Athens News Agency: News in English, 06-07-03

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

CONTENTS

[01] Economy's progress satisfactory, finmin tells prime minister

[02] Papandreou meets PASOK local election candidates

[03] Sioufas urges closer cooperation with Technical Chamber

[04] Government stresses support for education minister

[05] PM confers with Athens mayoral candidate Kaklamanis

[01] Economy's progress satisfactory, finmin tells prime minister

He said that the state of the economy was developing satisfactorily, as indicated both by the growth rate and the reduction in the unemployment rate, Alogoskoufis told reporters.

Alogoskoufis added that the implementation of the budget was within the predictions for the first half of the year, and anticipated that progress would be even better in the second half.

The minister noted that there was improvement in the economic indicators, which would become apparent also in the ability of satisfying the social demands within the framework of the ruling New Democracy party's (ND) platform.

He further said that the 'rationale of grants and grant-mongering' was "outside the rationale of the present government".

[02] Papandreou meets PASOK local election candidates

The meeting was attended by Panagiotis Fasoulas, Rovertos Spyropoulos, Nora Katseli and Costas Skandalidis, while current Athens-Piraeus super-prefect Fofi Gennimata (who is standing for re-election) and the president of the Central Union of Municipalities and Communities of Greece (KEDKE) Paris Koukoulopoulos were absent for "personal reasons".

The meeting focused on the progress of their respective election campaigns.

[03] Sioufas urges closer cooperation with Technical Chamber

Addressing a conference, organised by the Technical Chamber of Greece, the Greek minister said he would present -along with Education Minister Marieta Giannakou- a draft legislation on research and technology on Wednesday.

The Greek state cannot afford to lose the knowledge and ideas of around 100,000 Greek engineers, the main source of knowledge, inspiration and creativity, Sioufas said and urged for a permanent cooperation between the ministry and the Technical Chamber in reviewing technical standards for products purchased by the public sector, certifying education, promoting an energy identity of buildings, supervising industry facilities, ensuring the participation of Technical Chamber's representatives in agencies promoting the improvement of business environment in the country.

[04] Government stresses support for education minister

Commenting on the results of nationwide university entrance examinations, in which tens of thousands of candidates - some 42 per cent of the total - failed to get available places in tertiary education, Antonaros said that the specific law establishing a minimum pass mark was passed the previous year and applied since last October.

"Some who belatedly discovered the law are just trying to create confusion," he said, stressing that a disputed paragraph in a government circular was identical to the wording of the relevant article in the law.

Antonaros noted that this demanded that candidates achieve at least 10,000 points or a pass mark greater than 10 (out of a total of 20) in order to be eligible to attend university-level courses.

Regarding the 42 percent of candidates that were excluded from university studies, Antonaros stressed that the majority of bodies, parties and the public wanted higher standards in tertiary education and that this requirement did not fit in with later demands that candidates with very low marks should be eligible to get into university.

[05] PM confers with Athens mayoral candidate Kaklamanis

Kaklamanis outlined to the prime minister what he anticipated personally, but also what the city expected, from the government, regardless of who won the mayoral seat in October's local government elections.

In statements to the press after the one-hour meeting, held at the mayoral candidate's requestion, Kaklamanis said that the talks also covered the institutional changes that needed to be made, with the focus on the metropolitan structure of the municipality.

He said that they further discussed the city's finances, and mainly what funds Athens could seek from the EU's Fourth Community Support Framework (CSF), which Kaklamanis was also due to discuss with national economy and finance minister George Alogoskoufis.

Kaklamanis further said that more green areas would be created in Athens, noting that the preceding municipal authority had also committed itself to this.

The mayoral candidate thanked both Alogoskoufis and environment, town planning and public works minister George Souflias for the funds provided for the landscaping of the Votanikos area, which includes the construction of a soccer field for the city's team (Panathinaikos soccer club).

Kaklamanis noted that he would discuss with Souflias the new regulatory plan for the city, the environmental strategy -- which he clarified concerns not only sanitation but also traffic -- and green areas in Athens, and in the Attica prefecture in general.

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