PM George Papandreou to visit NY, Washington


Prime minister George Papandreou will be in the US from September 18 to 23 to address the Summit on the Millennium Developmental Goals and attend the formal opening of the 65th UN General Assembly in New York, and a series of contacts in Washington on September 21.

While in New York, Papandreou will have a number of meetings with head of state and government, including Turkish president Abdullah Gul and Cyprus president Demetris Christofias, as well as with UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon.

Papandreou's itinerary begins on Sunday, September 19, with a meeting with American Jewish organisations, while the following day, Monday, September 20, he will address the first day of the Millennium summit and take part in a round-table discussion.

Later in the day, Papandreou will attend a lunch at the NYSE (New York Stock Exchange) with stockmarket and Wall Street officials, where he will present the Greek government's developmental and investments program.

On the afternoon of September 20 Papandreou, who is also president of the Socialist International (SI), will chair a meeting of the SI presidium.

On Tuesday, September 21, Papandreou will fly to Washington for a series of talks, including with US vice-president Joe Biden and members of Congress.

Back in New York, on Wednesday, September 22, Papandreou will meet with foreign leaders, and will also attend a reception at Greece's Consulate General, where he will meet with leaders of the Greek American community, academicians and representatives of the arts and letters. Later in the evening, he will attend a reception hosted by former US president Bill Clinton.

On Thursday, September 23, Papandreou will attend the formal opening of the 65th UN General Assembly, which will be addressed by US president Barack Obama, while that same night he will attend a reception hosted by Obama in honor of the heads of state and government attending the General Assembly opening, before leaving New York.

Foreign minister Dimitris Droutsas will address the General Assembly this year on behalf of Greece on Tuesday, September 28.

While in New York, Droutsas will also attend the traditional lunch hosted by the Secretary General on the occasion of the new General Assembly session, while he will also accompany Papandreou in the latter's meetings with foreign dignitaries, attend scheduled NATO-US, EU-US and EU-Russian high-ranking meetings.