Embassy of Greece Business News section
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FROM THE U.S. PRESS
GREEN RESORT IN CRETE
The New York Times of August 19, 2007 published a feature on “sustainable Mediterranean resorts” which, as the headline stresses, are “Trying to be Green, With Very Little Water.” Prominence is given in the article to the operations of an Athens-based company which is developing resorts in Greece, Cyprus, and Croatia which will have “on-site desalination and wastewater treatment plants.” One of these is to be built at the Cavo Sidero site on Sitia Bay on the island of Crete after an environmental study costing $2.6 million. Its golf courses will be planted with “seashore paspalum, a salt-tolerant grass, and with local flora instead of grasses that require a lot of water.” The project, which “the Greek government strongly supports . . . includes six villages with traditional homes, villas and apartments as well as sports facilities, restaurants and shops on about one percent of the site,” with the rest “set aside for trails, nature areas and three golf courses.”
Source, Greece, a publication of the Embassy of Greece in the U.S.,
September 2007; Vol. 13 No. 8
A “Historic Event” Says Prime Minister Karamanlis
TRIPARTITE NATURAL GAS AGREEMENT SIGNED
On July 26, 2007 an agreement was signed in Rome by Greece, Italy and Turkey creating the Southern European Natural Gas Corridor which provides for the transportation of natural gas from east to west. The agreement was described by Prime Minister Costas Karamanlis as “a historic event for all concerned”—not just for the three signing countries, but also for the countries of the Caspian Sea and the Middle East. It is, he said, also “an equally important project for Europe, since it ensures, via Turkey and Greece, the transport of gas from Asia to the major European markets . . . Our country is becoming a major and powerful international conduit for oil, natural gas and electricity, upgrading its geopolitical position.”
The tripartite agreement, which complements the earlier bilateral Greece-Italy and Greece-Turkey agreements, was signed by Development Minister Dimitris Sioufas, who referred to the construction, due to begin in June next year, of the Interconnector Greece-Italy (IGI) which supplements the natural gas line between Greece and Turkey. The IGI will have a land-based sector of 590 kilometers and an underwater section of 217 kilometers involving a total investment of some one billion euros, partly funded by the EU’s 4th Community Support Framework.
Source, Greece, a publication of the Embassy of Greece in the U.S.,
September 2007; Vol. 13 No. 8
ECONOMY CONTINUES TO PROSPER
The National Statistical Service reported a growth rate of over 4.1 percent in the Greek economy in the second quarter of 2007 compared with that period of last year. The improvement was attributed to:
A 2.8 percent increase in spending on end consumption, contributing by 1.8 percent to the increase in final demand.
A 4.9 percent increase in investments, contributing 1.1 percent to increased final demand.
A 9.9 percent increase in exports, compared with only a 2.9 percent increase in the same period of 2006, accounting for 1.4 percent of increased final demand.
An increase of only 4.4 percent in imports, compared with a 13.1 percent increase last year.
Inflation in July was running at a rate of only 2.5 percent—the lowest in the past eight years; and unemployment, according to official figures for May 2007, was recorded at 7.7 percent, which was a nine-year low.
Source, Greece, a publication of the Embassy of Greece in the U.S.,
September 2007; Vol. 13 No. 8
GREEK EXPORTS
Germany was the biggest market for Greek exports to the EU countries in the first four months of 2007, increasing by 38 percent over that period of last year, to a total of $5.1 billion. Overall, exports increased in that period by 14.2 percent to $8 billion. The main exports to Germany were of telecoms equipment, registering an increase of 164 percent. Exports to countries of the Far East also soared, by 104 percent to Japan and by 33 percent to China. While exports shrank in the 2000-2004 period from 10.6 to 7.4 percent of GDP, lost ground is now being regained, with exports expected to account for 9.8 percent of GDP this year.
Source, Greece, a publication of the Embassy of Greece in the U.S.,
July-August 2007; Vol. 13 No. 7-8
RESEARCH
Aiming to make Greece a pioneer in research efforts in southeast Europe, thirteen Greek research organizations have combined to form the Greek Research Centers Forum. At the same time, new legislation to be introduced in Parliament shortly will provide a new institutional framework for research and technology.
Source, Greece, a publication of the Embassy of Greece in the U.S.,
July-August 2007; Vol. 13 No. 7-8
TOURISM
After an increase of 8.44 percent in tourist arrivals in 2006, arrivals were up by six percent in the first half of this year. Passenger traffic at Athens Airport was up by 10 percent in that period and is expected to break last year’s record of 15.1 million passengers at the end of this year.
Source, Greece, a publication of the Embassy of Greece in the U.S.,
July-August 2007; Vol. 13 No. 7-8
Airlines Establish Direct Flights to Athens
In June 2007 USAir inaugurated a direct daily flight from Philadelphia to Athens. In the same month, Continental Airlines started its daily direct flight to Athens from Newark, New Jersey.
Agreement for Burgas-Alexandropoulis Pipeline
The leaders of Greece, Russia and Bulgaria signed a final agreement in Athens in March, 2007 on the long-considered plan to build a pipeline carrying Russian oil through the Black Sea port of Burgas in Bulgaria to the north-eastern Aegean port of Alexandropoulis in Greece. Construction is expected to begin by 2008.
Source: Athens News Agency
Creta Farm, S.A. Signs Joint Venture with Clemens
After a long study of the US market, Creta Farm SA, one of the leading Greek manufacturers of processed meat products, entered in to a joint venture agreement with Clemens Investments LLC (owners of the Hatfield Quality Meats brands) for production and sale of its “En Elladi” products in the US markets. The line of “En Elladi” products of Creta Farm is processed by substituting the animal fat in the meats with olive oil, a process that has been patented by the company. The new joint venture will be headquartered in the Philadelphia suburbs.
