results at the end of the event.
Held under the auspices of the economy and development ministry with the support of the EU representation in Greece, the forum aimed to find an answer to the question of how Greece can become a more attractive destination for foreign investment.
The 30 CEOs who took part in the event represented companies which have invested 2.3 billion euros (2.7 billion U.S. dollars) out of a total of 11.6 billion euros in foreign direct investments in Greece in the past five years.
"Nearly every major player across the political spectrum agrees that growth will come mostly through foreign direct investments. Big foreign companies have begun investing, often considerable amounts, or have expressed interest in investing in our country," the forum organizers said.
However, on the downside, "a series of inherent limitations and ailments in critical areas and institutions, however, continue to hinder the effort to turn Greece into an attractive destination for foreign investments," they said.
The executives who participated in the poll identified taxation as the biggest obstacle in investing in Greece (83 percent), despite the progress steps made in recent years.
Greek economics professor George Pagoulatos wrote a report on the executives' proposals with suggestions to improve the investment framework, which will be submitted to the parliament, Ta Nea government newspaper reported. (1 euro = 1.16 U.S. dollars)
