Greece This Month – JUNE 2014
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Greece this month In this issue: Commercial Agreement s signed between Greece and China Energy Forum 1-2 July in London “Ellada Pantou” Festival Greek Islands guide The Acropolis Museum Turned 5
EMBASSY OF GREECE Press & Communications Office 1A Holland Park, London W11 3TP Tel.: 020 77273071, Fax: 020 77278960 pressoffice@greekembassy.org.uk
Greece and China Sign Landmark Commercial Agreements On 19 June, China's Prime Minister Li Keqiang arrived in Athens on an official three- day visit during which Greece and China reaffirmed their commitment to boosting bilateral ties by signing several agreements. Speaking at a press conference with his Greek counterpart, Antonis Samaras, the Chinese Premier called on Greece to continue with its reforms, but also praised the country for its efforts to overhaul its economy. "We never abandoned the Greek bond market, but have increased our purchases," Mr. Li said, adding: "I have expressed my will to Mr. Samaras that when the Greek government issues a new Greek bond, China will continue to be a longterm and responsible investor in Greek bonds." “Greece can become the main European entry point for China thanks to our strategic location
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and our strong shipping industry,” Mr Samaras underlined, during the joint statements with Mr. Li. In an article published in the Greek newspaper Kathimerini ahead of the visit, Mr. Li also expressed China's interest in investing in other projects in Greece, including in its airports, railroads, ports and other infrastructure. During the visit, Greece and China were due to sign some 19 separate commercial agreements, worth an estimated $7 billion, covering shipping, energy, construction, building materials and farm products. Chinese Prime Minister Li Keqiang completed his three-day visit by attending the opening ceremony of the new hall of the Archaeological Museum in Heraklion, Crete on June 21th.
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Cabinet Reshuffle in the coalition government The US-trained chief economist of Eurobank, Gikas Hardouvelis, was named the new Finance Minister, replacing Yannis Stournaras on 9 June 2014, who was appointed governor of the central Bank of Greece, after the Cabinet Reshuffle of the Greek coalition government. Mr. Hardouvelis, 59, is currently a professor of economics at the University of Piraeus and chief economist at Greek lender Eurobank Ergasias SA. An experienced technocrat in
government issues, the appointment of Mr. Hardouvelis is seen as signalling a continuation in Greece's ongoing reform efforts. Most recently, he served as a senior adviser in the interim government of former Prime Minister Lucas Papademos and was instrumental in helping negotiate Greece's private-sector debt restructuring in 2012. Mr. Hardouvelis also served as an economic adviser to former Prime Minister Costas Simitis between 2000 and 2004.
Western Greece and South Crete: A new Frontier area for hydrocarbons E&P in the heart of the Mediterranean The Minister of Environment, Energy and Climate Change, Prof. Yannis Maniatis is to give a keynote address during a special forum organized by the aforementioned Ministry in cooperation with the Embassy of Greece in London, under the title ‘Greece Offshore Licensing Round 2014: Western Greece and South Crete: A new Frontier for hydrocarbons E&P in the heart of the Mediterranean’ on 1-2 July 2014, at the Hellenic Centre, London.
Greece welcomes you in London The four-day ‘Greece Welcomes You in London’ exhibition, opening on 3rd July at the Olympia National Hotel, aims to offer visitors an immersive Greek culinary experience. Providing an extensive array of market stalls, cooking demonstrations and the opportunity to try local produce, the event will also allow attendees to prepare signature Greek dishes with assistance from leading Mediterranean chefs. In addition to this, there will also be Greek dancers present, as well as the opportunity to win a complementary
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package holiday to Greece. To book, visit: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/greecewelcomes-you-in-london-food-and-art-eventtickets-11140155505.
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Social Cooperative Enterprise ‘Ellada Pantou’ Under the auspice of the Ministry of Culture Greece, France, Sweden, Peru, Finland, Australia, Holland and Germany took part in the open festival ‘Ellada Pantou’. Both the festival and the three day long radio programme were a big success. Greeks from all over the world got together in an attempt to promote Greek culture, goods and services. Institutional, private and public bodies, businesses and individuals, as well as solidarity and voluntary groups got together for the first time ever, coordinating the enterprise ‘Ellada Pantou’. In France, under the auspice of the Greek Embassy, the festival involved a tribute to the Greek immigrants at the Rodano delta and to folkloric art. In Sweden, Finland and Holland, they presented traditional dances and experienced Greek poetry, music and food.
In Peru, visitors of the festival had the opportunity to play backgammon, watch a cultural documentary and try Greek food and drinks. The festival took place in Australia for the first time, where people enjoyed aboriginal music, Greek rock, opera and poetry. The importance of cooperation and solidarity was underlined with regards to social entrepreneurship and the effort to transform the diaspora into homogeneity. The aim of the Social Cooperative Enterprise ‘Ellada Pantou’ was to encourage the slow and steady creation of festival appearances "Ellada Pantou" around the world. In times of globalization, the Greeks build bridges of communication and cooperation, to uphold the Greek culture and cooperative ideal.
The Beautiful Mainland of Greece Undeniably, Greece has more to show other than its islands. In an article published on June 8 2014 by the Daily Express, it is argued that it is rather ‘strange’ how British holidaymakers make a beeline for the islands and ignore the multiple attractions that the mainland has to offer. Indeed Greece’s mainland is rich in ancient classical sites, like that of Sparta and Olympus. Epidavros is a remarkably preserved ancient Greek theatre, dating back to 400 BC, which is still used for modern, classical, foreign or Greek plays and performances.
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In addition, there are breath-taking landscapes from ‘soaring mountain ranges and alpine forests to vineyard-strew hillsides and horseshoe bays with white sand beaches’. In a journey back to the past, Nafplio, the first capital city of modern Greece, with its natural beauty as a harbour front town, is the perfect place to explore Venetian architecture. Nafplio is best known for its labyrinth of marble paved streets and its dramatic fortress. Palamidi fortress offers the best view of the fort, sea and roofs of Nafplio. It is on the crest of a 216-metre high hill and it takes 999 steps to get to the top of the fort. The coastlines are home to a long stretch of sandy beaches.
Ancient Greek Theatre in the Black Sea Conference The importance of ancient Greek theatre to the study of performance culture is universally acknowledged; however, Western study of ancient Greek theatre is often restricted to Athens, disregarding its prevalence amongst the Greek colonies in the Black Sea. Thus, Professor Edith Hall and Dr. Rosie Wyles of King’s College London are convening a unique event on the 4th – 5th July that aims to shed light on this overlooked area, as well as to encourage academic co-operation between experts in the fields of archaeology and the cultural history of the Black Sea. In addition to discussions between experts, the conference will also feature performances inspired by the Black Sea, a representation of the future collaborative efforts the event hopes to incite. Location: Safra Lecture Theatre Ground Floor Strand Campus. Date: 04/07 (10:00) – 05/07 (19:30)
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Socrates and Athens: Why We Still Need To Care About Both Today Part of King’s College London’s celebrations of the 25th anniversary of its Centre of Hellenic Studies was Bettany Hughes’s lecture ‘Socrates and Athens’ that took place on the 29th of May, at the university’s Strand Campus. The event, sponsored by the Hellenic Presidency of the Council of the European Union, formed part of a wider lecture series entitled ‘Why Greece matters today’. Bettany Hughes is an esteemed historian, author and broadcaster whose credentials include a series of films and radio documentaries as well as the critically acclaimed book Helen of Troy: Goddess, Princess, Whore.
The Telegraph’s Ultimate Guide to Summer: The Greek Islands Telegraph Travel’s ambitious new project entails the creation of 125 new online travel guides in order to provide up-and-coming reliable information on popular destinations for prospective travellers. This includes a comprehensive selection of guides to the Greek islands, compiled by photographer and part-time Samos resident Marc Dublin. Much attention is devoted to the culinary selections on offer across the islands, particularly with regards to the renewed focus on locally sourced ingredients and regional specialties. In particular, Crete features prominently, with the tavernas Rakodikeio in Rethymno and Ouzythina in Hania both gaining special mentions. In general, the guides tend to focus on islands located in the Aegean, and include helpful information regarding attractions and transport, as well as local law and etiquette: undoubtedly a useful resource for any potential trips to Greece.
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The Acropolis Museum turned 5! The Acropolis Museum celebrated its 5th birthday on June 20, 2014. The special occasion was marked by a presentation of the horsemen on the West Frieze of the Parthenon using threedimensional digital images. 3-D images illustrated how combined copper weapons and bridles would look in place. During these five years, the Museum has been serving, on average over 3000 visitors daily. Since the beginning of the Greek EU Presidency in January, the Museum has received a large number of political leaders, senior officials and support staff, who had the opportunity to see the Museum’s emblematic works. The Acropolis Museum has a total area of 25,000 square meters, with exhibition of over 14,000 square meters. According to National Geographic it is listed among the top 10 museums in the world, ranking third.
Little England Collects Three Awards at the 17th Shanghai International Film Festival Distinguished filmmaker Pantelis Voulgaris’s newest project, Little England (Mikra Agglia), has been met with great acclaim at the Shanghai International Film Festival (June 14th – 22nd). As well as securing the best director award for Voulgaris and the best actress award for the film’s leading lady Pinelopi Tsilkia, the film was also honoured with the Golden Goblet Award for best film. In his acceptance speech, Voulgaris stressed the influence that his upbringing in Greece has had on his filmmaking: “People in my country are good at telling beautiful stories. I spent a lot of years listening to those tiny, but sweet stories.” The film, a period drama set in the island of Andros, tells the story of two sisters during the interwar period through to the 1950s.
Benefit Piano Concert by Dimitris Karydis The Ionian Society in cooperation with the Education Office of the Embassy of Greece in London were the coordinators of a memorable piano concert night on 21 May, at the Great Hall of the Hellenic Centre of London, organized as an initiative of the Kefalonian Gerasimos Galiatsatos. The internationally acclaimed pianist Dimitris Karydis performed works by Chopin at a benefit piano concert for the relief of the people of Kefalonia; the revenues raised will be donated to the victims of the recent great earthquake.
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