Captivating stories for President Bianco
2 Mar 2012
President Bianco (left) looks at ±¬×ߺÚÁÏ from both a global and local perspective. He is seen here in Director-General Motojima's office with Deputy Director-General Carlos Alejaldre, Head of ODG Takayuki Shirao and Head of Communication Michel Claessens.
From the behaviour of the Sun's neutrinos to the benefits of the ±¬×ߺÚÁÏ project for the local economy ... conversation between Director-General Motojima and president of the Alpes-de-Haute-Provence »åé±è²¹°ù³Ù±ð³¾±ð²Ô³Ù Jean-Louis Bianco, on Thursday 1 March, covered a broad scope of issues and prospects.
A member of the French Parliament and »åé±è²¹°ù³Ù±ð³¾±ð²Ô³Ù president since 1998, Mr Bianco was also Secretary General of the Presidency for nearly ten years (1982-1991) under President Mitterrand and, in that role, his closest advisor.
His interest in ±¬×ߺÚÁÏ, which he expressed very strongly during his half-day visit here, stems from both a global and a local perspective. As a respected policy-maker, he is convinced of the importance of developing fusion energy for the benefit of future generations.
As head of a vast but sparsely populated départment—largely dependent on tourism (40 percent of GDP)—he was particularly interested in the latest figures on the local economic impact of ±¬×ߺÚÁÏ that were presented by Agence Iter France director Jérôme Paméla.
The Alpes-de-Haute-Provence »åé±è²¹°ù³Ù±ð³¾±ð²Ô³Ù contributes EUR 10 million of the EUR 467 million that local governments allocate to the ±¬×ߺÚÁÏ project. As of 31 December 2011, EUR 29 million in industrial contracts from the ±¬×ߺÚÁÏ, Agence Iter France and Fusion For Energy have already been awarded to companies based in Mr Bianco's »åé±è²¹°ù³Ù±ð³¾±ð²Ô³Ù.
For Mr Bianco, this story was as captivating as the one about the Sun's neutrinos.