World Report

he Athens Olympics have prompted a construction boom in Greece, an explosion of building projects that have turned the sector into the engine of country’s economic growth.
With annual turnover of more than five billion euros ($4.3 billion), the sector accounts for around 16 per cent of GDP and more than eight per cent of employment. This is expected to rise to nine billion euros ($5.6 billion), or 20 per cent of GDP, by 2004.
Although private funding is behind many construction projects, the growth of the Greek construction sector has been largely due to funds from the EU through the Second and Third Community Support Frameworks. Much of this support is directed to infrastructure projects such as highways and bridges.

Until recently, the sector comprised hundreds of small companies and there was an absence of major groups which could compete with the foreign construction giants for the major infrastructure contracts.
However, the government has moved to strengthen the sector with legislation providing incentives to encourage mergers and the formation of consortia. New guidelines introduced a higher turnover requirement for companies bidding for major government projects.
The government set January 31 as a deadline for construction companies to qualify under the guidelines. One of the last construction groups to announce a merger before the deadline was AEGEK which bought out four construction companies to meet the requirements.

“We believed that in time the large number of small companies would impede the development of this sector of the economy,” says George Ganotis, secretary general at the ministry of environment. “Now we are seeing larger construction companies, which will be better for our development.
This means we will have strong construction companies competing for infrastructure projects.”
In the past, foreign companies have been the dominant partners in joint ventures with Greek companies, but this is now changing. “Foreign companies will find strong and equal partners in Greek construction companies,” says Mr Ganotis.
Bigger companies will also be in a better position to export their know-how abroad, especially to the countries in the Balkan region.
“Many of our largest construction companies are already well-established in these countries, particularly in Serbia and Romania,” he adds.

- A legacy of improved infrastructure -

he Olympics will leave the city of Athens with a heightened international profile and an important legacy of sporting facilities. But it is the legacy of improved infrastructure that will have the most significant impact on the lives of ordinary Athenians.
“More important for the city will be the metro, the new lines of trams, new roads, the Olympic railroad, Attiki Odos, the new Athens airport and the new development of land areas. There will be a totally new image of the city.” says George Ganotis, secretary general at the ministry of environment.
“Athens was in need of a better quality of life because the city was developed without a long-term master plan during the 1960s. This is why some of the problems with traffic and the environment have happened. The Olympics provided the perfect opportunity for the improvement of the quality of life.”

The unique historical flavour of the Greek capital, with the Acropolis towering over the sprawling urban centre, make it a city like no other in the world, says Mr Ganotis. The infrastructure improvements are transforming it into an ultra-modern and cosmopolitan hub.
The state-of-the-art metro opened two years ago, covering northwestern and central Athens and linking with an old suburban system from the port of Piraeus to the northern suburbs. One of the biggest and most complex projects ever undertaken in Greece, it provides a fast and effective urban transport network that has transformed travel in the city and reduced its infamous traffic congestion.

Athens International Airport announced last month that it is out-performing the revenue targets it set before the September 11 attacks in New York. Less than a year after it opened the airport is generating annual revenue of between 250 million and 300 million euros ($218-262 million).
The airport handled 12.7 million passengers a year, compared with a business plan figure that assumed 12.1 million in the first year.
“Due to the higher number of passengers, we have a higher income and we had higher income from our commercial businesses, such as shops,” says airport chief executive Matthias Mitscherlich.
Nor is it just Athens that has infrastructure projects under development because of its involvement in the Games. Other Olympics venues that are benefitting include Thessaloniki, Patra, Volos and Irakleio.