Athens News Agency: News in English, 11-07-13

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

CONTENTS

[01] Papoulias visit to Palestinian territories

[02] Culture Minister's initiatives to promote Greece-Israel tourism cooperation

[03] ASE opening: Decline

[01] Papoulias visit to Palestinian territories

Moreover, he said the Arab peace initiative remains a significant tool for the international community towards this goal.

Papoulias nevertheless expressed his concern over the current impasse in direct negotiations, while saying he is satisfied with the programme to boost state institutions and efforts by Abbas towards internal Palestinian rapprochement and the unity of the Palestinian people. ana-mpa

On his part, Abbas referred to Papoulias as a "great visitor and friend", while thanking him for Athens' efforts to solve the Mideast problem on every level.ana-mpa

The Palestinian leader also called for the lifting of a naval blockade against the Gaza Strip, "so that people can live a normal live; so that the area can be rebuilt and for economic prosperity to occur."

Caption:Visiting Greek president Karolos Papoulias (R) and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas (L) walk during a welcoming ceremony in the West bank town of Ramallah on 12 July 2011. Papoulias is on a state visit to the Palestinian territories.ANA-MPA/ EPA/ATEF SAFADI

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[02] Culture Minister's initiatives to promote Greece-Israel tourism cooperation

Geroulanos held a series of important contacts for promoting bilateral relations in the crucial sector of tourism during a business forum held in Tel Aviv.

Speaking to Greek and Israeli businessmen active in the tourism sector, Geroulanos noted that since Greek prime minister George Papandreou's meeting with his Israeli counterpart Benjamin Netanyahu in Moscow last July, the two countries and peoples have come closer, adding that both prime ministers have put tourism at the top of their agenda.

Geroulanos also noted his close relationship with his Israeli counterpart Stas Misezhnikov and their vision for Greece and Israel working closely together to open up new markets, such as China, India, Latin America and the US, which he described as "markets of the future".ana-mpa

The Greek minister further underlined the huge 120 percent increase in visitors from Israel to Greece last year, and equally impressive increases of 180 percent in visitors from Turkey and 90 percent in visitors from Russia, adding that Greece's target is to rank among the 10 top destinations in the world in the coming years.ana-mpa

He also outlined all the measures that have been taken to make the investment environment in Greece more attractive, noting that "it is truly a big opportunity for the domestic and strategic investors of the Greece-Israel tourism industry to set out new, solid terms for investment opportunities of the future".

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[03] ASE opening: Decline

Individual sector indices were moving downwards with the biggest gains in Insurance up 2.08 percent; Technology, up 0.98 percent and Raw Materials, up 0.30 percent.

The biggest losses were in Constructions, down 2.25 percent; Personal and Household Goods, down 1.21 percent and Health, down 1.20 percent.

The FTSE/ASE 20 index for blue chip and heavily traded stocks was down 0.71 percent, the FTSE/ASE MID 40 index was down 0.45 percent, and the FTSE/ASE-80 small cap index was up 0.49 percent.

Of the stocks traded, 25 were up, 32 were down, and 19 were unchanged.

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