The environment, energy, tourism and real estate sectors reportedly dominate interest by Israeli investors eyeing business prospects in Greece, according to reports.
Greece’s embassy in Israel has mostly fielded requests by local companies interested in an ongoing privatization program in the still bailout-dependent country.
Solid and liquid waste management, a field in which Israeli firms have developed innovative technologies and protocols over recent years, also pique the interest of Israeli-based firms, followed by the robust tourism and holiday sector in the east Mediterranean EU member-state. Interest in non-tourism real estate and the IT sector has also been expressed.
Direct foreign investments from Israel in the Greek market have reached 33 million euros, based on the most recent information supplied by the Bank of Greece at the end of 2015, a figure judged as a very small percentage of the overall sum of Israeli investments abroad.
A troubled casino and resort in the seaside town of Loutraki (west of Athens proper) remains one of the biggest Israeli investments in Greece, followed by insurance services and renewable sources of energy.
Conversely, the entry of Greece-based Energean into the Israeli energy market last year was a milestone for Greek investments in the Mideast country.
