Greece has for many years attracted strong international investment and is among the most important markets for foreign trading partners in South-East Europe. German companies such as Deutsche Telekom, SAP, Siemens, and Allianz, alongside numerous small and medium-sized enterprises from Germany and other countries, operate branches or independent companies there; well over 100 German companies alone are active in Greece, employing tens of thousands of staff and generating annual revenues in the multi-billion-euro range – and Greece increasingly attracts comparable investment from companies across Europe and beyond.
In the recent past, numerous international companies have invested in Greece – for example, a German investor group in the Port of Thessaloniki, or the airport operator Fraport (Germany) with stakes in 14 regional airports. Small and medium-sized enterprises from many countries are also widely active in the tourism and food sectors.
Why Do International Companies Invest in Greece?
- Digitized formation procedures: through the Electronic One-Stop Shop (e-ΥΜΣ), a company can today be formed largely online and within a few days.
- Private capital company (IKE): this particularly flexible legal form, in existence since 2012 and requiring no minimum capital, offers tax and legal advantages.
- Competitive location conditions: attractive wage-cost levels combined with a high availability of qualified, often multilingual professionals.
A basic requirement for a foreign company to commence business activity in Greece is holding a Greek tax number, which must be applied for with the competent tax authority (based, among other things, on the articles of association, an excerpt from the commercial registry, and supplementary confirmations and resolutions).
Kosmidis & Partner supports international companies with, among other things, applying for the tax number, appointing agents for service of process, choosing the appropriate legal form, drafting articles of association and partnership agreements, and handling all administrative formalities – since 1992, as a bilingual law firm with attorneys who in some cases are dually admitted in Germany and Greece, and with broad experience advising clients from Germany, Austria, and many other countries.