Posidonia ready for launch

Shipping & Aegean Minister Miltiadis Varvitsiotis characterized “Posidonia 2014” as a feast of shipping, during a press conference hosted by its organizers on Thursday.

Varvitsiotis noted that “Posidonia expo coincides with positive news for the country,” noting that “it has returned to the international markets, public finances are going well and we have a surplus, while tourist arrivals are expected to increase”.

Referring to the Greek-flagged ships, he said that “our flag in shipping is a flag of quality and not of opportunity. We have managed to drastically reduce the average age of the Greek ships and through the ministry's institutional reorganization, we now provide serious, quick, reliable and globally recognizable services to ships under the Greek flag”.

He also said that a meeting will be held today with a delegation from the Korean ministry of Trade, Industry & Energy to create a framework that will facilitate exports of Greek products to the Korean shipyards.

The minister said that the goal is to export Greek shipbuilding material and machinery to Korea. A meeting of Greek manufacturers and representatives of Korean shipyards will take place next week at the shipping ministry, Varvitsiotis announced.

More than 1,800 exhibitors and some 19,000 visitors from a record 93 countries and territories will attend “Posidonia 2014”, Posidonia Exhibitions S.A. executive director Theodore Vokos said in the press conference, noting that among the most important national pavilions are those of China, Japan and Korea. He underlined the importance of Posidonia to the Greek economy, underlining that it brings more than 50 million euros to the national economy.

The press conference was also addressed by Hellenic Chamber of Shipping president George Gratsos, Union of Greek Shipowners president Theodore Veniamis and Greek Shipping Co-operation Committee in London chairman Haralambos Fafalios.