Athens Macedonian News Agency: News in English, 16-07-04

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

CONTENTS

[01] Greece, China discuss six investment proposals

[02] 6,029 second generation migrants granted Greek citizenship in last year

[03] Democratic Coalition backs electoral law changes, slams SYRIZA and ND

[04] Air passenger traffic up 4.0 pct in June

[01] Greece, China discuss six investment proposals

The proposals, to which the Chinese side appeared very positive towards, concern:

- Investments at the Thriasio Freight Center (for which a tender for its concession is currently underway), the shipyards and Kastelli, and specifically the participation of Chinese companies in tenders for Thriasio and Kastelli, as well as exploring the possibility of ship repair activity in Greece.

-Investments in banking sector

-Expanding exports of agricultural exports and food to China

-Research and innovation; creating research and development center in Greece

-Investment in tourism real estate; increase of tourism and introduction of direct flight between Athens and Beijing

-Cooperation in cultural sector and education

To promote these proposals, the two sides agreed to create a permanent Greek-Chinese committee to monitor and examine the next steps in each issue.

[02] 6,029 second generation migrants granted Greek citizenship in last year

According to ministry data, the 6,029 applications approved were among a total of 27,720 submitted around the country, while the rest 21,691 are being examined.

"The citizenship procedure for the second generation immigrants in Greece proceeds with leaps and bounds, despite minor delays due to problems in the computer systems of the interior ministry," the ministry said, adding that the procedure for pending applications from 2010 were have almost been completed.

[03] Democratic Coalition backs electoral law changes, slams SYRIZA and ND

"In DIMAR we've steadily supported establishing proportional representation. It should be noted this is one of the 50 positions of the party, which was decided in the recent meeting in May. This position … will be supported, as it is our position," the party said.

DIMAR also criticized SYRIZA, saying the ruling party has realized they will probably lose in the next election because of their dead-end policies and this is why it has brought forward this change in the law, to accommodate "petty party interests".

It also said New Democracy is trying to maintain the "unacceptable" 50-seat bonus to achieve once again "an artificial parliamentary majority".

[04] Air passenger traffic up 4.0 pct in June

Domestic passenger traffic rose 3.9 pct and international passenger traffic was up 4.0 pct in the month, while Greek passengers jumped 21 pct and foreign passengers eased 3.0 pct. Domestic passenger totaled 687,027 in June, while foreign passengers totaled 1,269,583. In the January-June period, passenger traffic totaled 8,68 million, up 8.9 pct compared with the same period last year. Domestic traffic was up 13.1 pct and international traffic rose 6.5 pct.

The number of scheduled flights totaled 85,242 in the first half of 2016, up 6.6 pct from the same period in 2015. Domestic flights grew 7.1 pct and international flights rose 6.2 pct.

In June, the number of flights was 18,745, up 4.1 pct from June 2015.

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