Based on their level of development, countries are divided into developed and developing. Greece belongs to the category of developed countries, but it stands on the lower rungs of the ladder.

In general, developing countries find it difficult to produce competitive products. For that reason, they are forced to sell them cheaply in order to compete with other countries. For these countries, the rule applies: “the cheaper, the better.”

Among developed countries, some have solved the problem of product competitiveness through the production of high-quality goods. This has been achieved by countries such as Germany, Japan, Denmark, Switzerland, and others.

High-quality products mean branded products. It is characteristic that Made in Germany and Made in Japan point to quality products. And there are many buyers around the world who seek products from these countries precisely because they are synonymous with quality.

The question is: has the time finally come for Greeks as well to try to establish “Made in Greece” and “Made in Hellas” worldwide? Can one imagine the benefit for Greeks if people all over the world were searching for “Made in Greece” and “Made in Hellas” because they would signify a good, high-quality product?

It is a fact that there are some Greek businesses that produce good, high-quality products and have expanded into the global market. It is also a fact that the state, for several years now, has been trying to establish Made in Greece.

Now that we have come out of the crisis and supposedly gained some sense, though that remains doubtful, we need to begin a new course with new minds. All businesses and all workers, in a Greek and patriotic spirit, must set as their main goal the production of good, high-quality Greek products and, by extension, the establishment of Made in Greece.

To achieve this goal, hard and sustained work is needed from everyone: the state, producers, workers, exporters, consumers, and so on. We need to leave behind outdated, sly, Balkan-style practices, remnants of long Ottoman servitude, and move forward decisively and steadily with responsibility and integrity in order to succeed.

As for consumers, the following clarification is needed: of course, the consumer wants a cheap product, but that cheap product must also be a quality product. Therefore, when someone buys, for example, a tomato from the Netherlands, they should know that they are buying a tomato that is like a “cucumber” and has nothing to do with the quality of a Greek tomato.

Consumers also need to know that there are “countless” agricultural and other Greek products that are incomparably better in quality, which is why they are in such high demand in foreign markets. It is therefore puzzling why some Greeks prefer foreign products that are inferior to Greek ones.

Of course, good things are won through effort. But the benefits of the worldwide establishment of Made in Greece will be enjoyed by all Greeks, and first and foremost by those involved in this process.

We are a people with deep roots. We have created Parthenons, but we have also destroyed ourselves through civil wars.

Two hundred years after the Revolution is enough time for individual and national reflection. Let us reconsider our strengths and our flaws. Let us leave behind what divides us, find what unites us, and move toward the future.

Let 2021 be a new beginning for a new course toward the future. And let us set the goal that within ten years, “Made in Greece” will be present in every country in the world and known to everyone.

The state, industrialists, shipowners, entrepreneurs, farmers, workers, people of the arts and letters, everyone needs to join this common effort.

Today, all Greeks are creating “Made in Greece”, we are creating Greece’s future. And the future belongs to those who create it.

Paul Marantos

marantosp@gmail.com