Athens News Agency: News in English, 07-04-24

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

CONTENTS

[01] Indian President Kalam due Wed. on state visit

[02] BoG: Economy improving, competitiveness the key

[01] Indian President Kalam due Wed. on state visit

The delegation accompanying Kalam on the April 25-28 visit includes minister of state for New and Renewable Energy Sources Vilas Muttemwar, Rajya Sabha (Council of States, the upper house of the Indian parliament) members T.R. Zeiland and Pyaremohan Mohapatra, four eminent scientists, and senior officials.

This visit comes 21 years after the last state visit by an Indian president to Greece in November 1986, and highlights the growing interaction between the two countries in various fields, according to a press release by the Indian embassy in Athens.

During the visit, an agreement for cooperation in science and technology will be signed, providing a framework for cooperation in this important area between institutions of both countries. The two countries are also likely to conclude an agreement on promotion and protection of investments, and a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for cooperation between the diplomatic academy of Greece and the Foreign Service Institute of India, the announcement said.

President Kalam will meet with his counterpart Karolos Papoulias for discussions on issues of common interest, while a state banquet will also be hosted Papoulias.

The Indian president will also meet with prime minister Costas Karamanlis, who will also host a lunch in Kalam's honour.

Kalam's itinerary further includes meetings with Parliament President Anna Psarouda-Benaki, who will present him with the Gold Medal of the Hellenic Parliament; Athens Mayor Nikitas Kaklamanis, who will present the Indian leader with the Gold Medal of Merit of the City of Athens; main opposition PASOK leader and Socialist International (SI) president George Papandreou; and the ministers of tourism and development, as well as intellectuals and academics.

A reception will be hosted in Kalam's honour by the Indian ambassador to Greece.

Further, Kalam will deliver a keynote address to a distinguished gathering organized by the prestigious think tank, the Hellenic Foundation for European and Foreign Policy (ELIAMEP), on the theme "Dynamics of Peace and Prosperity".

Caption: ANA-MPA file photo of Kalam.

[02] BoG: Economy improving, competitiveness the key

Garganas noted, however, that the Greek economy still faces serious challenges that needed to be dealt with in order to maintain high growth rates in the future, as well as to increase employment, boost social cohesion and move faster towards convergence with other more developed EU states.

The most serious challenge was combating inflation, the Greek central banker said, since the country has suffered greatly in competitiveness compared with other Eurozone states. Garganas noted that because of the shortfall in competitiveness the country failed to fully exploit opportunities created by globalisation.

"Improving our international competitiveness must be our top priority economic policy," he said.

He urged social partners to contribute in achieving a goal of reducing inflation, through collective bargaining agreements on wage increases and through a pricing policy by enterprises.

A continuation of a fiscal stabilisation programme, despite a decline in the fiscal deficit, was the second biggest challenge facing the Greek economy, as the country's public debt remained at very high levels. The central bank noted that Greece was far behind other EU states in taking the necessary policy measures to reduce the impact of an expected ageing of the population and to reform the country's pension system.

Another challenge was the high unemployment rate, particularly among young people and women. Employment rates, although they rose in 2006, remained relatively steady, unable to match up with strong GDP growth rates, while poverty levels remained high compared with the EU average, almost unchanged in the last decade, the central bank said.

Garganas said these problems were mainly related with structural weaknesses in product and labour markets and problems in education and the tax system. He noted that the pace of structural reforms in the country was slow.

Finally, Garganas noted that a large number of pension funds, loose management, lack of infrastructure to ensure proper management and supervision gaps were chronic problems, as he urged that "forthcoming reforms should be widespread, compatible with OECD directives in corporate governance of pension funds and offering supervision to an independent authority".

Caption: ANA-MPA file photo of Garganas.

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