Fanny Palli-Petralia Alternate Minister of Culture

PM Communications: Ms. Petralia, first and foremost allow us to thank you for taking the time to meet with us. You were responsible for the organization of the successful Olympic Games last year. How do you feel the Olympic Games represented the best of Greek culture and what do you think were their main achievements?

Ms. Petralia: As the President of IOC, Mr. Jacques Rogge predicted, the Olympic Games in Athens were the 'dream games' and I believe that they represented Greece and the Greek people the way they are today. Although we do have a great respect for our culture and history, we wanted to show the world that we are a modern, dynamic country continuously reinventing itself. No one expected us to do so well but we worked hard and it turned out to be a great success. We rebuilt the country's reputation and developed the new image of Greece on one side and the national confidence and pride on the other. Post-Olympic Greece is an entirely new country.

PM Communications: As you mentioned earlier you are already collaborating with China. London is hosting the Olympics in 2012, what are the main lessons you can share with London?

Ms. Petralia: I have met Lord Coe, the President of the London Organizing Committee several times and I must say he did a very good job during the bid. He has invited me to visit London and I plan to do so soon. I sent him a letter asking for the signature of an MOU for cooperation between our two governments. There are so many important details to ensure a successful Olympic Games. It is not only about the venues and the infrastructure, the secret is in the coordination. London has an amazing project but there is a lot of work to be done, as this is the biggest event any country can stage. Although I am convinced that the British, and London in particular have achieved great things, this will be the biggest and the most difficult project that you have ever had to accomplish.

I do not believe in lessons. I believe in sharing the experience and this experience has to be adapted to the particular country. The most important advice I could give is not to waste a single day. Each day towards the Games is extremely important. 2012 seems very distant now, but in fact time is very precious and you cannot afford the luxury of losing as much as a day.

PM Communications: The focus has now switched to the post-Olympic development. How are you making sure that the material and immaterial legacy benefits a new generation of Greeks?

Ms. Petralia: The Games have left a rich legacy in both material and immaterial terms. The material legacy is these modern venues, all of which are newly built and are permanent fixtures. On the other hand, we have made immaterial gains in the form of the pride we now have and the new image of Greece abroad. Every Greek person participated in making the Games successful and this is important. This renewed sense of self-confidence is a major benefit.

In terms of the Olympic properties, we now have a number of venues that are yet to be exploited. Ideally, you should plan for how you will integrate the Olympic venues and facilities before you even start building them. The previous government spent large sums on the venues' construction but did not draw up any economic viability studies for them. When the New Democracy government came to power we passed a bill in Parliament for the development of all these venues and have decided that we will keep most of the venues as they were originally built, except for two that will lose their sports facilities. For each installation we have designed a plan. Since the bill was passed last June, we have several international tenders underway, and we hope to announce the successful conclusion of several tenders in the next few months.

We have three goals besides development: to improve people's lifestyle, create new jobs and for the legacy to be used by the people. Now we have five tenders. For example, on the sea front of Faliro stands one of the most beautiful buildings. This one will be transformed into the Metropolitan Convention Center of the area. Athens is a big metropolis, yet it still lacks a sizeable convention center, particularly with such a unique location.

Close to that is the beach volley arena that will be transformed into a theatre for all cultural events. Opposite, there is the marina that is already being used as the National Center for Sailing. Other projects include the IBC building where the broadcasting was taking place. We do not yet know what the proposal for its future is, but we know that it will certainly hold the Museum of Hellenic Olympic Games, because Greece founded the Olympic Games, held the first modern Games in 1896, followed by the so-called "Middle Olympic games" in 1906. This event was very important because the Olympics in 1900 and 1904 in San Louis were unsuccessful and it was a very bad period for the renovation of the Olympics. The International Olympic Committee had said, "No," yet we organized the games against their will. 18 countries participated that year and we have a lot of documentation from 1906. This year we celebrate the 100th anniversary. We are going to host an exhibition of the Olympics of 1906 in Greece and those of 2004. It will be in the form of an interactive museum of the Hellenic Olympic Committees located at the heart of the Olympics, in our Stadium. Also, in the IBC building we will host the International Museum of Athletics for which we have already signed an MOU with IAAF.

PM Communications: What is the criterion of evaluating the bids the people are making for these various installations? What will make you decide on one bid rather than another, because we understand it is not a monetary issue?

Ms. Petralia: First of all, we take into account the quality of life of the Greek people surrounding the venues. It's not so much a question of money because all these venues cost a lot and we will never be able to recover the money injected. However, you can improve, develop and find financing for the management of all these facilities. The cost of maintaining them is one hundred thousand million euros per annum; it's a huge amount. That is why through the tenders and the development, the investors are going to be in charge of the maintenance and operation. On the other hand, we are going to keep the sports venues because we would like to offer Greek youths more sport facilities. Greece, although a small country has a long history in sports and many Olympic medals, which I think is very impressive and we want to further improve on this aspect of our culture.

PM Communications: Are there any particular areas that you wish to highlight to British investors, any particular installation that you think could be of particular interest to them?

Ms. Petralia: I believe it is important to highlight the canoe-kayak installation in Helleniko. It is a very big area, several times bigger than Hyde Park. The old airport used to be located in Helleniko and now it is going to be transformed into a metropolitan park and a water park.

We want to turn Greece into an international center for cultural and sport events. Therefore, we have already hosted the International Championship of Canoe-Kayak, Handball, Beach Volley, the Cup of Track and Field in 2006, and the Football League. We have also transformed some of these venues into training centers; for example, the rowing competition took place in a beautiful park outside of Athens.

Also, the venue where all the sailing races took place, the marina of Agios Kosmas, is going to be transformed into one of the biggest marinas of the Mediterranean with infrastructure for a great number of boats, spaces for people, small hotels and suites. We are very proud of the beachfront that stretches from Piraeus to Sounio, foreigners tell us that it is one of the most beautiful seafronts of the Mediterranean. This brings sport and culture tourism, which is very important for the country's economy.

Despite Athens being the capital, due to the lack of Convention Center, we had fewer and fewer people coming and spending time in the city over the last few years. But, since the Olympic Games, Athens has become more attractive and the number of tourists staying in the capital is steadily increasing. There is a great deal to gain from hosting the Games, as it allows a country to achieve in a short period of time things that would usually take several years.

PM Communications: What are your particular responsibilities vis-à-vis the unified cultural policy?

Ms. Petralia: The Ministry of Culture plays a very important role and has a many goals to achieve. Culture is in Greek's DNA and we are very familiar with our history and tradition. I don't think you can find even one small village without ruins or something related to the history of our civilization. Our job at the Ministry is to preserve and highlight that entire legacy. However, we also strive to showcase our contemporary culture as it is very rich in music, dance, theatre, painting, etc.

In Greece there is a union between culture and education. Even in schools we now encourage the development of artistic skills and Olympic education hand in hand. This was a lesson before the games and we decided to maintain it in schools because Olympism is something larger than the Olympic Games. When we speak about Olympism we speak of values, it is not only a question of sport. Ancient Greece started with the very first Olympic Games as cultural games and over time they transformed into a sport games as well. That's why we count the original Olympic Games from 776 BC because this was the time when Herodotus, the father of history, narrated for the first time his history in Ancient Olympia under the olive tree that still stands. When we talk about Olympism, we mean the solidarity between people, the respect, friendship, peace, and democracy.

Loukianus, an ancient author, narrates a conversation between Solon "the father of law" and Anaharsis. Anaharsis was a barbarian, as Loukianus said in his book. At that time barbarian was the name given to someone who couldn't speak Greek and did not have a Greek education. So he was skithes, which meant 'from the other continent'. He was the son of a king, the king of skithes. He came to be educated and then he went with Solon to Ancient Olympia. Anaharsis saw the men, trying very hard for days and he asked Solon: "I cannot understand why these very strong men tries so hard for nothing, just for some olive leaves. It is incredible". Being the son of a very wealthy king at the time, he could not understand. Solon said to him: "Yes, but amidst all these leaves are woven the eternal values of friendship, peace, democracy, solidarity, values that mankind will strive for as long as he lives". So these eternal values are what we mean when speaking of Olympism. It's the Olympic spirit, something more than just the Olympic Games.