RepowerGreece is the name of an ambitious social awareness campaign announced a few days ago by the Athens Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ACCI) to revive the country’s image in the eyes of the public, after the damage inflicted by a severe economic crisis and four years of recession.
Both private and public sector technical experts were involved in drawing it up, as were academics and diplomats, and the initiative was created under the auspices of the Institute for Regional Dialogue and Strategy (IPEDIS).
”We believe that mobilising the country’s creative forces and coming up with a new development strategy are required to get out of the crisis,” said Chamber of Commerce Chairman Kostas Michalos at the inaugural meeting of the work groups, enterprises and media companies supporting RepowerGreece.
The discussion held during the meeting aimed to present the RepowerGreece campaign to key figures in the Greek business world to look into how they can also help to improve the initiative’s impact within the larger financial and investment world.
”The RepowerGreece campaign is a collective initiative seeking modern solutions, creative ideas and ways to rebuild the country’s image,” noted Michalos. ”Unfortunately, these efforts must begin from a very low level after two years in which our country’s credibility and charm have been heavily damaged, hopefully not permanently.
” RepowerGreece includes numerous sectors of strategic interest – education, culture, innovation, the social economy, agro-food, IT, telecommunications, tourism, energy and logistics – in an attempt to pinpoint and draw attention to individuals and enterprises which combined innovation and entrepreneurship with high work ethics.
The initiative intends to act as a sort of launch pad for development through a multi-level programme which brings together public relations, grassroots campaigns and the exchange of ideas and strategies through the site www.repowergreece.com, which contributes to generating collaboration between people with critical judgement and dynamic institutions.
”RepowerGreece,” said Yannos Gramatidis, Chairman of the Greek-American Chamber of Commerce (AHCC),” is a historic initiative which we have joined together on for the sake of our country, in unison and with clear issues on behalf of all Greek bodies and individuals as well as Philhellenics abroad.
” Referring specifically to Philhellenics, those who love Greek culture, Gramatidis said that ”there are many out there, and they form a large pool of goodwill which has not yet been tapped by the Greek government.
” He added that Philhellenics abroad should be the focus of this campaign ”in order to offer them everything that it good and useful in our country.
There is no other way to promote our country’s advantages at a time when newspaper headlines the world over abound in the denigration of Greece, for which all of us are responsible to varying degrees.” The AHCC chairman concluded by emphasising RepowerGreece’s advantage stemming from its being a private sector initiative.
”This campaign is a signal to the country’s citizens to take their fate into their own hands and not wait to follow in the tracks of Greek politicians.”
(source: ANSA)
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