Deputy Foreign Minister Evripidis Stylianidis on Wednesday met with university students from New Orleans who are continuing their studies at Thessaloniki's Anatolia College as part of a relief effort of the ministry's Hellenic Aid agency.

"[This initiative] is a symbolic expression of the Greek people towards the people affected by the hurricane," Stylianidis said after the meeting, referring to Hurricane Katrina which hit the southeastern United States earlier this year.

Hellenic Aid took this initiative in cooperation with Anatolia College "to host a small number of youngsters, mainly college students who had to interrupt their studies due to the damages in the region," Stylianidis said.

The students will continue their studies at Anatolia College and will be able to transfer credits to their respective schools when they return to the US.

Stylianidis also referred to other initiatives taken by Hellenic Aid, saying that "we are realising the third phase of our southeast Asia plan, particularly for Sri Lanka."

A delegation will visit the country in January, while the foreign ministry's relief agency has allocated more than €10 million towards rebuilding the country's infrastructure, such as schools, ports and health care centres.

Aside from emergencies which require immediate intervention, Stylianidis said that "we have a specific programme for helping developing countries that are in need of infrastructure in order to achieve sustainable development. These countries include the western Balkans, the Black Sea region, North and sub-Saharan Africa and Southeast Asia."

Source: Athens News Agency

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