With the end of the third bailout program in August, foreign investments in Greece will continue stronger for the next years as the economic outlook appears more promising than in the crisis years.

In this light, foreign giants continue to invest in Greece in 2018, with the top four of them listed below:

COSCO

The Chinese state giant that has bought the Piraeus Port continued investing with the highlight being Taurus, the 400-meter cargo container vessel that docked at the Piraeus Port earlier this year. Built in China and delivered to COSCO in January, Taurus boasts a length of about five Airbus A380 and maximum speed of 22.5 knots (41 kmh).

Also, the Greek port welcomed Taurus at the newly constructed western third berth of COSCO subsidiary PCT port management which is about 800 meters long. Sea depth here reaches up to 19.5 meters, allowing the docking of giga carriers.

Currently, PCT can service in parallel three such gigantic vessels at berths 2 and 3. The works are part of the €230 million investment project PCT undertook.

Thomas Cook

One of the world’s biggest tour operators has pledged to invest around €150 million in the Greek tourism sector in 2018.

In June, at an event launching a new hotel concept named Cook’s Club in Hersonissos on Crete, Thomas Cook CEO Peter Fankhauser reaffirmed the tour operator’s commitment to Greece. He said that said the company hopes to operate between 10 and 15 Cook’s Club hotels by summer 2019.

He said the group had opened up four new destinations and added more than 34 new routes in the last two years, making it the biggest holiday company operating in Greece, estimating that the company will send three million tourists to Greece this year, up more than one third on two years ago.

China Energy Investment Corporation

In 2018, one of the world’s largest power companies signed a cooperation agreement with Greece’s Copelouzos Group for renewable energy and conventional electricity.

Under the deal, the China Energy Investment Corporation will enter into the equity of wind farms constructed by the Greek group. In addition, the two companies will jointly bid to acquire Greece’s Public Power Corporation’s lignite units of Megalopolis and Meliti.

The cooperation deal envisages investments worth at least €3 billion in the Greek market, according to the Chinese Xinhua news agency.

Ferrovie dello Stato Italiane

The state-owned Italian railway company purchased the ailing Greek railway TRAINOSE in 2017, with plans to invest in the Greek railroad system. In 2018, the company also acquired TRAINOSE’s Rosco, a company that supports railroad systems and repairs railway wagons.

Ferrovie dello Stato Italiano is now ready for the development of the Greek railway network system in two phases, adding high and ultra-high speed trains to the lines. The company is also to bring back the popular Athens – Patras route that used to operate, making land connections with ferries from Italy.

Source: Philip Chrysopoulos/greekreporter