Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis and Microsoft President Brad Smith present $ 1 billion investment in Greece.
The information states that the investment concerns the creation of a large data center to support cloud services aimed at customers of the Microsoft Azure platform. The specific data center that will be created in Attica is expected to have coverage in the wider region of SE Europe. The investment is estimated to be 400 million euros, although its added value is estimated to reach 1 billion euros.
Mr. Mitsotakis’ first meeting with Mr. Smith took place on January 23 in Davos, followed by another appointment in Athens on January 27.
As Mr. Smith said, this is “the biggest investment in the 28 years of Microsoft in Greece”, adding that “it shows trust in the people, the economy and the government”.
“It’s not something we do in many countries, nor do we take it lightly. And the fact that we are doing it in 2020, I think speaks eloquently about what is happening in Greece”, added the president of Microsoft.
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As he explained “the cloud is not only an infrastructure but also a fortress because it is important to protect the data we produce. We must have a strong fortress”, he said, adding “that could not be done without the tireless effort of the government”.
For his part, the Prime Minister pointed out that “in just 9 months we have reached the birth of a significant innovative investment of multilevel importance”.
“Greece is becoming a global hub of central digital storage of huge amounts of data. It is something that takes our country in the 21st century”, added Mr. Mitsotakis.
He pointed out Microsoft’s offer to Ancient Olympia, saying that “from 2021 the visitor of the archeological site will be able to see with a simple application the three-dimensional depiction of monuments as it was 2.500 years ago and every person on Earth will be able to live virtual in the area through a special website that will be donated by Microsfot to the Ministry of Culture.
As the Prime Minister noted, “analysts talk about a total economic benefit that could exceed € 1 billion in the long run. The overall benefit is skyrocketing if the value of the transformation in the economy as a whole is assessed”.
According to Mr. Mitsotakis, there will be three giant facilities for the digital data storage and the areas were found in Attica.
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