Greek port and Suez Canal seal business deal

January 27, 2022, by Ajsa Habibic

Greek Port of Thessaloniki (ThPA) and the Suez Canal Economic Zone (SCZone) have signed a cooperation agreement to develop international trade and increase business activities on the sea route between Europe and Asia.

Image Courtesy: The Suez Canal Authority

As disclosed, the main objective of the cooperation is the exchange of knowledge and professional experience between Said Port and Port of Thessaloniki and the development of joint initiatives focusing on commercial and educational actions.

These actions are expected to enhance cargo and passenger flows between Egypt and Greece, such as the establishment of a maritime line for perishable goods and bulk cargo and the development of cruise business.

Commenting on the partnership, the Minister of Maritime Affairs and Insular Policy, Giannis Plakiotakis stated: “This agreement creates additional opportunities for further development of the maritime trade between Europe and Asia, which are greatly enhanced by the strategic location of the two parties.

“We are particularly satisfied that the Port of Thessaloniki provides an evolving, efficient and reliable intermodal network, which secures and upgrades the supply chain, offering added value at an economic and social level”.

Athanasios Liagkos, the executive chairman of the board of directors of ThPA added that the agreement is a part of the strategy to propel the regional supply chain to a new era as the port aspires to be the multi-gateway intermodal network and logistics solutions provider for the Balkans and the broader Southeast, Central and Eastern European region.

The chairman of SCZone, Yehia Zaki, pointed out that the cooperation, motivated by a mutual interest for the development of important trade flows, as well as logistics and port interfaces, will result in increased traffic for the ports of SCZone.

At the beginning of the month, the Suez Canal Authority (SCA) reported that it had achieved the highest annual revenue in its history of $6.3 billion and the largest annual net tonnage of 1.27 billion tons during 2021.

In the same year, the SCA celebrated the 152nd anniversary of the opening of the Suez Canal with over 1.4 million ships transiting the waterway since its inauguration.