New economy minister Papadimitriou says priority is to draw investments

The new Economy Minister Dimitris Papadimitriou officially assumed his role on Monday in a handover ceremony with his predecessor Giorgos Stathakis, pledging to focus on attracting much-needed foreign investments.

Papadimitriou, an economist who has lived for many years in the USA, indicated that statements he made during his academic career regarding the possibility of a parallel currency for Greece were "a mistake." "Until last week I was an academic. Academics can say many things.
However, when they are called upon to implement a program, they see that some things they have said may have been wrong."

"There is no parallel currency for Greece and nor will they be one, at least for this government," he added.

The administration's goal, he said, was to attract investments, always in the context of euro membership and with respect for European institutions. 

Greece's "comparative advantage" is that it offers stability as a Eurozone member state, he said.

"We are rolling our sleeves up from today and we will try to reduce the ailments that are obstructing growth," Papadimitrious said.