The American technology giant Microsoft has agreed to build a series of new data centers in Greece, in a move the Greek government says will boost entrepreneurship and encourage other major companies to invest in the country.
"The current" investment will be the largest by the American technology giant in its 28 years of operations in Greece, Bloomberg News quoted Microsoft President Brad Smith as saying at a presentation of the deal in Athens on Monday.
Smith said the decision "shows confidence in the Greek economy, the Greek people and the Greek government ... This is not something we do in every country."
Smith said that Microsoft will also start a training program to help fill about 100,000 jobs that the initiative will provide.
Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis said in the presentation that the new data centers "are automatically raising the profile of the country as an investment destination," describing the move as a vote of confidence in his country´s potential.
He added that analysts´ estimates say that over time the investment will have an economic benefit estimated at about one billion dollars.
Mitsotakis and Smith discussed for the first time Microsoft´s investment in Greece at a meeting at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, earlier this year.
