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EPIRUS
GEOGRAPHY AND DEMOGRAPHY
Epirus is a mountainous region comprising the northwest corner of Greece between the country's largest mountain range, the Pindos, on the east and the Ionian Sea on the west; to the north the international border separates the region from Albania. The region ha san extension of 9.203 square km, and a population of 373.420 inhabitants with a density of 40 persons per square km.
INFRASTRUCTURE
Epirus is the most mountainous region in Greece, with very little flat land, most of it being at the mouths of the rivers. There are few roads of great communication. The most important way of communication is with Albania, which enhances the importance of the region, for Greece and for the rest of Europe. The region has two major ports, Igoumenitsa and Preveza, for exporting its products and handling goods in general.
ECONOMY
The mountainous terrain and poor soil have contributed to the region's economic backwardness, resulting in a flood of emigration to the major urban centres. Industry is not highly developed, with small units, mainly in the food sector, processing local products. Transport, communications, the distributive trades, and banking and insurance contribute 21.6% of Epirus' GDP.

The other sectors - housing, public administration, health, education, social security, etc., which belong to the public sector - contribute 25.7% of the region's GDP. Per-capita GDP (9.977 in K EUR) is below the national average; at less than half the Community average, Epirus has the lowest level of per-capita GDP in Greece.
LABOUR MARKET
The employment rate is 10% of the workforce, with an unemployment rate reaching 11%. In the region there are 20.000 persons working in agriculture, 10.000 in the industrial sector and 50.000 in the services one.
RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT
No data, at the moment.
DATA RELATED TO REGIONAL STRUCTURAL FUNDS MECHANISMS
The region belongs to EU objective 1.
REGIONAL PROGRAMME OF INNOVATIVE ACTIONS (RPIA)
 The European Commission approveded Euro 1.046 million for a regional programme of innovative actions “ENTI” (Entrepreneurship Through Innovation in Epirus) for the Greek region of Epirus. During the period 2003- 2005, the European funding attracted Euro 0.284 million in further investment from the public sector and Euro 0.05 million from the private sector creating total resources of Euro 1.38 million. The ENTI programme promoted innovative entrepreneurship through the identification of innovative opportunities and the application of innovative techniques.

Actions of the ENTI programme aspired to develop some risky and innovative action lines for the support of entrepreneurship in the region.
Seven main lines of actions were planned:

  • Identification and promotion of new investment opportunities for the creation of new enterprises mainly in the services industry, as a result of infrastructures development in the region;
  • Pilot application of innovative training methods for the creation and support of innovative entrepreneurship;
  • Promotion and diffusion of private capital in the region;
  • Pilot promotion of e-commerce and information management to local firms;
  • Implementation of a regional foresight exercise;
  • Creation of an innovation policy interface committee;
  • Development of an awareness campaign.