How new technologies and artificial intelligence can accelerate economic education targeting promising investments were addressed by representatives of economic actors from Greece and abroad at the 11th Delphi Economic Forum.

For Ms Basiliki Lazarakou, President of the Securities and Exchange Commission, financial literacy is the foundation of resilient and transparent markets because, she stressed, even the best framework does not work in practice if investors and citizens do not understand its terms. “As we move towards a change in the way capital markets work, it is necessary for everyone to understand the terms, and can discern the problems and fraud,”

he said.

At the same time, he referred to the Capital Markets Committee‘s actions in this direction such as its cooperation with the International Organization of Securities Commissions (IOSCO) and its partnership with the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA). He added that already from 2022, financial education taking place within the framework of the national strategy has become a priority, with actions such as the signing of MoUs with Universities to inform young generations in finance, cooperation protocols with Chambers of Commerce to reach out to entrepreneurs and the public, and the publication of a relevant book for children up to 10 years old with simple concepts of finance.

For his part, Mr. Carmine Di Noia, Head of Economic and Business Affairs at OECD, pointed out that opportunities through AI may have increased in terms of investment and the economy, but at the same time, risks have multiplied. For Di Noia, there are still low levels of financial literacy and this represents a significant challenge, against the backdrop of the rise of digital fraud, adding at this point that by 2026, 15% of adults will have been victims of financial fraud.

A key point for expanding financial literacy, he argued, is communicating with young children about financial issues from an early age, and the need for more outreach activities to them because they are much more familiar with technology and open to challenges.

A new economic reality was discussed by Mr. Michalis Argyrou, Head of the Financial Office of the Prime Minister, who stressed that today’s citizens should put their resources to more productive uses.

In this context, people with financial literacy can make more and better quality investments that can bring more growth. To achieve this, however, he pointed out that there must be an understanding of risk and the workings of the economy.

Mr. Argyrou, in addition, also “pointed” from his side, as the group in need of a higher level of financial literacy the young people, as they are the ones who will learn correctly early on and use this knowledge for a long time, while they have familiarity with modern financial instruments and can also act as knowledge multipliers.

Following this, Mr. Giorgos Pitsilis, Governor of ADEA argued that in today’s world, financial literacy is mandatory, as technology has widened access to investment, while knowledge is important because it offers opportunities and protects against risks.

Now, moreover, as Mr. Pitsilis, there is facilitation of access to knowledge, with functional digital tools and in this regard, intensive work has been done by the AADE, through the apps that have been launched in recent years.

At the same time, the AADE Governor also considers the organization of information, through which artificial intelligence operates, to be of paramount importance, since human avatars are now being developed that can help citizens in financial and tax literacy. He added that Artificial Intelligence is a tool that can provide instant access to data search, with enormous utility in the areas of tax evasion, agricultural subsidies and cybersecurity.

A review of the economic crises of the past decades that ended up providing knowledge and lived experience in managing the daily lives of citizens was made by Mr. Giorgos Pagoulatos, Professor, Ambassador of the Delegation of Greece.

Referring to the 1929 crisis, the interwar, the 1970s, crypto and others, he added that they have conveyed practical experiences that now make investors more cautious, with Greece, especially, due to the crisis of the previous years, having also had the opportunity of an extremely painful lesson on the importance of financial balances in people’s lives.