Athens News Agency: News in English, 02-03-07

Athens News Agency: News in English Directory - Previous Article - Next Article

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

CONTENTS

[01] Germany to invest in Greece, Balkans

[02] PM winds up Japan visit with tour of Kyoto

[03] Greek EU commissioner calls violence against women a moral, legal crime

[04] ATHOC leader urges Cypriot volunteerism for 2004 Olympiad

[05] Foreign Exchange Rates - Friday

[06] Weather Forecast: Scattered cloud on Friday

[07] KKE rules out cooperation with major parties, Coalition

[08] Greek stocks end off highs, OTE under pressure

[01] Germany to invest in Greece, Balkans

Greece and Germany will seek closer economic relations through German investments in five sectors of the Greek economy (tourism, energy, telecommunications, banks and shipyards) and joint investments in the Balkans, Finance Ministers Nikos Christodoulakis and Hans Eichel agreed on Thursday.

Speaking to reporters, after a meeting in Athens, German Finance Minister Hans Eichel said that a large group of German investors would visit Greece this year to examine investment opportunities in the country and to discuss joint investments in the Balkans, an area that was largely interesting the European Union.

The two ministers also discussed cooperation in economic and budget policy in the framework of the EU. Mr. Eichel noted that member-states should make a joint effort to promote single rules and regulations in economic policy and especially in tax policy.

[02] PM winds up Japan visit with tour of Kyoto

KYOTO (ANA - V. Mourtis) -- Greek prime minister Costas Simitis on Thursday wound up an official visit to Japan -- the first ever by a Greek premier -- with a tour of the country's old capital Kyoto.

Summing up the visit, which Simitis described as a ''complete success'', senior officials accompanying the premier said that a positive picture of Greece was formed in Mapan, while strong Japanese interest for collaboration with Greece and Greek businessmen to promote investments in the Balkans was ascertained, and also Simitis' Europea profile was boosted in view of Greece's assumption of the rotating EU presidency in the first half of 2003, which Japan was looking forward to with interest.

The officials said Simitis had displayed great interest in Greece assuming significant initiatives before and during its EU presidency to advance Japan-EU relations and possibly also for the advancement of Euro-Asian relations. They further intimated that the premier was mulling the possibility of organising a Euro-Asian summit in Athens.

Simitis, who was due to return to Athens Friday night, spent Thursday morning visiting traditional areas in Kyoto, the capital of Japan up until 1800, where Wednesday evening he had met with the regional governor and the city mayor.

[03] Greek EU commissioner calls violence against women a moral, legal crime

BRUSSELS (ANA - G. Zitouniati) - ''Violence against women is not only a moral, but a legal crime, the source of which is the imbalance of strength between the two genders,'' Greek Commissioner Anna Diamantopoulou said on Thursday, speaking to the employment council, here.

In light of Friday's ''Women's Day'' she stressed that ''schools can play a vital role in this direction, as well as campaigns aimed at changing the behavior of the population,'' adding that ''the prevention of violence against women, should be a priority for Europe''.

She quoted statistics showing that one of every five women in Europe are battered by their companion and that women between the ages of 15 and 44 have more chances of disability or death by abuse than by diseases such as cancer or traffic accidents or war.

She stressed the importance of the law's implementation in these cases and the need to protect the victims after they file a lawsuit.

[04] ATHOC leader urges Cypriot volunteerism for 2004 Olympiad

NICOSIA (ANA - D. Kalambakas) - Greece's Athens 2004 Olympic Organising Committee (ATHOC) President Gianna Angelopoulos-Daskalaki, speaking at an event at a Nicosia hotel on Thursday night, called for Cypriot volunteerism in preparation for the Olympic Games.

The event was opened with a video-taped greeting by President of the Republic Glafcos Clerides who urged the Cypriots to volunteer for the success of the Games. ''I call on them to unite their strength with the other Greeks for the unrepeatable success of the 2004 Olympic Games,'' he said.

The ATHOC president, having said that 35,000 people have already shown interest to volunteer, underlined that ''the Cypriot people constitute an unseparable part of Hellenism. Cyprus cannot be absent from the first Games of the new millennium which is organised on European soil, particularly when it will soon be a worthy member of the European Union. We depend on your help and your active support. We are obliged to show the world who we are and what we can jointly achieve.''

Present at the event were political party officials, athletes and members of volunteer organisations.

[05] Foreign Exchange Rates - Friday

Indicative tourist buying rates per euro

U.S. dollar 0.883

Pound sterling 0.621

Danish kroner 7.490

Swedish kroner 9.139

Japanese yen 113.8

Swiss franc 1.483

Norwegian kroner 7.773

Cyprus pound 0.579

Canadian dollar 1.396

Australian dollar 1.686

[06] Weather Forecast: Scattered cloud on Friday

Scattered cloud is forecast in all parts of the country, possibly turning to showers in parts of the Ionian and the mainland, especially from evening. Early morning visibility will be limited in some areas. Winds variable, moderate to very strong. In the north, temperatures will range from 7C to 18C; on the rest of the mainland from 9C to 23C; and in the islands from 14C to 22C. Light cloud in Athens with temperatures between 10C and 21C. Same in Thessaloniki with temperatures from 7C to 17C.

[07] KKE rules out cooperation with major parties, Coalition

The head of the Communist Party of Greece (KKE) on Thursday ruled out all prospects of cooperation with either of the two major parties or with the more moderate Coalition of the Left and Progress in the upcoming local elections.

Speaking in Hania, on the first stop of a two-day tour of the island of Crete, KKE General Secretary Aleka Papariga said her party would be ''opportunist and unreliable'' if it agreed to cooperate with either ruling PASOK or with main opposition New Democracy.

She ruled out cooperation with the Coalition, meanwhile, on the grounds that its views on local government were ''stale''.

Papariga left open the prospects of cooperation with the Democratic Social Movement (DHKKI) party but qualified that this would have to be with local mass movements and groups.

She said that local KKE party organs would be announcing the party's candidates and tickets within March.

[08] Greek stocks end off highs, OTE under pressure

Equity prices ended Thursday's session higher on the Athens Stock Exchange, although off their day's highs as investors reacted negatively to an announcement of an 8.0 percent equity sale in Hellenic Telecommunications Organisation this year by the government.

The general index ended 0.70 percent higher at 2,432.08 points, with turnover an improved 146.2 million euros.

Hellenic Telecom's shares came under pressure after the announcement by Economy and Finance Minister Nikos Christodoulakis to end 3.08 percent lower.

The Textile, Holdings and Industrial sectors scored the biggest percentage gains of the day (2.37 percent, 1.84 percent and 1.13 percent, respectively), while the Retail, Telecoms and Insurance sectors suffered losses.

The FTSE/ASE 20 index for blue chip and heavy traded stocks ended 0.54 percent higher, the FTSE/ASE MID 40 index rose 0.84 percent and the FTSE/ASE SmallCap 80 index ended 0.85 percent up.

Broadly, advancers led decliners by 220 to 92 with another 50 issues unchanged.

Athens News Agency: News in English Directory - Previous Article - Next Article