Athens News Agency: News in English, 05-09-26

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

CONTENTS

[01] Greece seeks to promote sea, sports tourism

[02] Record Greek business delegation in Russia Sept 27-30

[01] Greece seeks to promote sea, sports tourism

Speaking to reporters, after a meeting with Merchant Marine Minister Manolis Kefaloyiannis, Avramopoulos said his ministry was promoting a series of measures aimed to promote sea tourism such as sea cruises and a more efficient use of marinas around the country. The Greek minister said sea tourism was a new,very significant, chapter for Greek tourism.

Kefaloyiannis stressed that plans to expand the country�s network of marinas was supported by a 3.0 billion euros financial protocol recently signed between the greek government and the European Investment Bank.

Meanwhile, Tourism Deputy Minister Anastasios Liaskos, addressing the 17th Pan-European Sports Conference in Athens, said the Greek government was promoting measures aimed to boost sports tourism in the country.

Greece successfully held the Athens 2004 Olympic Games. Its national soccer team won the European Championship in Portugal last year, while its national basketball team won the European Championship in Belgrade on Sunday.

[02] Record Greek business delegation in Russia Sept 27-30

""This demonstrates the strong will of the Greek government to rekindle its ties with Russia, making use of very good relations between the two countries' governments, and a very good cultural link between the two peoples," Stylianidis, head of the delegation, said in a statement.

The purpose of the trip to Russia is to boost exports, spur the creation of joint ventures, attract Russian investors, and sign a political protocol to implement targets set by Karamanlis and Russian President Vladimir Putin in increasingly frequent meetings. A ministerial committee from the two countries are due to meet in Moscow.

A senior official handling economic tiess between Greece and Russia, Spyros Georgiles, has said that a key issue for Athens is the avoidance of double taxation. If Moscow signs an agreement, it will pave the way for a shipping pact. Other major sectors to be promoted are energy - especially natural gas - tourism, transport and agriculture.

Playing a key role in the delegation, whose visit ends on September 30, will be northern Greek company representatives.

Among officials accompanying Stylianidis will be Agricultural Development Minister Evangelos Basiakos and Deputy Finance Minister Christos Folias. Other members of the delegation are parliamentary deputies, senior officials from eight ministries, and the heads of major trade groups.

Invested Greek capital in Russia totals $69.2 million, according to the foreign ministry.

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