Macedonian Press Agency: News in English, 01-07-23

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From: The Macedonian Press Agency at http://www.mpa.gr and http://www.hri.org/MPA.

CONTENTS

[01] ONE GREEK PROTESTER WAS RELEASED FROM ITALIAN CUSTODY

[02] IMPROVEMENT IN THE ECONOMY'S COMPETITIVENESS

[03] GREEK-AUSTRALIAN MINISTER IN ATHENS

[04] AHEPA WILL HOLD ITS 79TH ANNUAL CONFERENCE IN PUERTO RICO

[05] NATIONAL COUNCIL ON COMPETITIVENESS

[06] GAINS IN THE ATHENS STOCK EXCHANGE

[07] KARAMANLIS ON THE G8 MEETING IN GENOA

[08] THE G8 DECISIONS

[09] CONFERENCE OF THE WORLD'S POOREST COUNTRIES

[10] LETTER TO PRESIDENT BUSH ON IMIA

[01] ONE GREEK PROTESTER WAS RELEASED FROM ITALIAN CUSTODY

Peroulis Sakelaridis, one of the Greek protesters held in custody by the Italian authorities in Genoa, was released today.

Another Greek, Panagiotis Sideriadis, is in a Genoa city hospital under police guard. As it was made known, he suffered from acute appendicitis and had to be operated on.

A while ago, government spokesman Dimitris Reppas launched strong criticism against the Italian government concerning the way the protesters were handled by the Italian police, and added that it was a good lesson with many recipients, explaining that anyone trying to write history in the absence of the people will be recorded negatively in history and will be met with its revenge.

He stated characteristically, that the death of the young Italian protester and the injury of many others increased tension, and added that the Greek-Italian relations are at a very good level.

[02] IMPROVEMENT IN THE ECONOMY'S COMPETITIVENESS

The Greek economy jumped up 10 places on the scale of international competitiveness in a period of two years and now occupies the 34th place in terms of development, according to a report by international economic organizations.

The above were presented today by minister of development Nikos Christodoulakis in the presence of the presidents of the Greek Industries Association and the Greek Confederation of Labor.

[03] GREEK-AUSTRALIAN MINISTER IN ATHENS

Greek-Australian minister of tourism and big projects in the Australian state of Victoria, and assistant of the Australian prime minister on multi-cultural issues, Yiannis Pantazopoulos, is on a visit to Athens for contacts with general secretary on the Greeks living abroad, Dimitris Dollis, the Olympic Airways director and officials of the Greek Tourism Organization (EOT).

Mr. Pantazopoulos will promote the signing of an agreement between Greece and Australia concerning the undertaking of Olympic projects by Australian companies, while he will meet with the Olympic Village director. He is also scheduled to meet with culture minister Evangelos Venizelos to discuss the signing of a cooperation memorandum by the governments of Australia and the Greece concerning the operation of the Greek Antiquities Museum in Melbourne.

[04] AHEPA WILL HOLD ITS 79TH ANNUAL CONFERENCE IN PUERTO RICO

About 2.000 delegates will participate in the proceedings of the AHEPA 79th annual conference that will be held in Puerto Rico on July 25-29.

At the center of the discussions will be the Athens 2004 Olympic Games and the active participation of the AHEPA organizations, "Sons of Pericles" and "Daughters of Athina", in the organizing of this world sports event in Greece.

They will also discuss ways in which the organization can support the Olympic Truce proposal made by Greek foreign minister Giorgos Papandreou.

[05] NATIONAL COUNCIL ON COMPETITIVENESS

The establishment of a National Council on Competitiveness at the initiative of the ministry of development, with the participation of representatives of the Greek Industries Association and the Greek Confederation of Labor, was announced by minister of development Christos Christodoulakis during the presentation of a report on the competitiveness of the Greek economy.

Greece occupies the 30th place, among 59 countries, concerning industrial activities, research, development and services, while in 1966 it was at the 40th place regarding competitiveness, a fact which in combination with the rest economic figures is a proof of the macro-economic progress that has been made in the Greek economy and the efforts to cut unemployment.

Mr. Christodoulakis stated that innovation and research are the most important factors leading to the rise of competitiveness which can develop even more. He said that the basic preconditions for this are institutional confidence and high degree of social understanding.

[06] GAINS IN THE ATHENS STOCK EXCHANGE

Gains were recorded in the Athens Stock Exchange today. The general index rose to +3.38% at 2.592,00 points, while the volume of transactions was small at 110 million Euro or 37.5 billion drachmas.

Of the stocks trading today, the overwhelming majority, 307, recorded gains, and 35 had losses, while the value of 33 stocks remained stable.

[07] KARAMANLIS ON THE G8 MEETING IN GENOA

It will be a mistake to adopt a stance of confrontation against those who express skepticism and concern, underlined right-wing main opposition party of New Democracy leader Kostas Karamanlis, referring to the incidents in Genoa on the occasion of the G8 summit meeting that was held in the Italian city last week.

Mr. Karamanlis stated that one can disagree with the actions of the protesters but it is clear that many people are deeply concerned over the future of the world. He added that there is a widespread feeling of insecurity caused by unemployment, or the possible collapse of the social security systems.

The Greek opposition leader stated that Europe, and the world in general, is not the exclusive affair of a closed elite "that knows better than the rest of us", adding that the Europe of tomorrow must be an affair of the many, characterized by social cohesion, solidarity, and many opportunities for the majority of the people.

Mr. Karamanlis also expressed regret over the way in which the security forces of a European country reacted when they were faced with protesting European citizens.

[08] THE G8 DECISIONS

Prosperity to the poor of the world promised the G8 leaders, who ended their contacts in Genoa, Italy yesterday. They stressed that according to their opinion, the accession of the poorest countries into the world economy system is the best way in which to serve their interests.

In their final declaration, the G8 supported a broad cooperation between civil society and private sector, and expressed regret over the murder of the young protester, stressing however that a violent minority will not stop them from meeting in the future.

Also, they called on the FYROM government to give full rights to the Albanian minority in the country, calling on all sides to display a sense of responsibility and stressing that peace will be rewarded with economic assistance from the West.

They approved the deployment of peace-keepers in the Middle East, a proposal that finds Israel in disagreement. Also, the G7 (the meeting in which Russia did not participate and economic issues were discussed) issued a declaration concerning Turkey calling it to comply with the International Monetary Fund recommendations.

The G8 announced that the World Fund against AIDS and infectious diseases, that will be in operation before the end of the year, will have at its disposal an additional US$500 million raising its resources to US$1.8 billion.

On the protection of the environment, the G8 stressed that the reduction of gas emissions responsible for the "greenhouse effect" is imperative and promised to cooperate closely to reach an agreement concerning the Kyoto protocol on the environment.

[09] CONFERENCE OF THE WORLD'S POOREST COUNTRIES

Officials from the 49 poorest countries in the world opened talks in Zanzibar within the framework of their efforts aimed at the overall harmonization of their economies with the World Trade Organization guidelines.

The representatives of those countries maintain that their governments make efforts aimed at the liberalization of their economies, while the West maintains a negative stance toward these efforts.

Their talks will focus on farm economy, as agriculture is the main source of revenue for most African countries.

For the record, the 49 poorest countries in the world cover less than 1% of the world exports and for this reason they maintain that their demands should be accepted by the developed world.

[10] LETTER TO PRESIDENT BUSH ON IMIA

The recognition of the Imia islets, in southeastern Aegean, as Greek and the formal support to the sea borders between Greece and Turkey, are requested in a letter to US president Bush by founder of the Hellenic-American Institute, Evgenios Rossidis.

Mr. Rossidis stressed that the United States, as a participant in the Paris Treaty, have not only a moral but a legal obligation as well to observe the regulations concerning, among others, the handover of the Dodecanese and other islands nearby from Italy to Greece.

After pointing out that there is no international legal body to dispute the sea borders between Greece and Turkey in the Aegean, Mr. Rossidis calls on the US government to declare publicly that the Imia islets are under Greek sovereignty and if Turkey disagrees it should take its case to the International Court of Justice in The Hague for binding arbitration.

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