Greece’s biggest port, the Port of Piraeus, has inked a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Italian ports of Venice and Chioggia in order to strengthen cargo flows.
The agreement was signed in February at the headquarters of the Piraeus Port Authority (PPA) between PPA chief executive Capt Fu Chengqiu and North Adriatic Sea Port Authority president Pino Musolino.
Both authorities have committed to creating stable and mutual co-operation to develop their ports and port services, supporting infrastructure connectivity policies and port services aimed at fostering commercial flows via the ports between Europe, the Mediterranean and the Far East.
Another goal of the MoU concerns improving exchange of best practices and knowhow in port-management, specifically in information technology, attraction of investment and communication.
Connections to Asia
A release said that the ports constitute “fundamental networks” in the forthcoming international maritime links along China’s New Silk Road and that the agreement’s common objective is boosting the docks’ performance.
According to Mr Musolino, Venice is the westernmost point of arrival by sea in the East Asian country’s Belt and Road Initiative development strategy.
“Through this agreement, which is coupled with the other recently signed with COSCO SHIPPING [Lines] for a weekly connection from Piraeus to Venice, we want to clearly show that the development of trade primarily requires commercial agreements, optimisation of services and targeted infrastructure-interventions,” he said.
“This is the right path to create value for our economy and for our territory.”
Capt Fu said: “The establishment of our co-operation with the North Adriatic Sea Port Authority is targeting strengthening the trade links between Asia and the Mediterranean and enhancing the role of ports as engines for the European economy.”
The Port of Piraeus is located in the south of Greece, while the ports of Venice and Chioggia are situated in the north of Italy.
