国际英语新闻：Greek PM sends message of hope over economic crisis

THESSALONIKI, Greece, Sept. 11 (Xinhua) -- Greek people united will be able to address the economic woes of the debt-ridden national economy and change Greece for the better, said Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou on Saturday evening in his opening keynote speech at the 75th Thessaloniki International Fair here.

"Over the past 11 months we struggled on a daily basis and saved our country from default, which was presented as inevitable. I absolutely believe that we can continue and all together reform Greece," said Papandreou at the "Vellidion" conference center while outlining the economic policies of his socialist government for the coming months.

Papandreou's speech did not include any major pledges or surprises, Greek analysts noted, as clashes broke out outside the venue between police and thousands of demonstrators who denounced government austerity measures.

THESSALONIKI, Sept. 11, 2010 (Xinhua) -- Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou delivers a speech on his government's short-future economic policy during the 75th Thessaloniki International Fair in Thessaloniki on Sept. 11, 2010. Papandreou addressed the event, as thousands of protestors outside the conference hall at the Greek northern city denounced austerity measures introduced to counter a deep economic crisis.

"We will all fight united or we will all sink together," said the prime minister, acknowledging the heavy sacrifices of low and middle-income households and entrepreneurs.

He vowed to speed up the pace of the structural reforms to lead Greece out of the acute debt crisis and back onto the path of development and prosperity, based on a three-year plan that is financially supported by European partners and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in exchange for austerity measures and bold changes.

"We can not blame troika for our debts, our mistakes. The uNPRecedented 110-billion-euro (139.9 billion U.S. dollars) aid package we secured is a vote of confidence for Greece," he stressed.

Noting that Greece has already proved that it can achieve fiscal discipline, slash a huge budget deficit and put its ailing national economy back in shape, the Greek prime minister focused on five major changes on his government's agenda.

He referred to the reform of the state, solidarity for the weakest groups of society, initiatives to boost entrepreneurship and investments, a plan to tackle widespread tax evasion and corruption, efforts to move onto green development, and the reform of the country's education system.

"We offer one-billion-euro incentives for the creation of 175, 000 new job positions and the protection of 300,000-500,000 job positions. We will attract investments on development worth 44.44 billion euros by 2015. For the first time since the 2004 Athens Olympic Games we give a boost to the Greek tourism sector," said Papandreou.

He promised to push forward a series of reforms by the end of the year, including the liberalization of closed professions and sectors in Greece, the partial privatization of Greek public railways, the deregulation of the energy sector, and the reform of the taxation system.

The Greek leader also pledged to boost development, restructure the local banking sector, ease the licensing of businesses, and strengthen investments on research and technology.

On green sustainable development, which is a priority of the Greek government for the following months, Papandreou stressed that his government's vision is based on certain principles, such as a social state that guarantees equal rights for all and focuses on human and protection of the environment.

"Yes, we can win the battle. We owe it to ourselves and next generations," he concluded.