Athens News Agency: News in English, 05-05-18

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

CONTENTS

[01] PM to depart for official visit to United States on Thursday

[02] Greek-Turkish meeting of diplomats in Athens

[03] Greece seeks expanding economic relations with Japan

[01] PM to depart for official visit to United States on Thursday

Prior to his departure, Karamanlis will meet visiting Chinese state councillor Chen Zhili on Wednesday at 18:00 in Athens.

The Greek premier will begin a round of contacts in Washington on the morning after his arrival, beginning with U.S. Senator Dick Lugar, chairman of the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee, at 9:30 on Friday.

Karamanlis will next meet Greek-American senator Paul Sarbanes at 11:00 and will then be received by U.S. President George Bush at 13:15 at the White House, after which he will hold a brief press conference and have successive interviews with the U.S. mass media.

According to Roussopoulos, the talks between Bush and Karamanlis are expected to cover bilateral relations, the Cyprus issue, relations with the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM), relations between Greece and Turkey and Turkey's course toward the EU.

The Greek prime minister's next stop will be in Boston, where he will be met on his arrival by Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney, local authority officials and members of the Greek-American community on Friday evening.

On Saturday at 10:00, Karamanlis will tour the Classical Antiquities wing at the Boston Museum of Fine Arts and then attend a reception at the governor's office from 16:00-18:00, followed by a reception given by the president of Tufts University Lawrence Bacow at 19:00 and a dinner at 20:00.

On Sunday morning, the premier will return to Tufts for the graduation ceremony, where he will be named an honorary professor of law. The ceremony is expected to conclude at 11:15 and Karamanlis is due to depart for Athens at noon, arriving at 4:00 on Monday morning.

[02] Greek-Turkish meeting of diplomats in Athens

The meeting comes within the framework of regular six-month contacts alternately held in Athens and Ankara.

The Greek side was led by Amb. Thrasyvoulos Stamatopoulos, whereas the Turkish delegation was led by Alternate Deputy Minister for EU issues Amb. Volkan Bozkir.

[03] Greece seeks expanding economic relations with Japan

Addressing a conference in Tokyo during a four-day visit to Japan as the head of a Greek delegation to celebrate "Greece Day" at the EXPO 2005, Alogoskoufis urged Japanese businessmen to invest in the developing region of Southeastern Europe using Greece as a base, while he presented the government's main policy initiatives to create a favourable investment environment in the country.

Alogoskoufis, accompanied by Economy and Finance Deputy Minister Petros Doukas, met with Japan's Finance Minister Santaguzu Tanigaki and discussed ways to avoid a policy of double taxation - a major hurdle in further expanding business relations - and restarting direct flights between Athens and Tokyo.

The Greek minister also met with Bank of Japan's governor Tosihiko Fukui and Parliament chairman Yohei Kono.

Addressing the same conference, Tourism Deputy Minister Anastasios Liaskos refered to improving tourism services in the country after the successful organising of the Athens Olympic Games and forecast a significant increase in the number of Japanese tourists to visit Greece.

Olympic Real Estate's president Christos Hadjiemmanouel announced that a first phase of tenders in the use of Olympic facilities would include the canoe-cayak, the International Broadcasting Center and the Badmington units, within 2005.

Greek Industries Union's president Odysseas Kyriakopoulos urged Japanese businessmen to create joint ventures with Greek businessmen and to invest in the wider Southeast European region.

The Greek delegation also includes heads of state organisations, ministry officials, businessmen and bankers. Greek bankers said Japanes institutional investors and financial institutions showed increased interest in buying Greek state bonds and Greek stocks. Japanese investors also expressed interest in buying a special 10-year benchmark bond issue, worth 1.0 billion euros.

On his part, Greek Agricultural Development Minister Evangelos Basiakos met with Japanese importers of Greek products, particularly olive oil, honey, canned foods and other farm products.

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