Opening address: European Local Association Conference, Athens

Overview

After a very difficult few years for the Greek economy, businesses now tentatively say that they have started to see a few, still tender green shoots emerging.

Mr French emphasises the importance of transportation infrastructure, which allows markets for labour, good and services to work efficiently and to the benefit of all, as well as a multitude of social, education, medical and other interactions.

Better transport networks and services allow all these things to happen more productively – and malfunctioning transport networks and services hamper the economy and our quality of life. Civil engineers have a crucial role to play in helping countries to recovery from economic difficulties.