The Piraeus Port Authority, together with China’s COSCO Shipping, the majority shareholder of PPA, and the world’s largest commercial port of Shanghai, signed two memorandums of understanding yesterday in the Greek capital of Athens.
The Shanghai International Port Group, which manages 25.7 percent of China’s international trading volume, signed the memorandums with COSCO Shipping and PPA in the presence of Han Zheng, a member of the politbureau of the Communist Party and party secretary of the Shanghai Municipal Committee.
Under the deal, Piraeus will strengthen its strategic position on the world trade map by increasing the incoming cargo from China to Europe.
The two sides also agreed to strengthen cooperation in staff training, technical assistance, information exchange, as well as develop synergies to create new business opportunities.
“The current agreement with the port of Shanghai is very important. It means that through Piraeus huge quantities of goods will be transported from China to the rest of the world,” Greek Deputy Economy and Development Minister Stergios Pitsiorlas told Xinhua. Since 2010, Cosco Shipping’s subsidiary Piraeus Container Terminal has been operating piers II and III at Piraeus port under a 35-year concession agreement.
In 2016, COSCO Shipping acquired 67 percent of the shares of PPA, turning the port into an important transport hub at the crossroads of Asia, Europe and Africa.
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