Hellenic Federation of Enterprises: The new members and its main philosophy

Three changes in the structure of the country’s leading employers’ organisation, the Hellenic Federation of Enterprises, are planned for this year’s general assembly of its members, which is also of an electoral nature.

On 15 June, the country’s business leaders re-elected for a second two-year term Mr Dimitris Papalexopoulos as chairman of the board of directors and Mr Efthimios O. Vidalis as chairman of the executive committee.

The women

However, the most important change is the greater participation of women in the top management bodies. More specifically, and according to information, the  board of directors of the Hellenic Federation of Enterprises is being upgraded and the representation of women is being strengthened, as well, with three women joining as new members. These three women are Ms Peggy Antonakou from Google SE Europe, Ms Naya Kalogeraki from Coca-Cola HBC A.G. (CCHBC) and Ms Asimina Tzika from the aluminium industry ELVIAL. It is also worth noting that a current member of the board, Ms Ioulia Tseti from UNIPHARMA, is expected to take over as general secretary.

Additionally, in the general board of the Federation, the participation of women is being strengthened with a total of 14 seats.

The start-ups

The second change concerns the composition of the 90-member general council of the Hellenic Federation of Enterprises, which is being significantly renewed, with several new members, since representatives from seven technology companies/start-ups are becoming members of it.

The third change has to do with representation on the general council, as 15 representatives of companies from the region participate in the council, as well.

In total, representatives from the whole range of businesses and from the most dynamic sectors of the Greek economy participate in this particular body of the Federation, with a strong presence of the industry/manufacturing (more than 40%).

The Federation’s philosophy

This year’s general assembly of businessmen is taking place in person at the Cultural Centre Hellenic Cosmos in an era full of uncertainties and challenges, as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic and, above all, after the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

Nevertheless, the employers have chosen as the central motto of the general assembly: “Paving the way together”. Reflecting the Federation’s main philosophy, that of dialogue between the business world and the State, but also that of seeking broader consensus across the whole spectrum of society.

Of particular interest are expected to be the statements of the Greek Prime Minister, Mr Kyriakos Mitsotakis, and the leader of the opposition, Mr Alexis Tsipras.

The re-election

The presidential candidate of the Federation, Mr Papalexopoulos, takes over for another two years as president of the country’s largest employers’ organisation, following a long tradition of commitment and responsibility in Greek business.

Dimitris Papalexopoulos stressed from the outset “the need to upgrade our collective ability to innovate, as a prerequisite for social development and prosperity”, and, in this context, he upgraded the participation and role of the innovation ecosystem in the Federation, since more than 83 innovative technology start-up companies have become members of the Association in the last two years.  Also, during this two-year period, it has put into practice the need to strengthen the cooperation between universities, research and entrepreneurship, while the Federation has also developed actions to strengthen the upskilling & re-skilling of the human resources of its member companies. Mr Papalexopoulos has also pointed out that for Greece, the next 5 years offer a unique opportunity to transform our economy by embracing green growth, combined with the digital revolution. Our country has comparative advantages in many individual sectors, the European framework is supportive, the resources needed are also available. The challenge is to accelerate the necessary reforms while ensuring the competitiveness of the European production and the availability of sufficient energy at competitive costs for all.