. as Italian operators urge development?

Involved in the syndicate are Banco Sabadell, Barclays Capital, BNP Paribas, Fortis Bank, HSBC Bank, Santander and Société Générale Corporate & Investment Banking, although a total of 22 financial institutions participated in the operation.

There is alarm among other leading industry figures as to the absence of a port strategy to bring Italy’s facilities up to international standards at a particularly competitive time in the Med. Battistello called for the launch of a new development push for Gioia Taura, the Med’s largest container port, whose growth rates have slowed over the last three years.

Meanwhile representatives from Italy’s Assiterminal, which represents domestic maritime terminal operators, recently met the transport and infrastructure minister to register their concern over the low-level infrastructure spending allocated to ports as part of the 2005 finance bill.