Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis as reported in Kathimerini said on Thursday Google’s creation of a cloud region in Greece could contribute over 2 billion euros ($AUD3.03b) to the Greece’s GDP by 2030 and create 20,000 “well-paid new jobs”.

The prime minister speaking at an event for the presentation of Google’s investment plans in Greece said it was the government’s choice to invest in and promote the country’s digital leap to improve services to citizens and develop the economy.

He thanked Google “for its trust during all these years of the crisis which strengthened its presence in our country,” and said that GDP growth in Greece now far exceeds the average.

He spoke of an “explosion of record investments, exports and the most dynamic reduction of unemployment,” as well as the return of young scientists to Greece.

Mr. Mitsotakis welcomed Google’s decision to create two centers of excellence in Thessaloniki and Patra, while he said that 10,000 unemployed people upgraded their skills because of the company’s cooperation with the employment ministry.

“This is a permanent reform process in the digital transformation of not only large but also medium and small businesses, such as those in tourism that use digital marketing tools to promote their product,” he said, adding that more than 10 billion euros from the Recovery Fund and the NSRF will be channeled in all production sectors, from the primary sector to industry and services.