July 14, 2020: A Greek port authority has signed cooperation agreements with China Merchants Port Holdings Co. Ltd. and its subsidiary China Merchants Holdings (International) Information Technology Co., Ltd.
The managing director and chief executive officer of Thessaloniki Port Authority S.A.(ThPA), Franco Nicola Cupolo, signed an ‘Agreement of Mutual Cooperation’ with the managing director of CMPort, Dr Bai Jingtao. Mr Cupolo also signed a cooperation agreement regarding a CTOS (Container Terminal Operating System) in the container terminal of the Port of Thessaloniki with the general manager of CMHIT, Wang Pei.
ThPA and CMPort have agreed to proceed on all the commercial and operational aspects needed to promote the Port of Thessaloniki, in the Chinese market, as a Gate Port in Europe. The agreements are expected to strengthen China’s Belt and Road initiative.
“Major step forward”
Thanos Liagkos, executive chairman of ThPA, said: “The signing of cooperation agreement with CMPort marks a major step forward for Thessaloniki Port Authority S.A. because this cooperation fully supports us achieving the promise of developing innovative strategies and sustainable operations, with multiple benefits for the Greek economy and the supply chain in southeastern Europe.”
Franco Nicola Cupolo, managing director and chief executive officer of ThPA, said: “ThPA S.A. is implementing an extended investment plan and the crucial point of these investments is the expansion of the Container Terminal, allowing to serve main liner container services and accommodate Ultra Large Container Vessels of 24,000 TEUs capacity. We believe, the implementation of CTOS will provide additional value to our investments and support significantly the transformation of Container Terminal to international standards.”
Managing director of CMPort, Bai Jingtao, said: “The port of Thessaloniki has a long history, outstanding location and shipping advantages. It is not only the main import and export gateway in northern Greece, but also an important channel and logistics hub linking Europe and Asia. We believe that this successful cooperation is not limited to a system marching overseas in Europe, but also a promotion of the two parties in the port areas of Europe and Asia, which can be recognized another success and practice of the initiative of Belt and Road.”
