Greece's Golden Visa programme to extend other kinds of investment

According to the head of the state agency for promoting investment, these were focused in areas such as tourism, real estate, foods and logistics while he also announced imminent changes to Greece's highly competitive Golden Visa programme.
Currently offering a five-year residence permit to those purchasing property valued at more than 250,000 euros, Stergioulis said there were plans to also extend the Golden Visa programme to those purchasing Greek stocks and bonds via the stock market, anyone injecting capital into societe anonyme real estate investment companies, and anyone purchasing state bonds, opening a deposit account in Greek credit institutions or participating in Greece-based investment funds.
These proposals had been included in a draft bill that was currently in the process of being tabled in Parliament, he said.
Data collected by the agency showed that there was currently high demand for the Golden Visa among Russians and Chinese but also increased demand among Turkish nationals, Stergioulis reported.
In recent months, he added, a number of foreign companies from mainly China and Russia were opening up offices in Greece to promote the programme in their own countries, he added. 
On demands for investments, he said that Enterprise Greece received a great many inquiries and requests each year, while its front office desk handled more than 1,000 requests a year and had been ranked third best in the world in a survey by the World Bank. The agency also helped Greek businesses promote their exports and planned a wide-ranging programme of actions to support and further boost exports, he said.
In a note to Greek exporters, Stergioulis stressed that "the right preparation and planning are half the battle" and urged them to develop collaborations that would create the "crucial size" and economies of scale that were needed for such ventures abroad.
"Greek exports have been growing at a constantly accelerating rate in recent years. We are optimistic and have set even higher targets; we will be satisfied when exports account for 50 pct of GDP," he said, noting that Enterprise Greece will continue efforts to its efforts toward this end, arranging Greek stands at the world's largest trade fairs, business delegations, promotion and training seminars for exporters.