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Cyprus PIO: News Update in English, 03-01-30
From: The Republic of Cyprus Press and Information Office Server at <http://www.pio.gov.cy/>
[01]Thursday, 30 January 2003 President Clerides speaks at inauguration of
Finance Ministry building
[02] UN-led direct peace talks continue
[01] President Clerides speaks at inauguration of Finance Ministry
building
"The Cypriot economy is growing at a quick rate, Cyprus fulfils the
Maastricht criteria for economic stability, while the social policy is
being upgraded constantly", the President of the Republic, Mr. Glafcos
Clerides, stated yesterday. Speaking at the inauguration ceremony of the
Finance Ministry's new building, President Clerides stressed that "the
rapid economic and social progress has been one of the key foundations of
Cyprus' successful EU accession course; an accession that is recognised by
everyone as the biggest achievement since Cyprus' independence".
Referring to economic indicators, in particular, Mr. Clerides noted that
Cyprus' per capita income was approaching ?10,000 a year, a figure which
was comparatively much higher than all the other candidate states, and even
higher than that of some EU member states. Moreover, he said that during
the last five years, the Cypriot economy had reached a high rate of growth
of almost 4%, while maintaining full employment conditions.
Cyprus has also managed to comply with the Maastricht criteria, the
President added, noting that "this development signifies that we are ready
to join the EU's Economic and Monetary Union (EMU) as soon as possible". On
the Cyprus problem, Mr. Clerides pointed out that "our homeland is going
through a period of critical, decisive significance", adding that "we must
continue to make careful steps to complete our EU accession course." "We
cannot afford to experiment and make mistakes, because mistakes could delay
our EU accession", he said and expressed the wish for a solution to the
Cyprus problem through the intensive UN-led negotiations now underway.
[02] UN-led direct peace talks continue
The President of the Republic of Cyprus, Mr. Glafcos Clerides, and the
Turkish Cypriot leader, Mr. Rauf Denktash, had another meeting yesterday,
in the presence of the UN Secretary-General's Special Adviser on Cyprus,
Mr. Alvaro de Soto, who had returned earlier yesterday from Turkey, where
he met with Turkish officials. The meeting took place in the context of the
UN-led direct talks for reaching an agreement on a comprehensive settlement
of the Cyprus problem, on the basis of the revised UN solution plan,
submitted by the Secretary-General on 10 December 2002.
According to a UN press release, the meeting took place at the Ledra Palace
Hotel, in the UN-controlled buffer zone in Nicosia, instead of the usual
place of meeting in the UN-protected area of the Nicosia airport, as a
precautionary measure, after the office of Mr. De Soto received a piece of
mail from overseas yesterday containing a suspicious white powder. It was
later confirmed, after tests had been carried out, that the powder did not
contain any dangerous substances.
From the Republic of Cyprus Press and Information Office (PIO) Server at http://www.pio.gov.cy/
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