Eastern Macedonia and Thrace chambers set five priorities for regional businesses
The Regional Chamber Council of Eastern Macedonia and Thrace has announced five priorities aimed at supporting businesses, improving access to financing, accelerating delayed payments, promoting innovation and strengthening workplace health and safety.
The decisions were taken at a meeting on October 7, 2026, hosted by the Drama Chamber of Commerce, with the participation of representatives of the region’s six chambers. The council said the initiatives would address pressing business challenges while improving the competitiveness and outward orientation of companies across the region.
FIVE PRIORITIES FOR REGIONAL BUSINESS
1. Regional business and product exhibition in Athens
The council plans to organise a major exhibition in 2027 at Syntagma Metro station in Athens to showcase products and businesses from Eastern Macedonia and Thrace. The initiative aims to highlight the region’s productive capacity and help local companies reach wider markets.
2. Request to extend debt repayment plans to 120 instalments
The council will ask the Ministry of National Economy and Finance to allow businesses and professionals already repaying debts through shorter instalment arrangements — including 24, 48 or 72 payments — to transfer to a 120-instalment scheme.
The proposed change is intended to reduce monthly repayment burdens and improve business liquidity.
3. Action over delayed LEADER programme payments
The council plans to send a formal letter of protest and request an urgent meeting with the relevant authorities over delays in payments under the 2014–2020 Rural Development Programme’s LEADER initiative.
According to the council, outstanding payments are linked to unresolved issues and systemic difficulties during the transition of responsibilities from OPEKEPE, Greece’s former agricultural payments agency, to the Independent Authority for Public Revenue (AADE).
The council is calling for the immediate completion of pending procedures and the payment of outstanding funds. It warned that delays are creating serious cash-flow problems and threatening the viability of businesses that have already completed their investments.
4. Regional participation in VIA INNOVATA 2026
The council called for the active participation of the region’s chambers and businesses in VIA INNOVATA 2026, a regional innovation event organised by the Drama Chamber of Commerce on November 21–22, 2026.
The event is expected to provide opportunities for business promotion, networking, partnerships and showcasing innovative companies from Eastern Macedonia and Thrace.
5. Cooperation on occupational health and safety
The council also agreed to pursue cooperation between the regional chambers and the Region of Eastern Macedonia and Thrace to organise seminars on workplace health and safety.
The initiative will take place under a programme designed to strengthen occupational health and safety systems within the region’s chambers, under the auspices of the regional authority.
CHAMBERS SEEK STRONGER REGIONAL COORDINATION
The council said the five decisions reaffirm the chambers’ coordinated role in promoting entrepreneurship, expanding market opportunities, seeking solutions to business problems and creating new prospects for regional economic development.
The measures combine immediate concerns, particularly liquidity and delayed payments, with longer-term efforts to promote innovation and increase the visibility of businesses from Eastern Macedonia and Thrace.
