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Macedonian Press Agency: News in English, 2001-07-23
MACEDONIAN PRESS AGENCY NEWS IN ENGLISH
Thessaloniki, July 23, 2001
SECTIONS
[A] NATIONAL NEWS
[B] INTERNATIONAL NEWS
NEWS HEADLINES
[A] NATIONAL NEWS
[01] KARAMANLIS ON THE G8 MEETING IN GENOA
[02] IMPROVEMENT IN THE ECONOMY'S COMPETITIVENESS
[03] GAINS IN THE ATHENS STOCK EXCHANGE
[04] ONE GREEK PROTESTER WAS RELEASED FROM ITALIAN CUSTODY
[05] NATIONAL COUNCIL ON COMPETITIVENESS
[06] AHEPA WILL HOLD ITS 79TH ANNUAL CONFERENCE IN PUERTO RICO
[07] GREEK-AUSTRALIAN MINISTER IN ATHENS
[B] INTERNATIONAL NEWS
[08] LETTER TO PRESIDENT BUSH ON IMIA
[09] CONFERENCE OF THE WORLD'S POOREST COUNTRIES
[10] THE G8 DECISIONS
NEWS IN DETAIL
[A] NATIONAL NEWS
[01] KARAMANLIS ON THE G8 MEETING IN GENOA
It will be a mistake to adopt a stance of confrontation
against those who express skepticism and concern, underlined right-
wing main opposition party of New Democracy leader Kostas
Karamanlis, referring to the incidents in Genoa on the occasion of
the G8 summit meeting that was held in the Italian city last week.
Mr. Karamanlis stated that one can disagree with the actions
of the protesters but it is clear that many people are deeply
concerned over the future of the world. He added that there is a
widespread feeling of insecurity caused by unemployment, or the
possible collapse of the social security systems.
The Greek opposition leader stated that Europe, and the world
in general, is not the exclusive affair of a closed elite "that
knows better than the rest of us", adding that the Europe of
tomorrow must be an affair of the many, characterized by social
cohesion, solidarity, and many opportunities for the majority of
the people.
Mr. Karamanlis also expressed regret over the way in which
the security forces of a European country reacted when they were
faced with protesting European citizens.
[02] IMPROVEMENT IN THE ECONOMY'S COMPETITIVENESS
The Greek economy jumped up 10 places on the scale of
international competitiveness in a period of two years and now
occupies the 34th place in terms of development, according to a
report by international economic organizations.
The above were presented today by minister of development
Nikos Christodoulakis in the presence of the presidents of the
Greek Industries Association and the Greek Confederation of Labor.
[03] GAINS IN THE ATHENS STOCK EXCHANGE
Gains were recorded in the Athens Stock Exchange today. The
general index rose to +3.38% at 2.592,00 points, while the volume
of transactions was small at 110 million Euro or 37.5 billion
drachmas.
Of the stocks trading today, the overwhelming majority, 307,
recorded gains, and 35 had losses, while the value of 33 stocks
remained stable.
[04] ONE GREEK PROTESTER WAS RELEASED FROM ITALIAN CUSTODY
Peroulis Sakelaridis, one of the Greek protesters held in
custody by the Italian authorities in Genoa, was released today.
Another Greek, Panagiotis Sideriadis, is in a Genoa city
hospital under police guard. As it was made known, he suffered
from acute appendicitis and had to be operated on.
A while ago, government spokesman Dimitris Reppas launched
strong criticism against the Italian government concerning the way
the protesters were handled by the Italian police, and added that
it was a good lesson with many recipients, explaining that anyone
trying to write history in the absence of the people will be
recorded negatively in history and will be met with its revenge.
He stated characteristically, that the death of the young Italian
protester and the injury of many others increased tension, and
added that the Greek-Italian relations are at a very good level.
[05] NATIONAL COUNCIL ON COMPETITIVENESS
The establishment of a National Council on Competitiveness at
the initiative of the ministry of development, with the
participation of representatives of the Greek Industries
Association and the Greek Confederation of Labor, was announced by
minister of development Christos Christodoulakis during the
presentation of a report on the competitiveness of the Greek
economy.
Greece occupies the 30th place, among 59 countries,
concerning industrial activities, research, development and
services, while in 1966 it was at the 40th place regarding
competitiveness, a fact which in combination with the rest
economic figures is a proof of the macro-economic progress that
has been made in the Greek economy and the efforts to cut
unemployment.
Mr. Christodoulakis stated that innovation and research are
the most important factors leading to the rise of competitiveness
which can develop even more. He said that the basic preconditions
for this are institutional confidence and high degree of social
understanding.
[06] AHEPA WILL HOLD ITS 79TH ANNUAL CONFERENCE IN PUERTO RICO
About 2.000 delegates will participate in the proceedings of
the AHEPA 79th annual conference that will be held in Puerto Rico
on July 25-29.
At the center of the discussions will be the Athens 2004 Olympic
Games and the active participation of the AHEPA organizations,
"Sons of Pericles" and "Daughters of Athina", in the organizing of
this world sports event in Greece.
They will also discuss ways in which the organization can support
the Olympic Truce proposal made by Greek foreign minister Giorgos
Papandreou.
[07] GREEK-AUSTRALIAN MINISTER IN ATHENS
Greek-Australian minister of tourism and big projects in the
Australian state of Victoria, and assistant of the Australian
prime minister on multi-cultural issues, Yiannis Pantazopoulos, is
on a visit to Athens for contacts with general secretary on the
Greeks living abroad, Dimitris Dollis, the Olympic Airways
director and officials of the Greek Tourism Organization (EOT).
Mr. Pantazopoulos will promote the signing of an agreement
between Greece and Australia concerning the undertaking of Olympic
projects by Australian companies, while he will meet with the
Olympic Village director. He is also scheduled to meet with
culture minister Evangelos Venizelos to discuss the signing of a
cooperation memorandum by the governments of Australia and the
Greece concerning the operation of the Greek Antiquities Museum in
Melbourne.
[B] INTERNATIONAL NEWS
[08] LETTER TO PRESIDENT BUSH ON IMIA
The recognition of the Imia islets, in southeastern Aegean,
as Greek and the formal support to the sea borders between Greece
and Turkey, are requested in a letter to US president Bush by
founder of the Hellenic-American Institute, Evgenios Rossidis.
Mr. Rossidis stressed that the United States, as a
participant in the Paris Treaty, have not only a moral but a legal
obligation as well to observe the regulations concerning, among
others, the handover of the Dodecanese and other islands nearby
from Italy to Greece.
After pointing out that there is no international legal body
to dispute the sea borders between Greece and Turkey in the
Aegean, Mr. Rossidis calls on the US government to declare
publicly that the Imia islets are under Greek sovereignty and if
Turkey disagrees it should take its case to the International
Court of Justice in The Hague for binding arbitration.
[09] CONFERENCE OF THE WORLD'S POOREST COUNTRIES
Officials from the 49 poorest countries in the world opened
talks in Zanzibar within the framework of their efforts aimed at
the overall harmonization of their economies with the World Trade
Organization guidelines.
The representatives of those countries maintain that their
governments make efforts aimed at the liberalization of their
economies, while the West maintains a negative stance toward these
efforts.
Their talks will focus on farm economy, as agriculture is the
main source of revenue for most African countries.
For the record, the 49 poorest countries in the world cover
less than 1% of the world exports and for this reason they
maintain that their demands should be accepted by the developed
world.
[10] THE G8 DECISIONS
Prosperity to the poor of the world promised the G8 leaders,
who ended their contacts in Genoa, Italy yesterday. They stressed
that according to their opinion, the accession of the poorest
countries into the world economy system is the best way in which
to serve their interests.
In their final declaration, the G8 supported a broad
cooperation between civil society and private sector, and
expressed regret over the murder of the young protester, stressing
however that a violent minority will not stop them from meeting in
the future.
Also, they called on the FYROM government to give full rights
to the Albanian minority in the country, calling on all sides to
display a sense of responsibility and stressing that peace will be
rewarded with economic assistance from the West.
They approved the deployment of peace-keepers in the Middle
East, a proposal that finds Israel in disagreement. Also, the G7
(the meeting in which Russia did not participate and economic
issues were discussed) issued a declaration concerning Turkey
calling it to comply with the International Monetary Fund
recommendations.
The G8 announced that the World Fund against AIDS and
infectious diseases, that will be in operation before the end of
the year, will have at its disposal an additional US$500 million
raising its resources to US$1.8 billion.
On the protection of the environment, the G8 stressed that
the reduction of gas emissions responsible for the "greenhouse
effect" is imperative and promised to cooperate closely to reach
an agreement concerning the Kyoto protocol on the environment.
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