Roundup: No disturbance to Sino-Greek strategic cooperation, say SYRIZA officials

Despite initial statements by Greek ministers which caused jitters to foreign investors, Greek officials and analysts recently reassured that, in particular in China's case, the future of Sino-Greek cooperation was sound and that the developing strategic relationship between the two countries would not be disrupted.

On the contrary, the new anti-austerity government aims to broaden and strengthen bilateral collaboration in several sectors, SYRIZA cabinet ministers and the party's chief economist John Milios told local media.

A week after the radical left SYRIZA party won Greece's general elections and assumed office, the government halted privatization projects launched by previous governments under bailout deals.

This included the plan for selling 67 percent of stakes in the Piraeus port, where Chinese group COSCO has had a strong presence over the past five years.

COSCO's subsidiary Piraeus Container Terminal (PCT) manages Piers II and III at Greece's largest port of Piraeus since 2009 under a 35-year concession agreement.

The bid for the purchase of the 67 percent-stake at Piraeus Port Authority was planned in the context of the wider 50 billion euros (57.16 billion U.S. dollars) privatization program of Greek state assets launched in 2010 under the stability and reform program to help overcome the debt crisis.

SYRIZA opposed the rationale of the privatization program from the start as counterproductive for Greece's interests.

Alternate Shipping Minister Thodoris Dritsas told media after being sworn in last week that "the public character of Piraeus port will be maintained. The privatization stops right here, right now."

He added that "Greek people are connected with relations of friendship and solidarity with the Chinese people. We will find solutions to the benefit of Greek society."

Following a meeting with Chinese Ambassador to Greece Zou Xiaoli and Economy, Infrastructure, Shipping and Tourism Minister Giorgos Stathakis, Dritsas told Greek daily Nea (News) that calling off the port's privatization "does not mean in any case that we are also canceling the deal with PCT. On the contrary, we seek to upgrade our ties with China to improve the current bilateral agreement."

Both Greek cabinet ministers tried to appease concerns, clarifying that Sino-Greek collaboration would not be disturbed, but on the contrary would be enhanced, according to ministry statements.

"Agreements such as the ones with COSCO should be made in the framework of transnational agreements. We seek the strengthening of relations both with China and other countries," Stathakis said upon assuming office. He underlined that the new government would "respect contracts, such as the one with PCT," but intended to reexamine contractual obligations.

According to ministry sources, the new government's idea was to turn Piraeus port into a hub for imports of Chinese products, as well as exports of Greek products.

New Greek Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis has welcomed Chinese investments in Greece, at Piraeus port and other cases, as a "ray of hope for the improvement of infrastructures and the strengthening of competitiveness of Greek economy."

Both Varoufakis as well as Deputy Prime Minister Yannis Dragasakis have assured over the past few days that the new government will welcome investors with an open mind.

Financial analyst Elias Belos said Chinese investors do not have reasons to worry about the future operation of the PCT, as well as other planned investment projects, despite the cancellation of privatizations across Greece.

He added a new balance will be found eventually, as both countries have invested much in bilateral cooperation in recent years.

Analysts in Athens noted that COSCO's investment at Piraeus has undoubtedly proved that potential, since it radically strengthened the port's position in recent years. According to the latest data, container traffic at the port has increased four-fold since 2010.

National Confederation of Entrepreneurship and Commerce (ESEE) President Vassilis Korkidis stressed that Sino-Greek collaboration at Piraeus port has been an exemplary case of win-win cooperation and the Greek side has realized the significance of Chinese investments in particular in efforts to reconstruct Greece's production model.

In a letter to the new Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras last week, Korkidis called for the "undisturbed continuation of COSCO's investments at Piraeus port and the revival of the shipyards at Skaramangas and Elefsina, which will have multiple benefits for the Greek economy."

"We consider Chinese investments in Greece to be very important," Milios told Xinhua in a recent interview, underlining that the prospects of Sino-Greek cooperation were enormous.

He said one of the main goals of SYRIZA was to encourage Greek public enterprises and state to create joint ventures with other public enterprises of foreign countries to kick start the ailing economy.

He called on Chinese investors to explore investment opportunities in Greece's banking sector.

"We would like to see closer relations with Chinese investors and China as a state concerning many issues. Not only investments, but also finance in a broader sense, technological and commercial cooperation," Milios said. Endit