Athens News Agency: News in English, 08-09-19

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

CONTENTS

[01] PM opens World Maritime event

[02] ASE bounces back

[01] PM opens World Maritime event

Opening the event, which was organized by the Merchant Marine ministry at the Evgenidio Foundation, Karamanlis described the IMO as "an example of multi-sided and institutional cooperation".

Karamanlis pledged that Greece would assist IMO in every way towards attracting young people to the maritime sector, and support efforts for speedy introduction of new technologies.

Stressing that it was an honor for Greece to be hosting the events celebrating World Maritime Day, the prime minister reiterated that Greece would back IMO's efforts in very way.

Greetings were also addressed by merchant marine minister Anastasis Papaligouras, who stressed that IMO was successfully meeting the demands of the times.

The official international celebration of World Maritime Day is the traditional diplomatic reception held annually at IMO's headquarters in London, with national events taking place in many countries throughout the world, but since 2005 an official parallel celebration is hosted in a different IMO member country each year, with Greece the host of the official parallel events of the 2008 celebration.

The past host cities have been Lisbon, Singapore and Sao Paolo.

IMO secretary general Efthimios Mitropoulos, addressing the event, noted that this year it was Athens' turn to host the parallel celebration, adding that it was a pleasant conjuncture that IMO was celebrating its 60th anniversary in the service of maritime, in 2008, in a country with a top maritime tradition.

Mitropoulos stressed the strong environmental awareness of modern-day shipping and pledged that one of IMO's fundamental priorities will be to reduce gas emissions by merchant vessels, while he also outlined IMO's significant initiatives for combating the phenomenon of modern-day ship piracy.

The parallel celebration closes on Saturday with special events in Galaxidi.

The United Nations (UN), via the International Maritime Organization (IMO), created World Maritime Day to celebrate the international maritime industry's contribution towards the world's economy, especially in shipping. The event's date varies by year and country but it is always on the last week of September. The IMO will celebrate World Maritime Day on September 25 in 2008.

The theme for World Maritime Day 2008 is "IMO: 60 years in the service of shipping". This theme was chosen as an appropriate way in which to celebrate the 60th anniversary of the adoption of the IMO Convention (1948) and the 50th anniversary of its entry into force (1958). The celebrations will coincide with the 100th session of the IMO Council, which will be held from 16 to 20 June 2008 and, at the same time, with the Organization's return to its refurbished Headquarters building.

Caption: ANA-MPA file photo of Prime Minister Costas Karamanlis

[02] ASE bounces back

Individual sector indices were moving upward across the board, with the biggest gains in Banks, up 8.23 percent; Food & Beverage, up 5.16 percent; Technology, up 4.85 percent; and Insurance, up 4.60 percent.

The FTSE/ASE 20 index for blue chip and heavily traded stocks was up 5.65 percent, the FTSE/ASE MID 40 index was up 4.05 percent, and the FTSE/ASE-80 small cap index was up 2.36 percent.

Of the stocks moved, 146 were up, 4 were down, and 65 were unchanged.

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