ATHENS, Oct. 10 (Xinhua) -- The Greek government and Piraeus Port Authority S.A (PPA S.A) hailed on Thursday the approval by the Committee of Planning and Development of Ports (ESAL) of investments amounting to 611.8 million euros (672.9 million U.S. dollars) at Greece's largest port.
"An emblematic investment for Greece starts immediately. A new era dawns for the Piraeus Port," read an e-mailed press release issued by the Greek Shipping Ministry.
Shipping Minister Yannis Plakiotakis welcomed the decision as the "opening of a new chapter in the excellent Sino-Greek relations, during a meeting with the Chairman of PPA S.A. Yu Zenggang, according to the press statement.
"The approval of the master plan demonstrates that our country is now friendly to investments with a vision and realism which create real added value," Plakiotakis said.
On his part, Yu said that after a long waiting period, PPA S.A obtained the approval to proceed to the implementation of significant investments that will make Piraeus the most important port in the Mediterranean and will create more new jobs, read an e-mailed press release issued by the company.
"We hope that the competent authorities will soon review the expansion of the Container Terminal as it is one major investment that will establish the Piraeus port as one of the top Container Terminals in Europe," Yu added.
The investments will contribute considerably to the development of the local and national economy, PPA S.A. stressed.
China's COSCO Shipping acquired a majority stake in PPA S.A. in 2016 after an international tender and has already started changing the port's image.
The Chinese company's subsidiary Piraeus Container Terminal S.A. (PCT) has also managed the port's container terminals since 2009, posting remarkable results.
