Karamanlis meets finance, marine and island policy ministers

Prime Minister Costas Karamanlis on Monday had a meeting with Economy and Finance Minister George Alogoskoufis and Marine and Island Policy Minister George Voulgarakis. After the meeting, Voulgarakis noted the good level of cooperation between his ministry and the finance ministry and said that solutions to several issues had been found. According to Voulgarakis, there was a lengthy discussion on the merger of the merchant marine and the former Aegean and Island Policy ministries into a single unit.

This had included issues arising from the merging of their respective budgets, use of European funds and their absorption by a single body.
The minister noted that this was "a very big matter" that needed to be coordinated, adding that there had also been in-depth discussion about the developmental programme to be carried out by the merged ministry, which would include utilisation of all the islands, all issues related to town planning and building on islands in order to ensure a panoramic availability of the sea, the promotion and modernisation of island ports and harbours and their ability to contribute to the national economy.

Another issue touched on, according to the minister, was that of increasing staff at the ministry.

Source: ana.gr

06.11.2007