Athens News Agency: News in English, 03-10-09

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From: The Athens News Agency at <http://www.ana.gr/>

CONTENTS

[01] Greek and Turkish FMs announce cancellation of Greek, Turkish military

[02] PM calls PASOK party members & cadres to struggle for election victory

[03] Greece ranks top in EU for 2002 job rise

[04] Greece welcomes EU ruling on safety for ships, ports

[05] ND leader to visit Georgia and Turkey

[06] UK market shows increased interest in Greek convention tourism sector

[07] Foreign Exchange Rates: Friday

[08] Weather Forecast: Unsettled on Friday

[09] Greek stocks ease on Thursday

[01] Greek and Turkish FMs announce cancellation of Greek, Turkish military exercises

ANTALYA (ANA/F. Karaviti) - Greek Foreign Minister George Papandreou and his Turkish counterpart Abdullah Gul on Thursday jointly announced the cancellation of the Greek and Cypriot military exercises code-named ''Nikiforos'' and ''Toxotis'', as well as of Turkey's ''Tavros'' and ''Barbarosa'' exercises due to take place in the near future.

The announcement was made after their meeting here where they are participating in the Mediterranean Forum conference.

The two ministers said the decision was taken in the spirit of next year's Athens Olympic Games and of rapprochement between the two countries.

[02] PM calls PASOK party members & cadres to struggle for election victory

Prime Minister Costas Simitis on Thursday called on his pary ''to come ahead,'' while addressing the ruling PASOK party national council that met in light of the upcoming elections, which will take place, the latest in the Spring.

He called on both party officials and members to wage the political battle with work that will extend to going door-to-door for the conquest of one more victory.

The council, which is composed of the Parliamentary group of the party, the Eurodeputies of PASOK, labor union leaders, local PASOK organization leaders and prefects and mayors elected with the party ticket from around the country began its conference on Thursday and will conclude on Friday.

Simitis underlined that the preconditions exist for PASOK to wage the election battle with success and to better the lives of all Greeks, since, as he said ''we are building the tomorrow with vision and systematic work''.

He stressed that 2004 is a landmark year for both the great national and social targets, since, as he noted, the next four years will be a period of great issues being at stake.

[03] Greece ranks top in EU for 2002 job rise

BRUSSELS (ANA/B.Demiris) - Greece showed the highest percentage rise in employment among its European Union partners in 2002 versus 2001, according to a report released on Thursday on employment in the bloc.

Initiated by EU employment commissioner Anna Diamantopoulou, the report also showed that the proportion of employment in Greece, especially among women, was one of the lowest in the bloc.

The country's percentage rise in employment in 2002 was due largely to demographic reasons, especially an ageing population, which, in turn, had reduced the working population, with the number of jobs also shrinking.

Employment rose by 1.2 percent to total 56.7 percent in 2002 from 55.5 percent in 2001. The increase is six times greater than an average EU increase of 0.2 percent, the report said.

[04] Greece welcomes EU ruling on safety for ships, ports

BRUSSELS (ANA/B.Demiris) - Greece on Thursday welcomed the adoption by European Union transport ministers of new rules on safety at sea and in port.

''At the ministers' meeting (in Luxembourg), our country attained the adoption of a more flexible procedure concerning expansion of the field of application of regulations on internal maritime transportation,'' Merchant Marine Minister George Paschalidis said in a statement.

The measures approved by the International Maritime Organisation in December will be phased in starting from July 2004, Paschalidis said.

[05] ND leader to visit Georgia and Turkey

Main opposition New Democracy (ND) leader Costas Karamanlis will visit Georgia on Friday and Saturday and on Sunday will visit Ankara, where he will meet with Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

Karamanlis, in his capacity as European Peoples' Party (EPP) vice-president, will address the first congress of the ruling Justice and Development party.

During his stay in Georgia, Karamanlis will be received by the country's President Eduard Shevardnadze, with Patriarch of Georgia Ilias II and with representatives of the Greek community there.

[06] UK market shows increased interest in Greek convention tourism sector

The creation of a convention tourism office in London two years ago, improving convention infrastructure in Greece ahead of the Athens 2004 Olympic Games, private sector investments and creation of a new convention tourism office in Athens have contributed in rekindling UK interest for the Greek conference tourism market, Martin Lewis, publisher of M&IT magazine said on Wednesday.

Speaking in London, during a event organised by Greece's National Tourism Organisation's UK office at the Olympia exhibition centre, Lewis stressed that Greece, and Athens in particular, offered great prospects for convention tourism.

[07] Foreign Exchange Rates: Friday

Reference buying rates per euro released by the European Central Bank

U.S. dollar 1.188

Pound sterling 0.714

Danish kroner 7.488

Swedish kroner 9.050

Japanese yen 129.6

Swiss franc 1.562

Norwegian kroner 8.284

Cyprus pound 0.589

Canadian dollar 1.583

Australian dollar 1.717

[08] Weather Forecast: Unsettled on Friday

All parts of the country will see changeable weather, with cloud and showers. Storms are expected in the north. Winds variable, moderate to strong. In the north, temperatures will range from 4C to 15C; on the rest of the mainland from 9C to 21C; and in the Aegean islands from 14C to 22C. Temperatures in Athens between 12C and 21C; and in Thessaloniki from 8C to 15C.

[09] Greek stocks ease on Thursday

Greek stocks ended Thursday's session slightly lower after moving in tight ranges throughout the session reflecting lack of fresh incentives and directions in the Athens Stock Exchange.

The general index ended 0.11 percent down at 2,120.82 points, with turnover a strong 613.7 million euros, of which 490 million were a block trade from the transfer of National Bank's shares to institutional investors as part of a bank's plan to sell 10 percent of its equity capital.

The IT Solution (2.41 percent), IT (1.82 percent) and Holding (1.0 percent) sectors scored the biggest percentage gains of the day, while the Industrial, Publication and Bank sectors suffered the heaviest percentage losses (0.48 percent, 0.42 percent and 0.32 percent, respectively).

The FTSE/ASE 20 index for blue chip and heavy traded stocks ended 0.32 percent lower, the FTSE/ASE MID 40 index rose 0.54 percent and the FTSE/ASE SmallCap 80 index ended 0.32 percent higher.

Broadly, decliners led advancers by 151 to 141 with another 71 issues unchanged.

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