Earlier, during the second Greek-Turkish High-Level Cooperation Council, the two sides had signed 25 separate bilateral agreements.

Summarising the results during joint statements with the Turkish premier, Samaras said it had been “a good day for relations between the two countries,” AMNA reports from Istanbul.

During this joint press conference, Erdogan reported that they had shared a “common conviction based on the principles of a win-win solution,” that there should be “steps for an Exclusive Economic Zone in the Eastern Mediterranean.” Samaras, however, stated that this was “not the time to go into details” on this issue and that Greece “reserved the rights arising from international law.”

Samaras stressed that Greece, in spite of the crisis, remained a stable factor for peace and security in the region, adding that the meetings aimed to build up good neighbour relations and attempt to resolve differences.

On the issue of the continental shelf, he said this was a subject of exploratory talks between the two sides and emphasised Greece’s commitment to international law and international treaties. “We are establishing relations of mutual respect. The golden rule for a good relationship is mutual respect, national sovereignty and respect for international law,” Samaras underlined, according to the agency.

The Premier expressed Greece’s support for Turkey’s full accession to the European Union, stressing that this was a “fixed point of reference” but one requiring that Turkey fully comply with all the obligations of an EU candidate state. He said that Greece wanted a solution to the Cyprus problem that respected European rules and regulations, international law and the decisions of the UN Security Council.

The Turkish Prime Minister described yesterday’s meetings as “very useful” and stressed that the number of agreements signed, as well as the 22 agreements signed in 2010, “are indicative of the progress we have made in areas of cooperation”.

“Greece and Turkey are neighbouring countries and are fulfilling their obligations. Neighbourhood has obligations,” he said, adding that the meeting had served to “examine the issues that have been realised and those that can be realised.”

Erdogan said: “We believe the constructive atmosphere between our countries, the mutual understanding and good-neighborliness will strengthen our ties further,” he said. The Turkish prime minister added, however, that “there are still issues we do not agree on and our disagreements may be significant, but we are trying to forge relations of mutual respect.”

On the issue of a state mosque in Athens, which Ankara recently offered to sponsor, Samaras said that a Greek state project for an official state-backed place of worship for Muslims in the Greek capital was in the works.

The premiers co-signed 25 bilateral agreements on issues ranging from trade to tourism to natural disaster relief. Erdogan said the goal was to double last year’s 6.5 billion euros in bilateral trade this year. He said Ankara wanted to contribute to Greece’s economic recovery, declaring that “Greece’s problems are our problems.”

During the UN Sixty-seventh General Assembly Third Committee meeting held from 24th to 25th October, a United Nations expert called for boycotting businesses that were profiting from Israeli settlements on occupied Palestinian lands.

As reported by the Department of Public Information, the expert called for the action to be continued until Israel brought its operations in line with international human rights and humanitarian law.

Richard Falk, the Human Rights Council’s Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Palestinian territories occupied since 1967, also encouraged civil society to bolster efforts to hold those businesses accountable through legal and political initiatives at the national and international levels. He also drew attention to important developments in international law concerning businesses and human rights, including the United Nations Guiding Principles on Businesses and Human rights and the United Nations Global Compact.

“Businesses should not breach international humanitarian law provisions,” he commented. They might otherwise be subject to criminal or civil liability.

As Falk was preparing his report, he received information from civil societies documenting the involvement of businesses in Israeli settlements. He stated that the companies highlighted in the report constitute a small number of the many which are profiting from the Israeli settlement enterprise. His report also recommended that an advisory opinion should be sought from the International Court of Justice, particularly on the responsibility of businesses in relation to and in violation of the Fourth Geneva Convention:

“The scale of Israel’s settlement enterprise, especially the massive financial investment in it, appears to confirm Israel’s intention to retain control over much, if not all, of the West Bank, including East Jerusalem. Between 500,000 and 600,000 Israeli citizens had already been settled in Palestinian territory, 200,000 of whom had settled in East Jerusalem. In the last year alone, the settler population had increased by over 15,000 people.”

At this point it is unclear if the UN will embrace, and under which course of action, the United Nations expert called for boycotting businesses that are profiting from Israeli settlements on occupied Palestinian lands.

Kosovo’s government has shielded the country from the sharp economic slowdown plaguing the rest of Europe by improving its investment climate and maintaining macroeconomic stability. As a result Kosovo’s economy has grown, and it is fighting the over 40 percent unemployment rate which makes a third of its  population very poor.

Lundrim Aliu, Communications Officer for World Bank Office in Kosovo, reported that the World Bank injected 61 million Euros into Kosovo’s budget, mostly grant money. The Sustainable Employment Development Policy Program (SEDPP) funds were disbursed from the end of 2011 to the middle of 2012, and had a strong effect on many sectors, supporting reforms and improving transparency.

The positive effects are visible, stated Bedri Hamza, Kosovo’s Finance Minister: “First of all, it is important for the macro-fiscal stability of Kosovo, as it involves significant amount of funds. They were distributed among several projects, which will have a long-term effect. he adds. Kosovo has a prosperity and economic growth estimated at around 5% for 2011.”

One of Kosovo bigger constraint in its pursuit of economic growth was Kosovo’s unfavourable investment climate. To remove the barrier, the government has taken steps to speed up and ease business registration. The measure has encouraged private investments, which create jobs and in turn, incomes for families. Twenty-six one-stop-shops for registering businesses have been established in municipalities across Kosovo, where in the past there was only one in the capital.

Reforms making it easier to do business are paying off: in the first 9 months of 2012, new businesses registration has risen by 24 percent if compared to 2011. Moreover, it is now evident that Kosovo’s reform efforts outpaced those of neighbouring countries, according to the Doing Business 2013 report, improving its ranking.

Muhamet Doblibora, the Director of the Kamila chocolate production company, who recently re-registered its business in Prizren, said: “Before, due to bureaucracy there was no will to register the business, today bureaucracy is reduced at a minimum.”

Recently, a glimmer of hope in the form of a public works program was offered to those who have been out of work for a long time. The program offers them a place in the workforce and an income to support their families. The public works program has created 3,500 temporary jobs: 2,000 for poor and long-term unemployed people.

Finally, the recent switch to computer-based records has made it easier for public employment centres to focus their attention on people who want a job.

Hake Gegaj, Employment Advisor says: “We can now very easily check if someone is an active or passive job-seeker.” This move, together with search capabilities, has made employment advisors’ caseloads more manageable.

The World Bank’s budget support program in Kosovo coordinated ten multi- and bilateral donors, and is the largest joint financing activity in the country; donors included the European Union, United States, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Italy, Norway, Sweden and Switzerland.

A United Nations expert body expressed concern that the outcome document agreed at the recent UN Conference on Sustainable Development (Rio+20) failed to explicitly mention that businesses must respect human rights.

“Businesses will play a major role in developing the green economy and human rights safeguards are necessary to ensure that policies and business plans intended to advance environmental or development goals do not negatively impact people, communities and their livelihoods,” said the head of the five-strong UN Working Group on Human Rights and Transnational Corporations and Other Business Enterprises, Puvan Selvanathan.

“Inclusive, equitable and sustainable development can only become a reality when human beings are the central concern and their rights are realized and respected,” Mr. Selvanathan stressed in a news release.

Governments need to send clear messages to companies on the respect of human rights as the world creates a green economy, Mr. Selvanathan emphasized, adding that they should provide them with access to effective remedies for those whose rights have been affected by business activities.

More than 40,000 people – including parliamentarians, mayors, UN officials, chief executive officers and civil society leaders – attended Rio+20 from 20-22 June.

The agreed outcome document calls for a wide range of actions. These include beginning the process to establish sustainable development goals; detailing how the green economy can be used as a tool to achieve sustainable development; strengthening the UN Environment Programme (UNEP); promoting corporate sustainability reporting measures; taking steps to go beyond gross domestic product to assess the well-being of a country; developing a strategy for sustainable development financing; and, adopting a framework for tackling sustainable consumption and production.

It also focuses on improving gender equity; recognizing the importance of voluntary commitments on sustainable development; and stressing the need to engage civil society and incorporate science into policy; among other points.

The Working Group called on States and business to work with it, civil society and other stakeholders, on ensuring that the path to sustainable development set up at Rio+20 is undertaken, while protecting and respecting human rights.

For her part, the UN Special Rapporteur on the human right to safe drinking water and sanitation, Catarina de Albuquerque, welcomed the explicit commitment to progressively implement the right to safe drinking water and sanitation in the Rio+20 outcome document. However, she warned that “progressive realization” must not delay full implementation.

“‘Progressive realization of the right’ requires States to take concrete steps for its full realization to the maximum of available resources, including through international cooperation,” Ms. de Albuquerque said. “‘Progressive realization’ is not an excuse to postpone implementation, but rather calls for immediate steps, as well as for developing a roadmap to implement it.”

Ms. de Albuquerque reaffirmed her commitment to work with all States and stakeholders to develop sustainable development and post-2015 development goals for water and sanitation that ensure equality and non-discrimination as well as other human rights obligations.

“The future we want is within reach – it is a matter of will, courage and vision by the world’s governments,” she stated.

Double tax treaties are agreements to prevent taxing income twice by allocating taxing rights over this income between two countries. These types of treaties play a key role in encouraging investment and technology transfer, while allowing governments to retain taxing rights over the money that comes from those investments.

“International law places very few limits on the taxation sovereignty of countries,” Alex Trepelkov, Director of the Financing for Development Office in the Department of Economic and Social Affairs (DESA), told reporters at a press conference in New York. He added that income from cross-border investments may be taxable in both investor and recipient countries, something which can be prevented by setting adequate measures in place. “Double tax treaties play a key role in encouraging investment while allowing governments to retain appropriate taxing rights over the income deriving from those investments,” said Mr. Trepelkov.

Armando Lara Yaffar, Chairperson of the Committee of Experts on International Cooperation in Tax Matters, stressed that “the main objective of the revision of the UN Model has been to take into account recent developments in the areas of international tax policies relevant for both developed and developing countries.” Yaffar emphasized that one of the key elements of the UN Model is its aim to facilitate entry into bilateral tax treaties by developing countries, which would contribute to attaining their development goals.

The revised model, which had not been updated since 2001, also provides recommendations on how to combat corporate tax evasion as well as a set of rules for countries seeking to invest in developing countries.

According to a survey of 145 countries carried out by the Tax Justice Network, the cost of tax evasion last year amounted to $3.1 trillion in tax losses, which represents over 50 per cent of all of the countries’ combined healthcare costs.