Athens News Agency: News in English, 05-07-20

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

CONTENTS

[01] Foreign ministry presents new portal, plans for economic diplomacy

[02] Greece and Libya sign cooperation memorandum during visit by Valynakis

[01] Foreign ministry presents new portal, plans for economic diplomacy

Taking the stand, Deputy Foreign Minister Evripides Stylianides outlined the results achieved through economic diplomacy so far - particularly the "spectacular" results in the Balkans - and the government's future plans in this area.

He said that there were over 3,500 Greek businesses active in southeast Europe at present, representing a total investment of six billion euros and accounting for some 200,000 jobs. In addition, there were more than 700 bank branches in the region, which controlled a 13.1 per cent share of the Balkan banking market.

According to Stylianides, Greece was the top country for investments in the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM), Albania, Serbia and Montenegro, the second-largest investor in Bulgaria and the third-largest investor in Romania.

He also noted that Greek exports to southeast Europe had increased by 10.16 per cent in 2004 and 2005, whereas the average yearly increase in exports between 2001 and 2004 was just 1.12 per cent.

The minister said the new Internet portal www.agora.mfa.gr gave businesses the opportunity to collect, reliably process and easily access information on interesting markets worldwide.

[02] Greece and Libya sign cooperation memorandum during visit by Valynakis

Valynakis expressed his satisfaction with the traditionally good ties between Greece and Libya, noting that his was the second visit by a Greek minister to Libya within the space of two months, and stressed that the Greek government was ready to further develop these ties on all levels.

The Greek minister particularly praised Libya's decision to abandon programmes for the production of weapons of mass destruction, saying that this decision had set in motion a chain of events that had brought Libya into the forefront of international news and had earned it high respect in the international community.

Valynakis and his Libyan counterpart also referred to policy for the Mediterranean Sea, noting that this should be an area of "peace and cooperation" and a "means of communication between neighbouring friendly states".

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