Cosco

Greece can only achieve a high economic growth rate if direct investments increase, Bank of Greece Governor Yannis Stournaras said in an interview with US magazine Fortune.

The Greek capital's shipping cluster is back among the top 10 global metropolitan centers, the annual report by the Baltic Exchange shows, though this was not thanks to shipping activity in Athens and Piraeus, but due to the development of the Port of Piraeus after its acquisition by China's Cosco.

The approval process for Cosco's investments in Piraeus has been passed on to the next government, as the Port Planning and Development Commission (ESAL) has conditionally accepted but not approved the master plan for Piraeus Port Authority (OLP).

The plenary of the Council of State has approved a contract for the expansion of a passenger terminal in Piraeus for the docking of cruise liners as well as the sale of a 67 percent stake of Piraeus Port Authority (OLP) to Cosco.
The country's top constitutional court has ruled in favor of those contracts, rejecting the appeals by construction company Terna SA.

Relations between the government and the operator of Piraeus Port Authority (OLP) could reach breaking point just weeks before the general election as an informal meeting between OLP and members of the Port Planning and Development Commission last Friday not only failed to resolve the problems for the implementation of Cosco's investment but probably generated new ones too.

By George Gilson

President Prokopis Pavlopoulos placed the threats to Cyprus' sovereignty and Greece's support for a Cyprus problem settlement at the top of the agenda in talks with Chinese President Xi Jingpin in Beijing today, even as he underlined that Athens is fully aligned with Brussels on policy issues concerning Beijing.

Athinon Avenue on Monday followed the global sell-off trend triggered by Washington's intention to raise the trade war stakes with China, posting remarkable losses that were even greater for bank stocks.

Only a few days after Greece became the 17th member of the Chinese initiative for Central and Eastern Europe - now called 17+1 - Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras traveled to Beijing to attend the Second Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation. It was his third visit to the Chinese capital, after July 2016 and May 2017.

Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras' presence at the Belt and Road Initiative Forum in Beijing Friday and Saturday, in addition to Greece's joining the initiative of 16 countries of Eastern and Southeastern countries with strong relations with China, shows how far Greece has come since 2009. That was when China's state-owned Cosco took over part of Piraeus's container port.

Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras and Foreign Minister Yorgos Katrougalos are in China for the Second Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation, based on the ancient Silk Road, linking East and Southeast Asia with East Africa, West Asia, and southern Europe.