Athens Macedonian News Agency: News in English, 16-10-29

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

CONTENTS

[01] Clocks go back one hour at 4:00 on Sunday morning

[02] Government aiming for sustainable growth via investments, Charitsis says

[03] Six incubators donated to Thessaloniki University Hospital by Belgian doctors

[01] Clocks go back one hour at 4:00 on Sunday morning

The winter time will continue until the last Sunday in March 2017.

[02] Government aiming for sustainable growth via investments, Charitsis says

Charitsis, who is in charge of managing the National Strategic Reference Framework (NSRF) funds, said that 10 billion euros will come from the public investments programme and NSRF, while one billion euros will arise by setting up three new financing tools for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) that will be activated within 2016.

This one billion will be further leveraged with private funds, he added, and two more significant financing tools will then follow in the first quarter of 2017: the new Infrastructure Fund and the MicroLoans Fund.

Regarding NSRF, Charitsis said that all its programmes focused on creating new, good-quality jobs that can stem the flow of young scientists leaving Greece to find work abroad. He announced that invitations corresponding to more than 50 pct of the available funds, or 10 billion euros, will be sent out by the end of 2016, putting Greece in the top positions among the EU member-states on that score.

He also noted that the rate of absorption will exceed the 7 pct original target, greatly surpassing past performance.

According to the minister, a total of 6.75 billion euros will be injected into Greece's market from the full execution of the public investments programme, while another 3.5 billion euros will come from paying off state debts.

In the interview, Charitsis pointed out that the aim was to shift to a new model that made full use of the country's comparative advantages, especially its highly trained personnel.

"The aim is not, as in the past, to achieve positive indices based on rotten productive foundations but a growth that can be sustainable, both economically and environmentally, and work to benefit the social majority. What we strive for are investments, both public and private, that leave a substantial growth and social footprint," Charitsis added.

On a European level, the minister said that reinforcing solidarity and growth policies in place of destructive austerity was the only antidote to the rise of far-right and xenophobic trends.

[03] Six incubators donated to Thessaloniki University Hospital by Belgian doctors

The campaign was carried out by ULB University Medical School in Brussels, Medecins du Monde, Erasme University Hospital, and Saint-Pierre University Hospital, with the support of many other Belgian hospitals.

"It is clear that with this gesture we do not solve the medical crisis in Greece. But we want to actively help the Greek doctors, who are suffering from a lack of equipment and support," said ULB Rector Yvon Englert. "Some of these incubators can save the lives of newborns, of future European citizens," he added, noting that Belgian doctors will continue to press the country's political authorities to protect the Greek budget for health.

He noted that Belgian hospitals and medical staff started to collect funds after it became known that the health sector in Greece was suffering from significant shortages in staff and equipment due to cuts in public spending. According to the ULB University Medical School, these shortages "pose a serious threat to access, quality and safety of healthcare services."

The campaign succeeded in collecting 147,000 euros, which in addition to the incubators will be used to finance a project to equip health centres in northern Evia and support the new Medecins du Monde PolyClinic in Piraeus, focused on mental health.

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