Greek president hails COSCO's Piraeus project

ATHENS - COSCO's presence at the port of Piraeus is a successful example of cooperation between Greece and China which can encourage further bilateral collaboration, Greek President Karolos Papoulias said on Thursday during a visit to the Chinese company's Piraeus Container Terminal (PCT) in Athens.

"We hope that this successful example of collaboration between Greece and China will encourage more Chinese to come to Greece," he told Xinhua after a tour at the container terminal site, where the largest container cranes worldwide are in operation.

Papoulias expressed confidence that with COSCO's case of success and following Greek Prime Minister Antonis Samaras' official visit to China two weeks ago, more Chinese companies will come to invest in Greece.

In statements to Greek news agency AMNA, Greek Shipping Minister Costis Moussouroulis who accompanied the president on the visit, noted that the company's new investment projects "verify the strategic position the port of Piraeus holds in the global sea transport system".

PCT launched operations at Pier II at Piraeus port in 2009 with a plan to turn it into the leading container terminal in Greece and the Mediterranean region.