Athens Macedonian News Agency: News in English, 17-04-21

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

CONTENTS

[01] Lagarde says she had constructive discussions with Tsakalotos on policies and debt

[02] Ancient Civilizations Forum's aim is to turn it into an institution; add more countries, says FM

[03] Travel receipts down, visitor numbers up in Jan-Feb

[01] Lagarde says she had constructive discussions with Tsakalotos on policies and debt

"I met today with Minister Tsakalotos and his team. We had constructive discussions in preparation for the return of the mission to discuss the two legs of the Greece program: policies and debt relief," she said in a statement released by IMF's press office.

According to the news webpage www.mignatiou.com, citing Tsakalotos, the two sides discussed the return of the institutions' mission chiefs in Athens, the text of the Memorandum of Economic and Financial Policies (MEFP), the staff-level agreement and the debt. The meeting was also attended by the Director of the IMF's European Department Poul Thomsen and IMF's mission chief in Greece Delia Velculescu.

Asked earlier as he arrived for the meeting about the better than expected primary surplus data for 2016, he said: "It was expected that it would be better. But it was also better than what we expected."

He didn't comment on German Finance Minister's Wolfgang Schaeuble comment on Thursday that IMF's forecasts did not prove realistic. Tsakalotos is now meeting Eurogroup president Jeroen Dijsselbloem and then he is meeting Schaeuble.

[02] Ancient Civilizations Forum's aim is to turn it into an institution; add more countries, says FM

"It is a great prospect and opportunity to turn it into a great institution which will prove to international institutions that one does not only need hard power, military or economic power, but also soft power, which should be upgraded," he said.

"Upgrading culture is important because culture brings peace, it doesn't bring war. It brings education; therefore it upgrades people's quality of life."

Kotzias expressed his belief that Greece is a geostrategic and cultural hub where the civilizations of Africa, Asia and Europe meet, adding that the forum is part of the ministry's multi-dimensional policy of soft power being followed which concerns utilizing intellectual, traditional, historical and cultural issues.

During the press conference, the minister announced he will accompany Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras to his visit to China on May 12-16. He also said the second conference for security and stability in the Eastern Mediterranean will be held in Rhodes on May 22-23. Later in the year (November 1-2), Athens will host the second conference for the protection of religious communities in the Middle East.

"In culture, Greece is a great power. Our heritage is particular and it is one sector where we can and should play a role in world affairs. It's a sector in which Greece has a lot to offer," he said, noting this initiative could gain a wider scope, highlighting the importance of culture for Greece.

[03] Travel receipts down, visitor numbers up in Jan-Feb

In a monthly report, the central bank attributed this development to a 6.8 pct decline in travel receipts from citizens outside the EU28 to 138 million euros, as receipts from the EU28 rose 1.0 pct to 168 million euros. As a result, the travel balance showed a surplus of 64 million euros in the January-February period, up 41.1 pct from a surplus of 45 million euros in the corresponding period last year.

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