agreement of the two communities.

The US Official, who met with Foreign Minister Giorgos Papandreou yesterday, was called to comment on the increase of Turkish military in the occupied territories, and stressed that the US is always in favor of the decreasing of military presence on the island.

"We always insisted on restraint, self restraint which both sides will have to show, in order to achieve the desired result. The issue of a limited military presence has been raised in these discussions. Both sides were always discouraged on disturbing t he existing situation, meaning that they were discouraged from increasing military presence and equipment on the island", he underlined.

Referring to the same issue, the Foreign Minister underlined that "any actions have the character of either increasing military force, or of creating an atmosphere that could undermine peace talks, they are dead ends, because what is finally necessary is

for the occupation to stop, for there to be a fair solution, in the best interest of both sides, both for the Turkish Cypriots and the Greek Cypriots, in a European perspective".

Mr. Papandreou repeated that there is a truly historical opportunity for all sides to win, through Cyprus' course of accession, and finding a fair and viable solution on the Cyprus problem.

The Special Coordinator of the State Department, who will travel to Cyprus after visiting Ankara and Athens, expressed neither optimism nor pessimism on the progress of resolving the Cyprus problem.

According to the research, the advertisement of Greece's tourist product has so far not had the expected results when compared to capital expended, as mentioned in press releases.

In 1997, Greece, according to the report, received $126.9 per dollar of advertisement expenses, in contrast to Italy's $455.1 and Spain's 372.2$, and despite the fact that advertisements for Greece were comparatively more expensive than those of its comp etitors.

To reverse this phenomenon, the ITEP report mentions that there must be, among other things, a better utilization of submarkets, that a long term marketing strategy is adopted, that funds are divided, and 50% goes to advertisement, while the other 50% go es to other promotional actions.

Office last night.

In his short positioning, Prime Minister Kostas Simitis stressed that the Organizational Conference must be a leading political event, which will mark the consolidation with which PASOK will fight for the municipal elections in October.

He also stressed that the resignation of Alekos Papadopoulos and the shootings outside the Prime Ministerial residence have caused problems, and he suggested the cycle of introversion ends.

Mr. Fotiadis and other members of the party were caught by surprise when it was announced by Mr. Avramopoulos that the Movement of Free Citizens will suspend its operation. Mr. Fotiadis stated that he feels betrayed and accused Mr. Avramopoulos of loweri ng the flag which is not fit for people with a free will and love for their ideas.

The Prime Minister appeared optimistic regarding the efforts aimed at dealing with unemployment, the strengthening of the national defense and the strengthening of economy and society in general. He underlined however, that significant steps are necessar y for the strengthening of competitiveness, development and social justice and solidarity.

Mr. Simitis stated referring to his government ministers that they should focus on the promotion of the government work for the results to be seen by the people.

A ten-member delegation headed by Ahmet Ciger visited Thessaloniki to prepare their participation in the trade fair.

Meanwhile, the overall Greek investments in Turkey reached US24.86 million based on the latest figures (29.3.02) provided by the Turkish Undersecretariat of Foreign Trade. The main sectors for Greek investments in the neighboring country are computers, f arming applications, packaging, plastics, pharmaceuticals and cosmetics, fish farming, tourism, and construction.

Of the stocks trading today, 112 recorded gains and 179 had losses, while the value of 83 stocks remained unchanged.

In the cabinet meeting today, Mr. Christodoulakis stressed that this positive course will continue at the same speed in the following years as well due to the continuing increase in private and public investments taking place mainly through the 3rd Commu nity Framework of Support.

According to the available figures, the per capita income in Greece is more than 70% of the EU average, while in the early 90s it was at 60%. Also, in 2001 the average gross income in Greece was equal to 80% of the EU average, while in 1993 it was at 68% .

Referring to the priorities of the economic policy, the Finance Minister stated that the main goal is the effective liberalization of markets, the facilitation of competitiveness and the creation of the necessary institutional framework for the smooth op eration of the product and capital markets.

Mr. Christodoulakis also referred to the distribution of spending in the state budget. He stressed that Greece spends over 5% of its GDP for its defense which is the largest percentage recorded in Europe, pointing out that in a different case Greece coul d have the ability to finance social spending more and cut public debt in a quicker pace.

According to figures presented by Mr. Christodoulakis, unemployment dropped to 10.5% in 2001, while in 1999 it was at 12 and by 2004 is expected to drop to 9%. He said that the government makes efforts for the creation of new job positions and the improv ement of policies which are aimed at the increase of job positions and the quality improvement of employment.

However, it should be noted that the unemployment level in Greece is among the highest in the European "family'.

On the enlargement procedure, Ms. Diamantopoulou stated that it is a historical opportunity and challenge for Europe, while he warned that a failure of the enlargement will hurt the European integration procedure. Ms. Diamantopoulou stated that the unite d Europe will have a population of 500 million, while she underlined the strategic importance of the geopolitical position of the EU candidate states. She also referred to the positive effect the reforms necessary for their EU accession will have to their

political system and economies.

In the conference participate government ministers from the EU candidate states and representatives of the Greek government, the Greek and European Parliaments, social and economic agencies, the diplomatic corps, academicians and journalists.

After his meeting with Mr. Annan, the President of ND stated that they had a "very useful and constructive meeting", mainly on the Cyprus issue.

"I had the opportunity", stressed Mr. Karamanlis, "to tell the Secretary General how much we want, and are searching for, a final solution to the political problem of Cyprus. A fair, viable solution, which will of course be based on UN referendums and th e European acquis".

"I also had the chance to tell him that we support the efforts he is making in this direction. The weight is definitely on the Turkish side, which must, at last, understand that continuation of this relentless attitude, will neither benefit itself, nor a nyone else. That the accession of Cyprus in the first group of candidate enlargement member-states will take place with or without a decision on the solution. That we want to solve the political problem, but that it cannot be a requirement for accession. And that the accession of Cyprus to the EU will benefit all the island's residents, both the Greek and the Turkish Cypriots", he underlined.

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