Firms place emphasis on R&D for growth

Greek enterprises are seeking a way out of their stagnation toward growth through research and development. Data presented on Wednesday by the National Documentation Center (EKT) showed that R&D activity in Greece grew 15.9 percent year-on-year in 2017 to top 2 billion euros for the first time ever.

Amounting to 2.033 billion euros, R&D activity came to 1.14 percent of gross domestic product last year, led by the business sector, as had also been the case in 2016: Almost nine out of every 10 euros spent on R&D came from enterprises.

The EKT report showed that the additional expenditure on R&D last year reached 278.8 million euros, with 250 million of that concerning R&D investment from the business sector.

“The trend is clear now: Greek private enterprises realize that their growth has to be based on research and the development of their products,” stated EKT director Evi Sachini. She noted that an ever growing number of entrepreneurs who are focused on markets abroad, both in the service sector and in manufacturing, acknowledge that research and the evolution of products and services improve the competitiveness of their businesses.

The remaining 10 percent of the additional R&D spending in Greece came from the state sector and private not-for-profit entities.