A Roadmap to a New Greece |  |
- A Roadmap to a New Greece
- FinMin in Washington
- Minister of State visits China
- Europe's Oldest Readable Tablet Found @ Messinia
- Travelers' Choice Beaches: They Are Greek
| Posted: 18 Apr 2011 02:54 AM PDT  Prime Minister George Papandreou on April 15 unveiled a roadmap to get Greece out of the crisis, through the presentation of a three-year Medium-Term Fiscal Strategy for 2012-2015. At the same time, he rejected increasing speculation of early general elections and restructuring of the Greek debt. "What we are presenting today goes beyond just the fiscal dimension. They are the basic points on a roadmap that will lead Greece out of the crisis and to a Greece that is creative," said the Premier, addressing a cabinet meeting and a meeting of his parliamentary group. The Medium-Term Fiscal Strategy -the details of which will be announced after the Easter holiday- envisages fiscal measures together with an ambitious privatization plan aimed at raising € 26 billion by 2015. As Papandreou said, Greece's target is to reduce spending to 44% of gross domestic product by 2015 -from 53% in 2009- and to increase state revenues to 43% from 38% over the next four years. Prime Minister's Office: A Roadmap to a Creative Greece (in Greek); Finance Ministry: Presentation of Medium-Term programme    |
| Posted: 18 Apr 2011 02:55 AM PDT  Finance Minister George Papaconstantinou traveled to Washington, over the weekend, to take part in the spring meetings of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank. On the sidelines of the meetings, Papaconstantinou held private talks with IMF Managing Director Dominique Strauss-Kahn. "The pain and cost of restructuring would be bigger than the benefits, and thus [...] it is not the position of the Greek government" Papaconstantinou told to reporters, adding that "public discussion about this matter does not help the country." Echoing remarks by Dominique Strauss-Kahn, IMF European director Antonio Borges firmly ruled out debt restructuring as an option for Greece.   |
| Minister of State visits China Posted: 18 Apr 2011 02:54 AM PDT  Minister of State Haris Pamboukis visited China last week for talks with high-ranking officials and business executives. He was accompanied by President and CEO of Public Power Corporation (PPC), Arthouros Zervos, the CEO of Athens Water Supply and Sewerage Company (EYDAP), Nicolaos Bardis, and the Prime Minister's advisor on issues of technology, Information Technology and telecommunications. During Pamboukis's visit, a major wind power deal was signed between PPC and Sinovel, China's top wind turbine maker. The deal involves strategic cooperation to develop wind farms and the construction of a wind turbine unit in Greece, according to an announcement by PPC.  "I had a very significant meeting with the vice-premier of the Chinese government, who expressed China's trust and support towards the Greek government's and the Greek people's efforts to exit the crisis," Pamboukis said following his meeting with China's Executive-Vice Premier Li Keqian, which wound up his official visit to the Chinese capital.  |
| Europe's Oldest Readable Tablet Found @ Messinia Posted: 18 Apr 2011 02:54 AM PDT A clay tablet fragment bearing the earliest known writing in Europe was found at the archaeological site of Iklaina in the prefecture of Messinia.  Dating to 3,350 years ago, the tablet measures 2 inches by 3 and has writing on both sides in the Linear B system. On the front of the fragment is a verb that relates to some sort of manufacturing, while on the back there is a list of men's names alongside numbers. Found in an olive grove, the writing was fortuitously preserved thanks to a trash heap that caught fire some 3,500 years ago. According to archaeologists, this surprisingly unexpected discovery may cast light on the political structure and bureaucratic practices at the beginning of the Mycenaean period, 1600 to 1100 B.C. "This is a rare case where archaeology meets ancient texts and Greek myths," Michael Cosmopoulos, professor of Greek studies at the University of Missouri and director of the excavations, said recently announcing the discovery.  Excavations at the Iklaina archaeological site has been carried out by the Cosmopoulos' team for 11 years, yielding evidence of an early Mycenaean palace, giant terrace walls, murals, and a surprisingly advanced drainage system. The presentation of the findings will be held on May 8, at the Proceedings of the Athens Archaeological Society. National Geographic: Ancient Tablet Found-Oldest Readable Writing in Europe   |
| Travelers' Choice Beaches: They Are Greek Posted: 18 Apr 2011 02:54 AM PDT  The beaches of Skiathos and Mykonos entered the top five best European beaches in the 2011 Travelers' Choice Beaches awards: Skiathos beaches were voted second and Mykonos beaches 4th in a worldwide voting, that brought Cyprus's Ayia Napa beach in the first place. The survey was compiled by TripAdvisor, the world's largest travel site that announced the winners of its inaugural awards on April 5.  TripAdvisor spokeswoman Emma O'Boyle said: ''These awards recognise the best beach destinations in Europe as decided by millions of travelers." A total of five Greek beaches entered the top 25, with Lindos beach in Rhodes ranking 17th and Stalis beach in Crete following at number 18. Ios island beaches made it to number 23. Visit Greece: Seaside in Greece [VIDEO]   |
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