The Deputy Minister of Development & Investments, Christos Dimas, spoke about the development of research, innovation and the government's actions in this direction, in a show of One TV, in which he was recently hosted. During the discussion, the Deputy Minister referred to the importance of innovation for our country, the initiatives that need to be taken for the visible improvement of Greece's performance and the plans that have already begun to be implemented. Among these, the - particularly successful - programme: I Research - I Create - I Innovate, the Innovation State in Piraeus and the online Register of Start-ups.

Research - Create - Innovate from the Register of Start-ups

The Deputy Minister was asked about the action " Research - Create - Innovate", which, as mentioned in a previous report, has been an unprecedented success. Indicatively, it is mentioned that to date, about 5,100 investment projects have been submitted for funding, of which 1,152 have been approved.

In the second cycle alone, more than 2 600 proposals were submitted. Over 1,000 of those who met the criteria were left out of the programme due to the lack of additional resources available. For this reason, Mr. Dimas stressed that the Ministry is considering a "brave increase" in the budget, which will allow the inclusion of an additional three-digit number of teams.

When asked about the slow pace at which NSRF programs usually move, Mr. Dimas stressed that this cycle will proceed faster, estimating that the funding process will be completed in 2020.

Speaking more generally about the start-up entrepreneurship , Mr Dimas stressed that until the present government took over there was no strategy whatsoever. Now, a few months after taking office, she explained, the government is already implementing a series of actions to support startups. These are:

State of Innovation in Piraeus

As previously announced, the government is proceeding rapidly with the creation of an Innovation State, which will host the R&D departments of large companies, Startups and research centers. This State, according to the Deputy Minister, will be created in the former facilities of "CHROPEI" in Piraeus. The land has already passed to the Ministry of Development and Investment , while in the next month it is estimated that the Inter-ministerial Decision will be "passed" in order to start the private-public partnership.

The State of Innovation, as Christos Dimas made clear, will not operate under the public administration – the State will simply cede the land and the configured building to private entities. The long-term goal of the project is to attract talents both from Greeks who are abroad – the so-called Brain Drain – and from the surrounding Balkan countries that do not have the infrastructure to create in their country.

Register of Start-ups

Mr Dimas also reiterated the government's plan to create an online platform that will host all start-ups in Greece. As he said, businesses will "enter" the list based on specific criteria and, if included, they will be supported by tax and labor incentives or awards from the private sector. Now, whatever incentives are introduced by the government, they will concern the companies included in the register, the deputy minister underlined.

Regarding the timetable, he said that the government's goal is to present this registry at the next Thessaloniki International Fair, so it will be in the "air" in the first half of 2020.

Exemptions from red tape

Among other things, the deputy minister talked about the bureaucracy and the "obstacles" it puts in all startups. To solve the problem, he announced legislation that would pass through parliament in January. It will relieve the Special Accounts for Research Funds, i.e. researchers and faculty members, from , which significantly delay research.

"These are not plans, they are already being implemented," Christos Dimas stressed. Concluding, he added: "Our goal is that by the end of our term of office there will be a clear improvement in the competitiveness of the Greek economy, to have better results in the European Innovation Index, to make significant steps forward, not only in relation to previous years, but in relation to other countries".

More detailed information about the Research - Create - Innovate action here.