Athens News Agency: News in English, 02-04-29

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

CONTENTS

[01] Bank of Greece urges for drastic changes in economy

[02] Gov't spokesman welcomes emerging Mideast agreement

[03] Bill calls for stiff penalties, including life imprisonment for slave

[04] Gov't planning drive to improve Athens bus services

[05] Spain's Carlos Saura in Athens to present ballet

[06] ATHOC representatives take part in European meeting in Limassol

[07] Europarliament representatives refer to EU's future

[08] PM says state's IT infrastructure needs improving

[09] Limited services at banks on May 1, stock market closed

[10] Foreign Exchange Rates - Tuesday

[11] Weather Forecast: Mostly sunny on Tuesday

[12] Killer 'myocarditis' virus identified as strain of Coxsackie B

[13] ASE ends higher on selective buying

[14] Unofficial meeting by SE Stability Pact participants in Athens

[01] Bank of Greece urges for drastic changes in economy

The Greek economy ''needs drastic changes in its structure and function and in everybody's behaviour and mentality,'' Bank of Greece's governor, Lucas Papademos, said on Monday.

Presenting the central bank's annual report, the last report before his departure to take over as vice-president at the European Central Bank, Mr Papademos said the main problem of the Greek economy was its low competitiveness.

The central bank warned that perpetuating this condition would lead to a decline of real incomes and employment. The Bank of Greece's report also acknowledges that ''the distance needed to be covered to achieve real convergence is big.''

[02] Gov't spokesman welcomes emerging Mideast agreement

Government spokesman Christos Protopapas on Monday said the emerging agreement for a de-escalation of tension in the Middle East was positive, while he particularly stressed the prospects for an end to the siege about the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem.

In this context, he noted, the joint Greek-Turkish initiative for the Mideast crisis was a positive step in finding a solution.

[03] Bill calls for stiff penalties, including life imprisonment for slave traders

A draft bill to stem the trafficking of human beings was unveiled on Monday by public order ministry officials, calling for harsh penalties against those who profit primarily from the misery of women and children.

According to statistics announced during a press conference, where details of the draft bill were made public, over the past 10 years some 80,000 women and children entered Greece as their first stop in reaching the European Union, netting more than 8 billion euros for traffickers.

The bill will attempt to coordinate actions and combine investigations that usually lead to a multitude of crimes connected with this heinous trade. These violations of the law, beyond trafficking in human beings, include corruption of state officials, forgery, use of fraud to obtain false certificates, blackmail, gunrunning, drug trafficking and money laundering.

[04] Gov't planning drive to improve Athens bus services

A push to make buses a more attractive option for commuters but also to clamp down on offenders who obstruct the bus lanes was announced on Monday by Transport Minister Christos Verelis, during a press conference regarding public transport in the city.

''In the future, metropolitan centres will belong to public transport but these need room to move in,'' he stressed.

Verelis said that work on extending the existing bus lanes would begin within the next quarter, so that it would cover 45 kilometres by the end of 2003, up from 16.5 kilometres at present.

[05] Spain's Carlos Saura in Athens to present ballet

Spanish film director Carlos Saura and choreographer and dancer Aida Gomez arrived in Athens on Monday on the occasion of the presentation of the drama ''Salome'' at the Herod Atticus Theatre on May 31 in the framework of the Cultural Olympiad and the Greek Festival.

It is a production which had its opening performance in Santander, Spain, last January and will start its European tour from Athens. Carlos Saura has directed the performance, music is by Spanish guitarist Tomatito and choreographies by Aida Gomez and Jose Antonio.

[06] ATHOC representatives take part in European meeting in Limassol

The Seminar of the General Secretaries and Heads of Mission of Europe's National Olympic Committees was held in Limassol, Cyprus from April 26-27 with the participation of 45 of the 48 represesentatives of Europe.

The Athens 2004 Olympic Organising Committee (ATHOC) was represented by International Relations General Director Dionysis Hagas, Regional Director for Europe Elena Coletti and European Committees Coordinator Fani Misailidou.

During the seminar the ATHOC representatives presented information concerning progress which has been made in preparation for the Athens 2004 Olympic Games.

[07] Europarliament representatives refer to EU's future

The second meeting between non-governmental organisations (NGOs) invited to participate in the Assembly for the Future of Europe by the foreign ministry's Committee for NGO's took place on Monday a month after the first one was held.

This time it was the turn of parties to outline their positions on important issues concerning the building of the European Union in the future.

The relevant briefing was carried out by two European Parliament representatives, Paraskevas Avgerinos from the ruling PASOK party and Marieta Yiannakou Koutsikou from the main opposition New Democracy party.

[08] PM says state's IT infrastructure needs improving

Prime Minister Costas Simitis said on Monday that the state's information technology infrastructure needed immediate and widespread improvement. Most in need of attention was IT infrastructure in education, with schools committed to offering schoolchildren greater access and help, Simitis told nine women executives from IT companies he met for debate on the sector. He added that the government was trying to boost participation by women in the new economy, including incentives for new enterprises.

[09] Limited services at banks on May 1, stock market closed

Banks will remain open on May 1 to handle a small range of domestic transactions but cross-border business will not be conducted as the European interbank clearing system is to close for the holiday. Transactions available on May 1 will not include money transfers at home or abroad, and business will be dated May 2.

In addition, the Athens stock market and derivatives exchange will shut on May 1, also due to the closure of Europe's interbank clearing system.

The May Day holiday has been partially moved to May 7 in Greece due to the proximity of Orthodox Easter this year.

Markets will again close on May 7 for the transferred holiday.

[10] Foreign Exchange Rates - Tuesday

Indicative tourist buying rates per euro until Tuesday

U.S. dollar 0.911

Pound sterling 0.623

Danish kroner 7.493

Swedish kroner 9.313

Japanese yen 116.6

Swiss franc 1.475

Norwegian kroner 7.635

Cyprus pound 0.582

Canadian dollar 1.424

Australian dollar 1.682

[11] Weather Forecast: Mostly sunny on Tuesday

The day will be sunny in all parts of the country, turning to isolated showers or storms in the north. Cloud will form on the mainland from afternoon, and it may rain later in the day in the centre. Winds north-northwesterly, light to moderate. In the north, temperatures will range from 10C to 23C; on the rest of the mainland from 12C to 26C; and in the islands from 13C to 24C. Mostly sunny in Athens, with temperatures between 13C and 25C. Thessaloniki may see storms or rain, with temperatures from 10C to 22C.

[12] Killer 'myocarditis' virus identified as strain of Coxsackie B

The virus responsible for three deaths due to myocarditis and dozens of other cases of virus-induced heart complications reported in Greece over the past weeks has been isolated and identified, scientists at Thessaloniki University's 1st Microbiology Laboratory announced on Monday.

They said the virus involved was the Coxsackie B enterovirus, which affects and is spread through the intestines.

The laboratory's announcement said it had worked on samples of heart muscle from the three fatal cases, as well as surviving patients with symptoms of myocarditis, using the methods of molecular virology to arrive at its conclusions.

[13] ASE ends higher on selective buying

Greek equities ended Monday's session slightly higher, reflecting selective buying interest in bank and technology stocks in the Athens Stock Exchange.

The general index rose 0.13 percent to 2,227.96 points, with turnover an improved 97.38 million euros.

The Retail, Insurance and IT Solution sectors suffered the heaviest percentage losses (1.68 percent, 1.38 percent and 0.99 percent, respectively), while the Banks, Publication and IT sectors scored the biggest percentage gains of the day (1.23 percent, 1.0 percent and 0.74 percent, respectively).

The FTSE/ASE 20 index for blue chip and heavy traded stocks rose 0.44 percent, the FTSE/ASE MID 40 index ended 0.76 percent higher and the FTSE/ASE SmallCap 80 index eased 0.10 percent.

Broadly, decliners led advancers by 166 to 137 with another 54 issues unchanged.

[14] Unofficial meeting by SE Stability Pact participants in Athens

Several regional political leaders and noted personalities from countries participating in the Stability Pact for Southeast Europe are meeting in Athens this week for an unofficial exchange of views, especially over issues dealing with the areas democratisation.

Participants include Greek Foreign Minister George Papandreou, Serbian Prime Minister Zoran Djindjic, Romanian and Bosnian Foreign Ministers Mircea Dan Geoana and Zlatko Lagumdzija, respectively, former Albanian prime minister Ilir Meta, former Bulgarian foreign minister Nadezhda Mihailova, as well as deputies Vesna Pousic, from Croatia, and Ranmilla Sekerinska, from the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonias (FYROM) parliament, among others.

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