.. MigrEst Project ..

The Greek partner, i.e. the Municipality of Thessaloniki, operates in the region of Central Macedonia, which appears to be particularly active in managing the problems connected with the immigration flows. This is also due to its location in a region – Kentriki Makedonia - which is one of the most dynamic in terms of economic trends.

This region has faced problems arising from new flows of migration coming from the CEEC. This is a phenomenon known as “new migration”, where the term ‘new’ includes immigrant-sending countries (like the former socialist countries) and new destinations, e.g. Europe and especially the Southern part of the European Union. The “new” Greek migration is definitely a justified characterization, because of its peculiarities. Immigrants are mostly employed in the informal or tertiary economy, (before they were mostly employed in large-scale industries). Their social status is at the end of the social scale with little opportunities of amelioration, they are not organized in trade unions, and lastly, the new migration is feminized with serious changes in the patterns of gender migration.

Nevertheless, there is no doubt that the major question stemming from the extent of immigration in Greece is the potential of the Greek labour market to absorb the influx of these immigrants. In this context, the Municipality of Thessaloniki gave a positive answer to the presence of foreigners on the territory, creating those indispensable social conditions to receive and to integrate, transforming the worries and the suspicion towards the foreigners in wealth for the country and its economy.

The Municipality of Thessaloniki will be interested in new social and economic growth and its economy will continue to supply workplaces. With time, it will be involved in pensions, women and minors, diminishing the rate of regional unemployment. Immigrants will be an important support for the companies and will at first increase their presence in the Macedonian production sector filling those workplaces rejected by the local labour, and subsequently in the qualified posts.

The Region of Kentriki Makedonia border area is facing the most difficult situation in term of income, human capital, labour market. Moreover, in Kentriki Makedonia the unemployment rate is quite high (11.7%), while the per capita income is only 66% of the national average.

Veneto is one of the more dynamic regions in Italy with nearly 2 million employees (799,000 of them in manufactory), about 450.000 enterprises and an unemployment rate of approximately 3,4%.

Among the regions of the North-East of Italy, Veneto had an important economic development, also in the international markets. The regional economic system is composed by small and medium enterprises, mainly organized in industrial clusters.
The system took advantage from the network organization of the territorial context and from the opportunities offered by the positive international dynamics at the beginning of the ’90.
The enterprises developed and strengthened a productive system based on flexibility and innovation. The engineering, the textile and the wood industries represent the most important productive specializations in Veneto (Unioncamere, 2003).

In the region there is the co-presence of specializations typical of Made in Italy (textile, footwear, furniture) with others characterised by an high innovative content. However, SMEs have been able to invest in process and product innovation also in more traditional fields, increasing the quality of their output and succeeding in local and international markets.

In 1994-1999 the employment rate in manufacturing increased, thanks also to the positive economic trend.
Since 2000 employees in manufacturing has decreased in favour of services; in fact, in a general framework with an high presence of manufacturing, Veneto has to face the challenge of reorganising the production system towards an higher presence of services, able to sustain innovation and high value production in the region.