Microsoft's President/Chief Legal Officer Brad Smith announced that the technology company will build data centers in Greece, a move that will assist the country's economy.
The announcement was made alongside Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis at the Acropolis Museum on Monday.
It will be one of Microsoft's first data centers in Europe which will store and manage data in the cloud computing.
"It is an important day for Greece," Smith said adding that this is "the biggest investment of Microsoft in Greece during the 28 years of its presence in the country."
“It’s not something we do in many countries, nor do we take it lightly. And the fact that we are doing it in 2020, I think speaks eloquently about what is happening in Greece”, he continued.
Smith explained “the cloud is not only an infrastructure but also a fortress because it is important to protect the data we produce. We must have a strong fortress”, he said, adding “that could not be done without the tireless effort of the government”.
The data center will also act as a regional centre for neighbouring countries.
On his part, Mitsotakis pointed out that Greece is becoming a hub of the global cloud, which is the core of the Fourth Industrial Revolution.
"Despite the pandemic, we have a new investment," he said, adding that "the establishment of a Data Center in a country by a company like Microsoft is upgrading it as investment destination."
He estimated that the benefit for the Greek economy will exceed one billion euros in a decade.
The goal, as he said, "is for all Greeks to be with the winners of the 4th Industrial Revolution", something that had not happened with the previous industrial revolutions. He pointed out that "our country will be one of the few in the world to host such Data Centers" adding that he is optimistic that there will be positive effects on employment, small and medium enterprises, scientific research, as well as the interception of "brain drain".
The CEO of Microsoft Greece, Cyprus and Malta Theodosis Michalopoulos stated that "we will help in the digital transformation of the country" and pointed out that "the digital economy of a region runs within the Data Centers."