A ‘strategic investor’
Stergios Ganatsios, an atomic physicist and the TEI president assesses the impact of the measures: «The main impact of the measure will be on the economy. For us, in the short term, and if the TEI colleges are also upgraded, they might become more attractive to students, and this might help. However, over the last few years the number of schools and students has increased considerably. Here education is interlinked with the economy because, quite simply, it produces economy. From 1999 to 2005 the Regional Operational Programme (ROP) for Western Macedonia amounted to 570 million euros, of which 480 came from state capital and 90 from the private sector. In the same period, due to the TEI, capital input exceeded 1,460 million euros. If the money does not come from the TEI, it must come from somewhere else. We’re talking about a sum of over 4.5 billion euros. «In short, the TEI was a strategic investor in the region. Of course, as is common in Greece, the capital which reached the area was not managed in the best way in terms of development.»
