Karamanlis: The goal is for Northern Greece to become a logistics hub

In the Government’s coherent plan for Greece, and especially Northern Greece, to become a hub for infrastructure, transport and logisticssaid the Minister of Infrastructure and Transport, Mr. Kostas Karamanlis, at the Economist’s 2nd Thessaloniki Summit.

Mr. Karamanlis pointed out that from where Greece was in danger of becoming the “scapegoat” of Europe, things have changed drastically in recent years. He noted that the Government of the New Democracy managed to deal with many crises successfully: The management of the pandemic, the energy crisis and the immigration issue. He then referred to the role of the Ministry of Infrastructure and Transport and the €13 billion works programme, the largest infrastructure program in the country since the 2004 Olympics.

“We have managed to attract foreign investors to the construction sector, which is now one of the most growing sectors in Greece. We have a number of projects that are unfolding and these projects basically have a coherence and I want to emphasize this, as the Government has a plan to make Greece a hub of infrastructure and transport”, emphasized Mr. Karamanlis and added:

“Look at the port of Thessaloniki, look at the port of Kavala and the port of Alexandroupoli. Thessaloniki with all the infrastructure programs in progress – for example we are connecting the port with the railway and the modern highway – Thessaloniki can therefore play a very important role as an exit port of SE Europe”.

Mr. Karamanlis also referred to the port of Alexandroupolis, which acquires strategic importance both militarily, but also energy-wise, as the Bosphorus Straits are effectively bypassed. And he emphasized that all this is part of a program of railway projects worth five billion euros, with a new efficient way of auctioning, following an agreement with the Commission.

“Now I think we have taken very important steps so that the Hellas – and especially northern Greece, Thessaloniki, Kavala, Alexandroupoli, as we will connect these ports with a modern electric railway network – to become a logistics hub, something that started in 2008 with the privatization of the port of Piraeus”, he underlined Mr. Karamanlis.

He also referred to the Athens Metro, one of the largest public projects in the European Union at €1.2 billion, on the E65 motorway, to regional water projects funded by the Recovery Fund. And he noted that this Government is trying to use all available financial tools.

Mr. Karamanlis expressed the belief that this Government will continue in the coming years, completing all these important projects.

RES-EMP

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