[01]

In his address to the 11th Annual General Meeting of the Cyprus Shipping Council, read out by the Minister of Communications and Works, President Clerides stressed that the government would expedite the completion of the various measures it had been gradually introducing over the last years to this end.

"The message to the international shipping fraternity should be crystal clear: We shall not tolerate any substandard vessels in our Registry, and we shall spare no effort in achieving this important goal", the President said.

He pointed out that with Cyprus' EU accession, the European Union fleet would "become the largest trading fleet world wide", adding that "the impressive technical and operational infrastructure that has been developed among the resident shipping industry in Cyprus, will be warmly welcomed by the European shipping community".

President Clerides assured that the government "will do its utmost to secure that Cyprus remains an important international shipping centre even after its full accession into the European Union".

"I am confident that on account of the size and the strength of the shipping industry in Cyprus, the future of Cyprus shipping can only be positive and prosperous for both the industry and Cyprus in general," he said in conclusion.

[02]

In a joint communique on the results of the visit, the two ministers said that they exchanged views on a wide range of international issues and discussed the state of Ukrainian-Cypriot relations and their perspective.

The two ministers positively assessed the development of Ukrainian-Cypriot relations and in particular pointed to the progress achieved in the sphere of trade, economic and also investment cooperation during the recent years.

The parties acknowledged the importance of establishing direct links between the businessmen of both countries, as it is a crucial factor for the successful development of the Ukrainian-Cypriot economic and industrial cooperation. They agreed to further expand the legal base in this sphere.

Both parties agreed that the principles of sovereignty, territorial integrity, non-violation of state borders and human rights should be unconditionally respected.

In the course of the visit, two agreements were signed: the Agreement on Trade and Economic Cooperation and the Air Services Agreement. An accord was also reached as to the soonest conclusion of the Intergovernmental Agreement on Promotion and Protection of Investments.

[03]

Under this convention, "states undertake to provide each other with the widest measure of mutual assistance (collection of evidence, hearing of witnesses, experts and prosecuted persons, service of summons to appear etc.) The convention does not apply to arrests, the enforcement of verdicts or offences under ordinary criminal law.

The primary purpose of the Additional Protocol is to extend the Convention's application to cases of fiscal offences. The Protocol, which may be accepted in part, supplements the provisions of the convention on other points, for example the service of certain documents and the exchange of information on judicial records.

The convention on Mutual Assistance in Criminal Matters and its Additional Protocol will enter into force for Cyprus on 24 May 2000.

The purpose of the Protocol amending the European Convention on Transfrontier Television is to maintain coherence between the corresponding EU directive and the convention in the interest of legal certainty of both States and transfrontier broadcasters.

From the Republic of Cyprus Press and Information Office (PIO) Server at http://www.pio.gov.cy/

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