The announcement for a simplification for licensing new businesses is a step in the right direction, so long as it actually happens and is not lost in bureaucratic mazes.
After all, it is not the first time that such a measure has been announced only for something else to come about. We all remember the infamous “fast track” story that was supposed to allow the authorization of investments in a short time, but was never implemented in practice.
It is more than obvious that the improvement of public finances is not enough on its own to get us out of the crisis. It is imperative to truly facilitate investments – in practice, not just in theory -, to create jobs so that the real economy can recover and the unemployed can catch their breath.
Unfortunately, in Greece we have made it so that we vote for laws that are later abolished by public administration and the endless bureaucracy.
When one agency won’t communicate with another, when you are forced to run around to demonstrate the simplest of things, the authenticity of your signature, when every bureaucrat resorts to various loopholes or excuses to avoid liability and performing their dirty, then it is clear that no serious investors is going to risk getting involved in this jumble of a mess.
Good intentions and better laws are not good enough anymore. Unfortunately we need someone to also implement them immediately. We will have real proof that the country is changing when we see a new business venture start up within a few days without having to go through a bureaucratic minefield and without the investor or entrepreneur having to resort to the age old solution of bribing officials or going from minister to minister to make sense of the situation.
TO VIMA
