age population. growth will therefore depend, in part, on raising employment rates by increasing the flexibility of labour markets, bringing into the labour market sections of the population with relatively low participation rates ( especially women and older people ) and continuously upgrading the skills of the labour force. improving productivity growth should also be based on bolstering labour productivity. improving productivity requires first and foremost a modernisation of the business environment. policies in a number of areas could help here. the strengthening of competition in product markets can encourage innovation and the implementation of measures to reduce production costs. competition can be encouraged by removing barriers to business start - ups and reducing the complexity of the regulatory environment surrounding firms. productivity levels in business also depend on the efficiency of public administration. it is commonly agreed that inefficient staff allocation and the operational framework of public administration do not meet the requirements of the greek society and economy in an efficient manner, while reform proceeds at a relatively slow pace. in order to reap the full benefits of the introduction of information and communication technologies in public administration, training of personnel and upgrading administrative procedures are essential. creating the conditions in which economies of scale can be exploited is also important for improving productivity levels. in the past, the small scale of greek enterprises severely hindered their ability to exploit economies of scale. however, globalisation and the opening up of markets in the region have weakened this constraint. additionally, the creation of clusters of firms with similar activities can also help smaller companies benefit from economies of scale by cooperating in cost sharing, know - how transfer and specialisation of services and products. a second area which can contribute considerably to raising productivity is that of infrastructure. despite the progress made, there is ample room for improvements in the areas of both transport ( land, sea and air ) and network industries ( energy, water and communications ). finally, investment in both human and physical capital has an important role to play. with the opening up of new markets in the region, investment in physical capital has now become more attractive. of equal importance is investment in human capital through education and vocational training. whilst in greece the percentage of 20 - 24 year olds who have finished at least high school education is higher than in the eu - 15 countries ( 84. 1 %, compared with 76. 4 % ), the results of the pisa exams designed by the oecd to test knowledge and skills showed greek students performing much worse than students from the other eu - 15 countries. at the same time

welcome address by bank of greece governor yannis stournaras at a formal dinner in honour of jean - claude juncker, former president of the european commission and former prime minister of luxembourg 18 / 05 / 2022 - speeches on the occasion of his election as honorary member of the academy of athens. it is a great pleasure and privilege for the bank of greece to welcome president jean - claude juncker, on the occasion of his election as honorary member of the academy of athens. we welcome a great european statesman and a great friend of greece. a man who has contributed so much to greece staying in the eurozone in 2012 and 2015, as i have witnessed first - hand in these difficult years, first as minister of finance and then as governor of the bank of greece. a statesman who, during his long years of service in senior government positions both in luxembourg and at european institutions, proved to be one of the staunchest champions of european integration and one of the strongest leaders who handled successfully the crises that the eurozone faced over the last several years. a visionary leader who contributed enormously to the creation of our common currency, the euro, who strongly believed in it since its inception and fought hard to ensure its stability throughout these years. born in luxembourg, a country in the heart of europe, our dearest jean - claude realised at a young age that the future of europe lies in the close cooperation of its member - states and mainly in the gradual integration of national policies and rules. having left his mark on his country ’ s politics, he rose to top positions in the european union and, in this capacity, worked hard on european integration. he is one of the great europeanists, following in the footsteps of helmut kohl and francois mitterrand, with his firm conviction that european integration is the only way forward and that this path is irreversible. president juncker was one of the most consistent and influential advocates that greece could solve its fiscal problems within the eurozone, rather than outside, as some sadly wanted at the time. he strongly resisted the idea that greece should be sacrificed like iphigenia to allow the fleet to sail. this was due not only to his expressed love for greece and its heavy cultural heritage, but mainly to his strong belief in the european values and in the basic principle of keeping the eurozone together. he fervently defended greece ’ s place in the european family, by deeply understanding and recognising the efforts that the