The economic footprint of the industrial regions of Greece totals 17.5 billion euros in terms of annual gross production value, while the total impact of business activity in the industrial regions on the country's GDP reaches 9.7 billion euros, the Foundation for Economic and Industrial Research (IOBE) said in a survey on Wednesday.

The survey presented a detailed analysis of the direct impact of activity within industrial regions on the Greek economy and subsequent impact of these activities. For each euro of added value produced by companies operating in industrial regions, the added value for the Greek economy grows by three euros, while the total contribution of productive units in industrial regions on employment, direct and indirect, reaches 236,000 job positions, or more than 5.9 pct of employment in the country.

Business activity in industrial regions also contributes directly to public revenue, with taxes and social insurance contributions worth 770 million euros, while total impact on public revenue reached 2.6 billion euros, IOBE said.

Nikos Vettas, managing director in IOBE and a professor in the Economics University of Athens, analysed the importance of the industrial sector on the Greek economy. He said that despite having a positive impact on wider economic activity, characterised by a high investment per worker and offering high-value jobs, its relative size is small and it significantly lags behind the European average at a time when industrial growth is a strategic goal of European policy. This gap should be covered the soonest possible and given the problems with licensing procedures, the role of organised industrial regions for infrastructure is crucial, Vettas said.