ATHENS — Greece will develop a "major" new US-backed shipping hub in the industrial region of Elefsina, the development minister said Wednesday, in a move seen as aimed at Chinese shipping giant Cosco.

 

"The broader area around the Elefsina shipyards will develop into a major growth hub, featuring port, commercial, transport, energy, and defence activities, new infrastructure, job opportunities, and improved quality of life," Takis Theodorikakos told Antenna TV.

 

A legal amendment on the issue is to be submitted to parliament for a November 27 vote, he added.

 

The move is seen as directed at curbing the influence of China's state-owned Cosco, which since 2016 has held a two-thirds stake in Greece's largest port, Piraeus.

 

Cosco in 2008 acquired Piraeus' two main container terminals on a 35-year lease. In 2016 it also took over the Piraeus port authority -- and the third remaining container terminal -- until 2052.

 

Under the Trump administration, the United States and China have been engaged in a trade war for months.

 

In an interview with Antenna TV this week, newly-arrived US ambassador Kimberly Guilfoyle said Cosco's presence in Piraeus was "unfortunate".

 

"But I think there’s ways around it, that something could be worked out, whether you pursue a path of enhancing output in other areas or perhaps that Piraeus could be for sale," the former assistant district attorney and Fox TV host added.

 

"Greece respects agreements made in the past," foreign ministry spokeswoman Lana Zochiou said this week.

 

Zochiou noted that 67 per cent of the port had been conceded during the Greek economic crisis, and that the Chinese "were the only ones to submit an offer."

 

Theodorikakos on Wednesday said the plan involves expanding the activities of the ONEX shipyards at Elefsina, for which US state development bank DFC in 2023 issued a $125 million (108-million-euro) bond loan.

 

At the time, the Development Finance Corporation (DFC) had said the investment was projected to enable the shipyard to service up to 200 ships per year.