Cyprus News Agency: News in English, 09-02-12

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From: The Cyprus News Agency at <http://www.cyna.org.cy>

CONTENTS

[01] LEADERS MEETING

[02] EP COMMITTEE TURKEY

[03] MINISTER ECONOMY

[01] LEADERS MEETING

The two leaders will continue the discussion they have begun on the property issue.

The meeting will take place at the UN protected area of the old now defunct Nicosia airport and UN Secretary General`s Special Adviser for Cyprus Alexander Downer will be present.

The leaders` last meeting took place February 4th.

UN Secretary Generals Special Representative in Cyprus Taye Brook Zerihoun said after the last meeting that the leaders continued their discussions on the property issue and ``each one presented his sides reaction and views on what the other side has presented as the principles that should guide the discussions``.

They had a good round of discussions, a substantive discussion on this issue and they have agreed to continue these discussions on the 12th of February, Zerihoun had stated.

President Christofias and Turkish Cypriot leader Mehmet Ali Talat are meeting in the framework of the UN-led direct negotiations, which began last September with a view to reach a solution of the Cyprus problem.

They have been engaged in negotiations since early September last year, aiming at reunifying the island, divided since the Turkish invasion of 1974.

[02] EP COMMITTEE TURKEY

The Committee expressed regret that Turkey has not met its obligations relating to the Additional Protocol, and warned Ankara that non compliance with its commitments by December 2009 may affect even more negatively its negotiations for accession to the EU. The Committee adopted on Wednesday a draft progress report on Turkeys accession course, by a large majority (65 in favor, 4 against). The report is expected to be submitted for approval by the plenary next month. In the report, the committee regrets that the EC-Turkey Association Agreement and the Additional Protocol thereto have not yet been implemented fully by the Turkish government; recalls that the non-fulfillment of Turkey`s commitments by December 2009 may further seriously affect the process of negotiations.

The report calls on Turkey to facilitate a suitable climate for negotiations by withdrawing Turkish forces and allowing the two leaders to negotiate freely their country`s future.

[03] MINISTER ECONOMY

The economy seems to have some momentum in the first months of 2009, he added. This is a spillover effect from the end of 2008, so we expect a reasonably strong quarter and as the year goes on growth will certainly slow down. We may reach low growth rate at some point during the second half of 2009, but for the whole year and assuming that this ambitious construction project of the Government materializes, we are confident that we may still reach the ambitious target of 2% of GDP.

Referring to unemployment, the Minister stressed that in Cyprus for the last 20 years we are very fortunate never to have experienced unemployment, which is a key economic and social indicator. Mathematically, when you have a growth rate of less than 3%, then unemployment increases and this is a challenge for the Government how to manage the economy so as to minimize this increase in the unemployment rate, said. It is a challenge we are facing, how to manage the economy, how to manage this Government projects across many different regions and particularly around Pafos, he noted.

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