Athens News Agency: News in English, 07-12-05

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

CONTENTS

[01] Founding of Greece-Turkey Business Council announced

[01] Founding of Greece-Turkey Business Council announced

The target of the Council is to boost bilateral trade, and chiefly collaborations between the two business communities, in the region of Southeastern Europe, where Greece is a strong force, and in the Black Sea countries, where Turkish entrepreneurs have substantial penetration.

In a brief address at the session, Bakoyannis expressed satisfaction over the development of bilateral economic relations, placing particular emphasis on cooperation in the energy sector and making specific reference to the inauguration of the Greece-Turkey natural gas pipeline by prime ministers Costas Karamanlis of Greece and Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

Bakoyannis invited the Turkish entrepreneurs to take advantage of the opportunities offered by Greece and to invest here, noting that the Greek side has made substantial investments in Turkey estimated at 5.5 billion dollars.

She also called for elimination of the bureaucratic obstacles in Turkey of imports from Greece, and for increased tourism to Greece, noting that the number of Greek tourists to Turkey was continuously increasing, reaching 500,000 last year.

Addressing herself to both Greek and Turkish businessmen, Bakoyannis stressed that "every investment you make is an investment in the future, in the creation of collaborations with immense mutual benefit, which translates into peace, security, growth and prosperity".

DEIK board of directors member Selim Egeli, a prominent entrepreneur thanked the Greek political leadership, through Bakoyannis, for its support of Turkey's EU course.

Caption:ANA-MPA/ANTONIS DOUKAS Greek Foreign Minister Dora Bakoyannis receives Turkish Foreign Minister Ali Babacan

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