The multinational technology company, Microsoft has announced plans to build three data centres in greater Athens, providing a badly needed investment of up to $1 billion to the Greek economy which has been hammered by the pandemic. The news was announced today by the US tech giant and Prime Minister Mitsotakis and follows nine months of negotiations for an agreement which also includes digital-skills training programs for some 100,000 government and private sector workers as well as educators and students.

“This significant investment is a reflection of our confidence in the Greek economy, in the Greek people and the Greek government,” Microsoft President Brad Smith said at a ceremony held in the Acropolis Museum, facing the ancient site in central Athens. “It’s not something we do often and it’s not something that we do lightly.”

Recently, Greece emerged from a year-long financial crisis but its economy has been hard hit by the pandemic, suffering a 15.2 per cent drop in output on the year in the second quarter. Unemployment in June climbed to 18.3 per cent from 16.4 per cent at the start of the year.

Microsoft has data centres in 26 countries, including seven in the European Union. The company based in Redmond, Washington, is already working with the Greek government on an augmented reality project on Ancient Olympia, the birthplace of the Olympic games.