Greek Ports Need Improved Links to Lure Investors, Minister Says

Greek ports must cooperate with each other and improve links with the rest of the country’s transport network to attract investment, Shipping Minister Konstantinos Mousouroulis said.

“The European Commission thinks Greek ports have three problems, deficiencies in administration, lack of cooperation with each other, and low spending on investment and equipment,” Mousouroulis told reporters in Athens today.

A deal between Hong Kong-based Cosco Pacific Ltd., which runs Pier II at the country’s main harbor, Hewlett-Packard Co. and Greek railway operator TRAINOSE “sets a first example of successful connectivity among the country’s commercial transportation grids,” Mousouroulis said.

Hewlett-Packard plans to use the Piraeus pier run by Cosco to move goods manufactured in Asia into Europe, according to a statement by the Athens-based Development Ministry late yesterday.

The agreement may boost local cargo business by 50 percent and create hundreds of new jobs, the ministry said.

To contact the reporter on this story: Eleni Chrepa in Athens at echrepa@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Jerrold Colten at jcolten@bloomberg.net