bponline.amcham.gr MAY-JUNE 2014 Vol. XIII | No. 72 Thought Leaders Golden Bullets in Technolgy BUSINESS MATTERS— JIM DAVIS OF NEW BALANCE ▼ PANAGIOTIS G. MIHALOS, SECRETARY GENERAL, MFA ▼ GOOGLE, THE INTERNET, AND IMPACTING SOCIETY ▼ PLUS BIZ BUZZ TRENDS & TRADE MAKERS VIEWPOINT MetLife— AMERICAN-HELLENIC A Policy For Success CHAMBER OF COMMERCE www.amcham.gr Dimitris Mazarakis Vice Chairman BoD & Managing Director, MetLife Register Now Greek Investment June 11-12, 2014 Forum The Athens Exchange and the AEGEAN AIRLINES American-Hellenic Chamber of Commerce ALPHA BANK are pleased to invite you to this year’s ATTICA BANK Investment Forum: CORINTH PIPEWORKS ELLAKTOR Participants: GR for Growth EUROBANK EUROBANK PROPERTIES JUNE 11-12, 2014 FOLLI FOLLIE GROUP Harmonie Club, 4 East 60th St, GEK TERNA New York, NY 10022 GR. SARANTIS HELLENIC EXCHANGES The Forum will bring together HELLENIC PETROLEUM key government of cials and INTRALOT leading Greek and U.S. LAMDA DEVELOPMENT business leaders to explore Greece’s MARFIN INVESTMENT GROUP improving investment climate, METKA key privatization initiatives MOTOR OIL MYTILINEOS and investment opportunities. NATIONAL BANK of GREECE Institutional investors OPAP will also have the opportunity to meet PIRAEUS BANK with senior executives PLAISIO of Greece’s leading listed companies. TERNA ENERGY THRACE PLASTICS The Forum will take place on June 11. TITAN One-on-one investor meetings will take HELLENIC REPUBLIC ASSET place on June 11-12. DEVELOPMENT FUND Gold sponsors: Silver sponsors: Hellenic American Mag ADV.indd 1 22/5/2014 2:53:19 μμ CHAMBER.PRESS AMERICAN-HELLENICCHAMBER .PRESSCHAMBER OF COMMERBPONLINE.AMCHAM.GRCE AMERICAN-HELLENIC CHAMBER OF COMMERCONTENTSCE VOLUME XIII | NUMBER 72 ISSN 1109-4990 CODE: 6526 4 THE BOARD 5 SMART GOV Cloud Services Breed Smoother Sailing for Governments BY SPYROS POULIDAS 6 CHAMBER NEWS 10 REGIONAL MARKETPLACE Living “In The Clouds” in South East Europe 24 BY PANAGIOTIS DRAKOPOULOS Dimitris Mazarakis, Vice 12 ALBA BUSINESS REVIEW Chairman BOD & Managing Improvisation … in Business? Director, Metlife, on current What We Can Learn from Jazz Bands! trends in the insurance industry BY DR. KYRIAKOS KYRIAKOPOULOS 14 NAMES & FACES IN THE NEWS 16 OUT OF THE OFFICE Eagles Palace: Redefining a Resort 18 BIZ BUZZ 20 38 In Praise of the Long-Term Panagiotis G. Mihalos, BYECONOMICS—OUT LENA TSIPOURI OF THE BOX Secretary General for 22 HERITAGE ECONOMICS International Economic The Big Moment For Culture Relations at the Ministry of BY ZOZO LIDORIKI Foreign Affairs, on Greece’s 23 TRAVEL USA economic relations Discover America—Missouri 24 THE INTERVIEW Dimitris Mazarakis, Vice Chairman BOD & Managing Director, Metlife 26 THOUGHT LEADERS 36 Technology—Golden Bullets TECHNOLOGIA Dionisis Kolokotsas, Public 34 Tech Trends Policy Manager at Google in Greece, on sustained 36 INSIGHT emergence of technology and Google, the Internet, and Impacting Society with Dionisis how Greece is faring during this Kolokotsas era of digital transformation 38 ONE WORLD Panagiotis G. Mihalos, Secretary General for International Economic Relations at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, on Greece and Global Markets BUSINESS PARTNERS IS THE BIMONTHLY MAGAZINE 40 BUSINESS MATTERS Leading By Example—An interview with Jim Davis of New OF THEDIRECTOR AMERICAN-HELLENIC CHAMBEROWNER OF COMMERCE Balance Elias Spirtounias American-Hellenic Chamber of Commerce [email protected] Politia Business Center 41 MARKETWATCH PUBLISHER & EDITOR 109-111 Messoghion Avenue Real Estate Recovery in Greece: New Principles or Old Raymond Matera 115 26 Athens Practices? [email protected] Tel: +30 210 699.3559 BY LEFT SIKALIDIS Fax: +30 210 698.5686-7 ADVERTISING PLEASE RECYCLE E-mail: [email protected] Alexandra Loli BRANCH OFFICE [email protected] 44 BUSINESS2BUSINESS 47 Vassileos Irakleiou Street DESIGN 546 23 Thessaloniki A B2B Toolbox snack• Tel: +30 2310 286.453, 239.337 TRENDS & TREND MAKERS PRINTING & BINDING Fax: +30 2310 225.162 46 Northern Greece Publishing S.A. E-mail: [email protected] 48 VIEWPOINT 7+1 Ideas For an Entrepreneurial Greece by Marcel Cremer MAY-JUNE 2014 | BUSINESS PARTNERS | 1 DIRECTOR’S DESK While in Washington and Dallas recently for the annual meeting of American Chambers in Europe, it was clear to me the U.S. is back on track and on a path of steady, although not extraordinary, growth. Unemployment at the national level is about 6.5% and is expected to decrease. Key to the U.S. model is that innovative products and services are being developed daily and investment is rising. A key element on the investment side is the low cost of energy. Shale gas and oil production have contributed signifi- cantly to the reduction of energy costs to unprecedented levels. This, along with flexible labor legislation and some very attractive incentives that some states, like Texas offer, are forming a very attractive pack- age that not many international companies can overlook or neglect. Wherever you are in U.S. fundamental differences between the U.S. and Europe become evident. A major difference has to do with philosophy on the use of money. In the U.S. the system is based on the widespread and rapid circulation of money—contrary to what happens in Europe with a far more conservative approach—and with dubious results to date. The smell and taste of the entrepreneurship is everywhere in America, where the ecosystem supports a wide diversity of ideas that could lead to a marketable product. And failure is part of the game. Most support come from private investment as the culture is based on sharing risk and reward. Equally impressive is the way the private sector confronts problems. Players are decisive, want to move to the next chapter, and are reluctant to keep spending time or money on projects that do not show prospects for a positive outcome. It surely helps that the United States is a federal republic, with one common operating language, despite the multicultural mix of its population. Europe still has a lot of ground to cover and must confront some serious problems, among the most important being immigration, the aging of its population and the lack of a true European identity. Eu- rope needs to establish new priorities and redesign its course to become an innovative and competitive continent, for the benefit of its citizens and especially for its youth. To do so, wise and visionary people are needed to lead the way for the next decade. ELIAS SPIRTOUNIAS Executive Director The American-Hellenic Chamber of Commerce A DYNAMIC, PROACTIVE CHAMBER The American-Hellenic Chamber of Commerce was established ber of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce in Washington D.C. and the in 1932 and is one of the largest, most active, and dynamic Ameri- European Council of American Chambers of Commerce (ECACC). can Chambers in Europe. Virtually all American companies that do business in Greece and Greek companies that engage in trade with the United States are members of the Chamber. MISSION STATEMENT The Chamber's membership is comprised of more than 1,000 The American-Hellenic Chamber of Commerce strives for con- proactive companies that seek to expand business horizons, cre- tinuous improvement of American-Hellenic commercial and ate new business partnerships, and take advantage of trade and financial relations, through increased membership and through investment opportunities in today's global economy. the organization of top-quality events, exhibitions, fora, seminars, The American-Hellenic Chamber of Commerce is an active mem- and congresses on both sides of the Atlantic. 2 | BUSINESS PARTNERS | MAY-JUNE 2014 American-Hellenic Chamber of Commerce EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE COMMITTEES Anastasopoulos Simos President | N. PETSIAVAS S.A. AGROTECHNOLOGY COMMITTEE Members: Argiriou Notis, Bezergiannis Stella, Chriss Dimitrios, Efthymiadis Thymis, Karagiorgos Nikolaos, Katsaros Georgios, Kouides Antonis, Bakatselos Nikolaos Vice President | PYRAMIS METALLOURGIA A.E. Kouimtzis Athanasios, Koukakis Athanasios, Michailides Ekaterini, Nakas Ioannis, Vergos Evangelos | Coordinator: Nikos Tsavdaroglou Karayannis Angelos Vice President | KARAYANNIS K. GROUP AUDITORS COMMITTEE Members: Felonis Athanassios, Kerameas George, Sabatakakis OF COMPANIES Kyriacos | Coordinator: Andriana Chadjianagnostou CORPORATE GOVERNANCE COMMITTEE Chair: Papacostopoulos Constantine | Members: Panayotopoulos Litsa Secretary General | BOSTON HAMILTON LTD. Apsouris John, Charalambous Yiangos, Dimou Ioannis, Hadjisotiriou Paula, Iliadaki Papadopoulos Thanos Treasurer | CHEVELLAS S.A. Sassa, Petalas Apostolos, Shiamishis Andreas, Theodoulidou Maria | Coordinator: Daphne Constantinidou Canellopoulos Paul Counselor | AIG GREECE CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY COMMITTEE Members: Alexiou Maria, Kyriacou Marios Counselor | KPMG CERTIFIED AUDITORS Constantelis George, Iliopoulou Sissy, Katsouli Katerina, Lolas Vassilis, Macheras Alexia, Menidiati Manina, Vrachatis Ioannis, Zevgoli Nafsika | Coordinator: Angela Boyatzis Mamidaki Eleftheria Counselor | MAMIDOIL-JETOIL S.A. ENERGY COMMITTEE Chair: Karayannis Angelos | Members: Alexopoulos George, Saracakis John Counselor | SARACAKIS BROTHERS S.A. Desypris John, Ekaterinari Rania, Peristeris George, Rigas Mathios, Stassis George | Coordinator: Angeliki Dikeoulia GREEK ECONOMY CONFERENCE COMMITTEE Chair: Αnastasopoulos Simos | Members: Spirtounias Elias Executive Director Antoniades Vassilis, Bacacos George, Mamidakis Eleftheria | Coordinator: Angeliki Dikeoulia INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY & COMMUNICATIONS