Treffie
06-15-2010, 01:22 PM
Chinese Vice-Premier Zhang Dejiang visits the debt-laden country on Tuesday and will reportedly commit to investment in maritime affairs, telecoms and the renovation of a landmark tower building in Athens' port of Piraeus, the Financial Times said, citing an unnamed Greek government official.
Other deals including shipbuilding agreements worth €500m will also be signed, the report added.
Athens is seeking to attract investment from countries with massive sovereign wealth funds – such as China – in an effort to stimulate economic growth.
Government incentives and bargain-basement prices have helped catch the eye of Chinese investors, even as others run the other way.
The strategic location of Greece's abundant port facilities make it a gateway for China into the Balkans and Europe.
Cosco, the Chinese shipping giant, last year signed a 35-year lease with Greece to expand the two main container terminals at the main Greek port of Piraeus for a guaranteed premium of €3.4bn.
It assumed full control of the major container dock last week.
"We have a saying in China, 'construct the eagle's nest and the eagle himself will come'," Wei Jiafu, Cosco chief executive, said in a Greek television interview last week. "We have constructed such a nest in [Greece] to attact such Chinese eagles. This is our contribution to you."
In May, Dimitris Reppas, the Greek transport minister, said that Chinese companies had shown interest in the privatisation of Greece's heavily indebted railway OSE.
The European Union and the International Monetary Fund have given Greece a €110bn bail-out package over three years to tackle the fiscal crisis, which has spilled over into eurozone countries such as Spain and Portugal.
Moody's ratings agency on Monday slashed its sovereign rating for Greece to "junk" status, a move rejected by Athens, which said it had taken significant steps to balance its books.
Source (http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/7829055/China-set-to-invest-billions-in-debt-stricken-Greece.html)
Other deals including shipbuilding agreements worth €500m will also be signed, the report added.
Athens is seeking to attract investment from countries with massive sovereign wealth funds – such as China – in an effort to stimulate economic growth.
Government incentives and bargain-basement prices have helped catch the eye of Chinese investors, even as others run the other way.
The strategic location of Greece's abundant port facilities make it a gateway for China into the Balkans and Europe.
Cosco, the Chinese shipping giant, last year signed a 35-year lease with Greece to expand the two main container terminals at the main Greek port of Piraeus for a guaranteed premium of €3.4bn.
It assumed full control of the major container dock last week.
"We have a saying in China, 'construct the eagle's nest and the eagle himself will come'," Wei Jiafu, Cosco chief executive, said in a Greek television interview last week. "We have constructed such a nest in [Greece] to attact such Chinese eagles. This is our contribution to you."
In May, Dimitris Reppas, the Greek transport minister, said that Chinese companies had shown interest in the privatisation of Greece's heavily indebted railway OSE.
The European Union and the International Monetary Fund have given Greece a €110bn bail-out package over three years to tackle the fiscal crisis, which has spilled over into eurozone countries such as Spain and Portugal.
Moody's ratings agency on Monday slashed its sovereign rating for Greece to "junk" status, a move rejected by Athens, which said it had taken significant steps to balance its books.
Source (http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/7829055/China-set-to-invest-billions-in-debt-stricken-Greece.html)