The challenges of doing business in the borderlands

We had just begun our conversation with Loukia Saranti when a Thessaloniki MP known for his outgoing manner dropped by, prompting me to introduce my guest. "You think I don't know the iron lady of industry?" he responded, exchanging greetings with Saranti. 

The head of the Greek Industrial Association (SVE), the first woman to hold the post, did not react to the moniker, but I felt compelled to ask, "Is the suggestion that you run a tight ship flattering?" 

"I couldn't care less and, anyway, it's not the first time I'm hearing it. Kathimerini first gave me the title, in fact, in an interview in 1994, when [my family's wood-processing company Akritas] ranked among the country's 100 most profitable. There weren't many women industrialists back then," Saranti responded.

I had asked Saranti to lunch at a Thessaloniki restaurant so we could discuss her work at SVE...