Macedonian Press Agency: News in English, 02-06-13

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

CONTENTS

[01] KARAMANLIS-ANAN MEETING

[02] SIMITIS: PASOK CONFERENCE MUST BE A LEADING POLITICAL EVENT

[03] $35 MILLION TOURISM ADS NOT PAYING OFF

[04] MS. DIAMANTOPOULOU IN THE OPENING OF THE EU ENLARGEMENT CONFERENCE

[05] CHRISTODOULAKIS: GREECE'S CONVERGENCE WITH THE REST EU COUNTRIES WILL

[06] LOSSES IN THE ASE

[07] TWENTY TURKISH BUSINESSES ARE INTERESTED IN THESSALONIKI'S TRADE FAIR

[08] SIMITIS: THE STRONG ECONOMY AND SOCIETY IS A PRIORITY

[09] REACTION BY MEMBERS OF THE MOVEMENT OF FREE CITIZENS

[10] PAPANDREOU-WESTON MEETING

[01] KARAMANLIS-ANAN MEETING

The Cyprus issue was the main topic of discussion at the meeting between President of New Democracy Kostas Karamanlis and Secretary General of the UN, Kofi Annan, in the UN base in New York.

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 the 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 anyone 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.

[02] SIMITIS: PASOK CONFERENCE MUST BE A LEADING POLITICAL EVENT

Current political developments and the proposal to PASOK's Central Committee, which will meet at the end of the week and will prepare the PASOK's Organizational Conference on July 6 and 7, were the issues discussed at the meeting of the party's Executive 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.

[03] $35 MILLION TOURISM ADS NOT PAYING OFF

The average annual budget of advertisement campaigns for Greek tourism is estimated at $35 million, according to research of A. Kouzelis, for the Institute for Tourist Research and Estimations (ITEP). The report's title is advertisement expenses for tourism.

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 competitors.

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% goes to other promotional actions.

[04] MS. DIAMANTOPOULOU IN THE OPENING OF THE EU ENLARGEMENT CONFERENCE

The certainty that Cyprus will become an EU member within the set timetable and without a delay, was expressed by Greek European Commissioner Anna Diamantopoulou, responsible for employment and social affairs. In her opening speech in the conference on the European Union enlargement in Thessaloniki, Ms. Diamantopoulou underlined that Cyprus' EU accession will mark a huge change for the island as a number of things that have to do with political and economic life in Cyprus will be overturned.

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 united 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.

[05] CHRISTODOULAKIS: GREECE'S CONVERGENCE WITH THE REST EU COUNTRIES WILL BE ACCELERATED

Minister of Finance Nikos Christodoulakis stated that Greece's true convergence with the rest European Union countries will be accelerated, while progress will be recorded in all economic indexes.

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 Community 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 operation 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 could 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 improvement 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'.

[06] LOSSES IN THE ASE

Losses were recorded in the Athens Stock Exchange today. The general index dropped to -0.62% at 2.277,55 points, while the volume of transactions was at 76.4 million Euro or 26 billion drachmas.

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

[07] TWENTY TURKISH BUSINESSES ARE INTERESTED IN THESSALONIKI'S TRADE FAIR

Twenty businesses, members of the Businessmen Solidarity Association in Turkey, active in the sector of textile and machinery, have expressed interest in participating in the next Thessaloniki International Trade Fair.

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, farming applications, packaging, plastics, pharmaceuticals and cosmetics, fish farming, tourism, and construction.

[08] SIMITIS: THE STRONG ECONOMY AND SOCIETY IS A PRIORITY

The convergence of the living standards of the Greek people with those of the Europeans is the main priority of the government policy. The strengthening of the Greek society in combination with the strengthening of the economy will create a strong Greece. The above were stated by Prime Minister Kostas Simitis after the cabinet meeting that dealt with the convergence of the Greek economy with the developed economies of the EU and the preparation of the state mechanism to deal with the problems that arise during the summer months.

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 necessary 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.

[09] REACTION BY MEMBERS OF THE MOVEMENT OF FREE CITIZENS

Movement of Free Citizens member Panagiotis Fotiadis from Thessaloniki suggested that the party should continue its operation without its founder Dimitris Avramopoulos and with Yiannis Lambrou as its new President. Mr. Lambrou is a member of the party's Political Committee.

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 lowering the flag which is not fit for people with a free will and love for their ideas.

[10] PAPANDREOU-WESTON MEETING

His certainty that Cyprus is on the fast lane to the European Union, was expressed by Special Coordinator of the State Department for Cyprus, Thomas Weston, who pointed out that the solution to the Cyprus issue must be found soon, but as the result of an 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 the 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.

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