Athens Macedonian News Agency: News in English, 16-06-02

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

CONTENTS

[01] PM to cabinet: We expect ECB waiver immediately after review is formally concluded

[02] French PM arrives in Athens for two-day visit

[03] American companies 'intensely interested' in Greek shipping, says U.S. embassy official ahead of 'Posidonia 2016'

[01] PM to cabinet: We expect ECB waiver immediately after review is formally concluded

"There will be time for us to celebrate only when we have reduced unemployment, entered a path of growth, and only when in the next two years we succeed in permanently exiting the memorandums and supervision," he said.

The government's central goal over the coming period was a fair distribution of the wealth generated, so as to benefit the majority of society, with protection for employment and wages. He urged the government ministers to be guided by three key priorities in their work, namely: social protection, a turn toward economic growth and a fair distribution of both the burdens and the benefits.

The prime minister referred to upcoming legislation planned by the government, such as a new developmental law, a draft bill on the social economy and public contracts, a new system for licensing and monitoring public works and laws to fight the contraband trade in tobacco and spirits. He also announced plans for a "voluntary disclosure" law giving offenders a last chance to reveal undeclared past income and to pay any taxes due to the state and said that reforms to the country's "television landscape" will be completed by the first 10 days of August.

Referring to the recent furore surrounding measures to limit ownership of offshore firms by politicians, Tsipras spoke of "a collective paroxysm" by the opposition attempting to "implicate" the government, whose limits were set by reality.

"The reality in this case was the content of the measures for the offshore firms, which once against highlighted the strategic dead end that New Democracy and its fellow travellers [had entered] in their effort to slander the government."

In the wake of all this upheaval, Tsipras added, it was not the government but the main opposition "that took to its heels and is still running, rushing to tie up their loose ends."

He concluded his opening remarks to the cabinet by noting that the nature of these action requires processes of broad consultation and consensus. The government was opening up a discussion with the political parties, organisations and the society of citizens on a new election law and revision of the Constitution, he added, while it will set up working groups with prestigious experts and scientists, asking them to present their proposals before the end of the summer.

[02] French PM arrives in Athens for two-day visit

Valls started his visit by laying a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier and will then continue to the Presidential Palace where he will meet with President Prokopis Pavlopoulos.

On Friday, the French leader will meet privately with Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras at 11.00, and then a wider meeting including the delegations will follow. Valls and Tsipras will then make joint statements to the press.

[03] American companies 'intensely interested' in Greek shipping, says U.S. embassy official ahead of 'Posidonia 2016'

"The participation of the United States in this years' Posidonia proves the intense interest of U.S. companies for Greek shipping; an interest that will continue to increase as Greece implements the difficult but necessary measures which will contribute in the improvement of the business climate and the attracting of investments," Larson said.

He added that 19 American companies are participating in this year's event and invited everyone to visit them.

During the show, that opens on June 6 at the Athens Metropolitan Expo and ends on June 10, the Greek-American Chamber of Commerce and the North American Marine Environment Protection Association (NAMEPA) are organizing a seminar on the requirements and standards that ships need to respect to visit US ports.

The regulations, compliance strategies, and the cost of non-compliance, will be presented at the seminar by relevant US agencies and the global shipping community, including the US Coast Guard (USCG), the International Maritime Organization (IMO), NAMEPA and representatives of the international shipping and ship owning community.

The seminar, titled "Trading in U.S. Waters: Ensuring a Culture of Environmental Compliance", will be held on June 9, at 10:30-14:30 (local). Apart from the aforementioned organizers, the seminar is also supported by the trade division of the U.S. embassy in Athens and the Énternational Propeller Club of the United States and the International Port of Piraeus.

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