The immediate expansion of ONEX’s activities with the participation of the US state development bank, DFC, was a key topic of a meeting that the Minister of Development, Takis Theodorikakos, had yesterday with the Ambassador of the United States of America, Kimberly Gilfoil, whom he welcomed at the ministry.
As an announcement states, the meeting took place within the framework of strengthening the strategic cooperation of the two countries in investments, the shipbuilding industry and trade.
Within the framework of the meeting with Ms. Gilfoil, the Minister of Development announced an immediate legislative initiative for the expansion of ONEX’s activities with the participation of the US state development bank, DFC, strengthening the strategic role of the ONEX port in the Elefsina shipyards as an energy, commercial and transshipment center. The US objective of creating a port – counterweight of Piraeus, the management of which has been taken over by the Chinese Cosco, is also served.
The Minister of Development, Mr. Takis Theodorikakos, stated after the meeting:
“It was with particular pleasure that I welcomed the Ambassador of the United States of America, Ms. Gilfoil, with whom I had an extremely productive cooperation.
“I congratulated Madam Ambassador for her decisive contribution to the very important energy agreements, through which Greece becomes a hub of energy security for the wider region and all of Europe.
“We discussed in detail our common goals and our cooperation for strengthening our strategic relationship in the areas of investments, trade and the supply chain, industry, including the shipbuilding industry and defense investments, as well as in the field of research and innovation.
“The Ministry of Development and Investments is undertaking an immediate legislative initiative, through which ONEX, which operates in the Elefsina shipyards and has been funded by the American State Development Bank DFC, has the ability to expand its activities beyond the shipbuilding industry and into the commercial, transshipment, port, energy and defense sectors.
“It is clear that with the strengthening of our strategic cooperation with the US, Greece is not only becoming an energy hub, but the strategy of the productive transformation of the Greek economy, of the new productive model, is further strengthened, with new significant investments, new infrastructure, strengthening the competitiveness of important sectors of the Greek economy and thousands of quality jobs.
“This is the path of security and prosperity for the Greek people and especially the younger generations. Once again, I thank the Ambassador for the visit and our creative cooperation.”
The Ambassador of the United States of America, Ms. Kimberly Gilfoil, stated:
“It is a great joy to be here, in Athens and in your beautiful country, Greece.
With the Minister of Development Mr. Theodorikakos we began our friendship and cooperation 10 months ago, regarding all that we want to achieve together.
“Today, it is truly an honor to be here in person, to work together and to already be able to announce important things for the bilateral relationship between the United States and Greece.
“It is just a small example of all that we plan and intend to do with the Minister of Development, who has a very large portfolio which we intend to fully utilize, in the best possible way for both our countries.
“We have many opportunities. We discussed today cooperation in the key sectors of energy security and the shipbuilding industry. These are two priorities of the President of the USA Donald Trump. Energy security, as I have said, equals national security. And we are glad to have strong partners in Greece who understand the importance of the sector. We look forward to expanding and using the port of Eleusina as a logistics hub in this important geopolitical region. It constitutes a crucial step forward. And I look forward to working with the Minister.
“It has been a great pleasure to cooperate all these months and the meeting today is a culmination of this cooperation. We look forward to truly significant results from the cooperation by working together. We have only been here two weeks, the best is ahead of us”.
Mr. Hatzidakis: “Our country cannot reject proposals”
On the issue, the government’s vice president, Mr. Kostis Hatzidakis in a television interview stated that, indeed, “Eleusina has a port, and there is also space, from what I understand, next to the shipyard for another port to exist”. “Our country cannot reject proposals”, Mr. Hatzidakis noted emphatically and added:
“Besides, this proposal, this idea, is cumulative. One port does not exclude the activities of the other”. Furthermore, he added, “and now we have competition, because we have the port of Piraeus, of Thessaloniki, of Volos, of Heraklion, of Igoumenitsa. However, Piraeus is a port for containers to a very large extent”. In contrast, as he said, “the idea for Eleusina concerns more the so-called bulk cargo, so that there can be specialization in another sector as well. So one does not exclude the other”.
Source: APE-MPE
