The chairman of the OECD's Development Assistance Committee (DAC) Richard Manning visited the Greek foreign ministry in Athens on Monday for a mutual briefing on developmental aid programs being carried out by Greece and the DAC.

Meeting Deputy Foreign Minister Evripidis Stylianidis, Manning noted that Greece had notable developmental activity in its immediate neighborhood, the Balkans and the Black Sea that is viewed positively by the DAC.

Stylianidis said that Greece has granted developmental aid to 46 countries, with the associated spending approaching 0.23 percent of GDP - which was the European rate - or €464 million per year.

"The meeting with Mr. Manning gave us the opportunity to present the Greek contribution and plan new initiatives with the DAC, which will allow us to express our humanity to countries in need," Stylianidis later told reporters.

After meeting Stylianidis, Manning had a meeting with ministry staff and representatives of non-governmental organizations. The meeting was also attended by the foreign ministry's newly appointed General Secretary for International Economic Relations and Developmental Cooperation Theodoros Skylakakis, who made his first official appearance in his new post.

Manning, on his part, stressed the need for effective management of international developmental aid, stressing the special role that can be played by the local institutions within the aid-receiving country and calling for best possible coordination between aid donors and receivers.

Monday's briefing was part of a procedure to monitor Greece's implementation of the commitments it undertook in the developmental aid sector leading up to November, when Greece will be subjected to a Peer Review in 2004 and 2005 in Paris, which this year will be carried out by New Zealand and Luxembourg. This is the second Peer Review for Greece since it joined the DAC.

Source: Athens News Agency

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