Socio-Political Evaluation of Greece‘s Western Thrace Economy
Where is Western Thrace?
Geographic
Western Thrace, which is one of the nine geographic regions of Greece, is surrounded by: Evros (Meriç) River and Turkey in the east, the Nestos (Karasu) River, which is bordered from Macedonia in the west, Rodop mountains and Bulgaria in the north, the Aegean Sea in the south.
short PROFILE
-With a 8,578 kilometer square area includes three distinct cities of İskeçe (Xanthi), Gümülcine (Komotini), Dedeağaç (Alexandropolis).
-The population in Western Thrace is about 350,000, and the number of Turks in the region is nearly 150,000.
-The Western Thrace Turkish Minority has never been strong in economic terms.
-Today, Western Thrace is still the poorest and the most backward region in Greece.
-Almost 80% of the households among Western Thrace Turkish Minority, which is depended on the land, are engaged in agriculture and animal husbandry.
-Therefore, the only source of living of the people in the region is the limited land in their hand.
-Until the end of the 1990’s, the trade in the region was maintained by the traders of Athens and Thessalonica.
-The lack of knowledge of the middle age traders in the region about the middle and big scale trade caused them to consider big scale investments as risky.
-The theoretical knowledge and experience of the traders in Western Thrace is passive to a great extent.
-Because the young generation in Western Thrace is trilingual, it can form an intermediary part for the development of trade volume between the two countries.
The Bourgas - Alexandroupolis
Oil Pipeline
The company with the operating and management rights is a Luxembourg-based multinational consortium that will have offices in Greece and Bulgaria. Russia will have a 51% share in the project, more than the other partner countries Greece and Bulgaria (49%).
The Financing of the Pipeline
Under the framework of INTERREG II, EU Commission, between 1994 and 1999, provided 1.9mn Euro for project planning and 2.7mn Euro for all the costs in the project.
The aim is to refuel from the Caspian Sea to the European Union under the guarantee of EU energy.
The proposed amount of investment for Greece will 354mn Euro will be set for Greece and 125mn Euro of this amount will be invested for Alexandroupolis (Dedeagac) region.
The Geostrategic Importance of the Pipeline and its contribution to the preservation of the nature
The Ambo - Pipeline Project will be longer (ca four folds) than the “Burgaz (Bourgas) – Dedeagac (Alexandroupoli) Oil Pipeline” with a seriously higher cost.
However, the Ambo-Pipeline Project is considered necessary and important due to strategic reasons.
290 km pipeline is expected to alleviate the traffic in Bosporus and Dardanelles, thus reducing the risk of accident in Bosporus and Dardanelles.
According to the study of EU-Marine Oil Pollution in 2005, North Aegean Sea and Thrace Sea is under the risk of pollution. It is speculated that the “Bourgas – Alexandroupolis Oil Pipeline” will increase the pollution in the region.
In addition to the risk of sea pollution, ballast water (the sunk water mixed with oil remained after the cleaning of the tanks) also creates serious environmental concerns (ECOCORFU: Environmental Organization).
Agriculture in the EU and Western Thrace
-The annual EU budget is around 90bn Euro and 45bn Euro is reserved for “EU Common Agriculture Policy”, the amount which is equal to the 54% of the EU budget.
-The protectionist attitude of the EU towards farmers is not only against the rules of the World Trade Organization, however the aim of this policy is to maintain price stability and prevent fluctuations in food prices. in EU countries, UK and the US while this share rises to 2.5% in Germany.
-In a healthy economy the shares of population that are engaged in economy, industry, services and agriculture should not exceed 20%, 75% and 5%, respectively.
-More than 80% of the Western Thrace economy is based on agriculture, and more than 80% of this amount depends on the tobacco production.
-75% of the economic activities is run by Greek majority whereas 25% is by the Turkish Minority and such unfair distribution of economic activities seems to be the main reason behind the current underdevelopment of Western Thrace.
Distribution of economic support to East Macedonia – Western Thrace
Per Capita GDP in East Macedonia – Western Thrace (2002 - 2004)
GNP of GREECE
EU average: 100%
Recommendations FOR
Strengthening the Economy in Western Thrace
-The economy should be re-structured to effect a positive improvement in the economy in Western Thrace.
-The only way to protect the Western Thrace farmers from the manipulation of traders is to organize them.
-The hidden unemployment in agriculture should be diminished.
-Development of economic and trade relations between the Turkish minorities in Greek Western Thrace and South Bulgaria under the framework of “EU INTERREG III” programs.
-There needs to provide investment in Western Thrace with economic organizations and to establish contact with financial and incentive institutions.
-The share of the nationalist capital will shrink if the liberal capital achieves to get embedded with the economy that will increase the share of minorities in the national economy, especially in the services sector.
The Change
in the Regional Prosperity Index in the EU
The reasons behind the unfair distribution of EU funds and the limited participation of the Minority members could be represented in 2 factors:
1. Socio-economic marginalization
-The socio-economic marginalization means direct economic discrimination toward the institutions or individuals due to ethnic and religious differences.
-We should mention one point that the responsibility of such unfair distribution of the funds belongs mainly to the local authorities and the civil servants.
2. Concrete features of the Muslim Turkish community
-The socio-cultural reasons are mainly related to the some concrete characteristic features of the Minority members such as abstention from demanding the funds from the public institutions in the region.
-The main reason behind that passivism is the long-lasting suppression policy on the Turkish Minority, leading to social fear and sociological complexes.
Comparison: EU’s regio GDP - GR regio GDP
| 2004 EU, Countries and Regions |
GDP
(m Euro) |
GDP per Capita(€) |
GDP Purchasing Power (Euro) |
GDP per Capita Purchasing Power (Euro) |
Ratio of GDP per Capita Purchasing Power to EU-2 |
| EU-27
|
10.529.351
|
21.503 |
10.529.351 |
21.503 |
100 |
| Greece
|
168.417
|
15.222
|
201.864
|
18.245
|
84,8
|
|
East Macedonia-Western Thrace
|
6.174
|
10.173
|
7.400
|
12.193
|
56,7
|
|
Western Macedonia
|
3.313
|
11.248
|
3.971
|
13.482
|
62,7
|
|
Middle Macedonia
|
23.372
|
12.231
|
28.014
|
14.660
|
68,2
|
Economy General OUTLOOK: GREECE
|
Economy (US $)
|
2000
|
2005
|
2006
|
|
GNP (BSP)
|
125,8 Billion
|
220.3 Billion
|
222.0 Billion
|
|
GDP (BIP)
|
114.6 Billion
|
225.2 Billion
|
226.0 Billion
|
|
Purchasing Power Parity
|
11.530.0
|
19.840,0
|
19.800
|
|
Growth
|
4,5
|
3,7
|
3,5
|
|
Inflation
|
3,4
|
3,7
|
3,8
|
|
Share of Agriculture in GDP (%)
|
7,3
|
5,2
|
5,2
|
|
Share of Industry in GDP (%)
|
21,4
|
20,8
|
20,5
|
|
Share of Services in GDP (%)
|
71,3
|
74,0
|
74,1
|
|
Share of Export in GDP (%)
|
25,0
|
20,8
|
20,5
|
|
Share of Import in GDP (%)
|
35,9
|
28,0
|
28,0
|
|
Share of Investment in GDP (%)
|
23,4
|
23,8
|
23,8
|
|
Share of Government Revenues in GDP (%)
|
45,6
|
41,7
|
41,7
|
|
Budget Deficit (Budget Surplus)
|
-4,1
|
-5,1
|
-5,1
|
|
Share of Trade in GDP (%)
|
39,5
|
31,5
|
31,3
|
(Un-) Employment
|
|
Employment in Total Labour Force
|
Unemployment Rate
|
|
Cities
|
1991 (%)
|
1996(%)
|
2001
(%)
|
1991 (%
|
1996(%)
|
2001
(%)
|
|
Athens
|
57.9
|
61.2
|
64.4
|
8.6
|
9.0
|
9.4
|
|
Thessaloniki
|
53.2
|
55.7
|
|
8.3
|
9.6
|
|
|
Petra
|
53.2
|
55.1
|
|
11.1
|
13.4
|
|
|
Iraklion
|
56.9
|
59.8
|
|
7.4
|
9.0
|
|
|
Larisa
|
54.8
|
56.7
|
|
8.6
|
9.6
|
|
|
Volos
|
53.6
|
55.9
|
|
9.9
|
10.9
|
|
|
Yanya
|
51.2
|
54.5
|
|
12.8
|
12.9
|
|
|
Kavala
|
54.0
|
56.4
|
|
10.3
|
11.1
|
|
|
Kalamata
|
57.7
|
58.2
|
|
9.4
|
10.8
|
|
|
Komotini
|
(52.0)
|
(54.0)
|
(54.0)
|
(13.0)
|
(13.5)
|
(14.0)
|
|
Xanthi
|
|
|
|
(10.9)
|
(11.3)
|
(12.0)
|
Gross Share of the Provinces
in Western Thrace in Greece’s GDP
|
(Million Euro)
|
2000
|
2002
|
2004
|
2000
|
2002
|
2004
|
2000
|
2004
|
2004
|
|
Dedeagac | Alexandropolis
|
185
|
175
|
174
|
383
|
357
|
451
|
943
|
1.062
|
1.230
|
|
İskece | Xanthi
|
108
|
95
|
112
|
307
|
381
|
431
|
513
|
581
|
699
|
|
Gümülcine | Komotini
|
158
|
149
|
151
|
246
|
306
|
306
|
519
|
594
|
698
|
|
Drama
|
102
|
122
|
115
|
176
|
160
|
188
|
563
|
625
|
730
|
|
Florina
|
84
|
97
|
94
|
143
|
143
|
187
|
291
|
305
|
373
|
