| Headline: Greece shrugs off neighbours’ woes Source: Euromoney Date: April 2001 Author: Dimitris Kontogiannis
“It is reasonable to expect that the volume of trade in the wider Balkan area will drop if the recent crisis in FYROM is prolonged. This will be damaging to Greek exports since Greece is the prime economic beneficiary of political normalization in the region,” says Christos Avramides, senior emerging markets economist at ABN Amro. “In addition, foreign direct investment by Greek companies in the area is likely to come to a halt and the return from existing projects will be hit.” Although there are no official figures, rough estimates by analysts and corporate executives put direct investment by Greek companies in the wider Balkan region at more than $2.3 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||