Grossly incorrect and unfounded. There are no Googles there, but there are plenty of mid tier companies delivering quality products. For a blatant example see e.g. Shelly in Bulgaria. Or depending on how you count South, e.g. Vinci or Eni or car producers in Italy.

And not everyone needs to succeed in industrial household names, that e.g. much of southern European economies come from tourism is not a bad thing.