The story was published last week on this very website and it was highly impressive indeed.
A $ 7.9 billion investment was announced by Chinese giant Fosun International in collaboration with a consortium from Abu Dhabi in order to develop a mega resort on the former Athens airport site of Elliniko.
Once completed, the resort will be the largest seaside resort in Europe, three times larger than Monaco and will feature apartments, hotels, shopping centers and a sports park.
The Chinese consortium was founded in 1992 by students from the University of Shanghai, Fudan and, among other things, is the owner of Club Med since 2015 and has been a member of Thomas Cook.
I recently visited Monaco and witnessed pesonally the vast wealth it generates. The capital that has been already amassed is already so much that the local authorities are considering even constructing an artificial island since they estimate that, at the current upbeat real estate rates, even such an extravaganza will turn out to be a highly profitable project.
Elliniko is definitely larger and more attractive than Monaco, so one can only imagine its great prospects, not to mention the untapped potential of the whole of Greece with thousands of similar advantageous properties, picturesque islands and amazing beaches.
So what is keeping all this from happening, even after eight years of unprecedented financial crisis?
The answer is so plain and simple that it risks sounding commonplace and banal: The archaic mentality of the majority of the Greek people who confuse enterpreunership, investment and prosperity with the proverbial sins of envy and greed.
If this does not change soon, if we do not adopt a new mentality, the national economy will continue on its downward spiral with new, unforeseeable yet certainly dire consequences.
It is that simple…
