Greece seeks Chinese investment as PM visits
Greece Seeks Chinese Investment as PM Visits
Cash-strapped Greece played host on Saturday to China’s Premier Wen Jiabao, hoping to drum up sorely needed investment as Athens battles to emerge from an unprecedented debt crisis.
Athens was Wen’s first port of call on a European tour, with the Greek government eager to build on the success of existing Chinese investment in the country where shipping giant Cosco is expanding facilities at the main harbour.
The Chinese premier arrived in the Greek capital in mid afternoon with a delegation of ministers and businessmen in tow, including Cosco head Wei Jiafu and central bank governor Zhou Xiaochuan, airport officials said.
Wen was later due to sign bilateral agreements on investment and tourism with his Greek counterpart George Papandreou and private sector accords on shipping, construction and technology, according to Papandreou’s office.
Athens is desperate for investment as the country struggles to claw its way out of a deep recession and a debt crisis that drove it to the brink of bankruptcy in May.
Crippled by debts of nearly 300 billion euros (414 billion dollars), the country became the first eurozone member to need a financial bailout with a 110 billion euro EU and IMF rescue package.
After kicking off his October 2-9 European tour in Greece with a three-day visit, the Chinese premier was due to head to Belgium for summits with EU leaders before visiting Italy and Turkey.
Greece has for years sought Chinese investment on the grounds that the country’s location offers a strategic springboard in the Balkans for trade between Asia and southern Europe.
As Athens prepares to sell off state assets to raise desperately needed cash, Greek officials have tried to capitalise on the crisis by arguing that it makes Greece a good bargain for Chinese investors.
Ahead of the visit, Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou said in an interview with Chinese news agency Xinhua that it was “a show of a very strong strategic relationship we are developing.”
With the EU-IMF rescue package in place as a backstop against default, Papandreou told Xinhua that “Greece is a good opportunity now for investment.”
So far the major Chinese investment in Greece has been the 35-year concession Cosco won in 2008 to run the two main container terminals at Piraeus port outside Athens in a deal worth 3.4 billion euros that should see it expand capacity by 250 percent.
Cosco chairman and CEO Wei Jiafu, who will accompany Wen, has said he sees the port as the base to seize other opportunities that arise with Greece’s privatisation drive.
Cosco’s shopping list includes a goods warehouse at Thriassio outside Athens which should be sold off at the end of November by the Greek railway and port installations in Greece’s second city of Thessaloniki.
The Chinese company is also eyeing plans for a new airport at Kastelli in Crete, and envisages developing a shipping repair yard at the Perama yard outside Piraeus.
Wen was due to address the Greek parliament on Sunday before meeting with Greek President Carolos Papoulias.
Source: http://news.malaysia.msn.com/top-stories/article.aspx?cp-documentid=4373021
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