The container terminal in the Italian Vado Ligure has so far been a small, marginal investment. The Chinese company, which has recently become its minority owner, wants to expand it massively. The new terminal, which will be built there later this year, is to increase the port’s handling capacity three times. Italians are happy – Vado Ligure not only has the chance to become an important place in the New Silk Road , but also to offer new jobs for several hundreds of people.
Until now, Vado Ligure mainly handled refrigerated goods, including exotic fruits. However, the Dutch owner sold almost half of the shares to the Chinese – Qingdao Port International Development (nearly 10 percent) and Cosco Shipping Ports (40 percent). The latter intends to implement serious investments here. Media reports that as a result, the transhipment capacity of the terminal will increase from 300,000 to 900, 000 TEU.
New jobs will be created – first for 240 people, and in two years for 400 more. For the Liguria region, where the unemployment rate is almost 38 percent in the group of young people aged 15-24, this is very important news – notes globaltimes.cn.
An important point in Europe
The Chinese are engaged in the expansion of the Italian port for a good reason. They want it to play an important role in servicing the New Silk Road like the Greek Piraeus. In Vado Ligure, there is, among others, a new four-lane railway terminal with a capacity of 14 trains per day. From this place, goods can be transported to central and northern Europe, including to Switzerland, Germany and France by rail.
Cosco Shipping Ports that is already the main owner or co-owner of five other terminals invests heavily in Europe. One of the largest terminals they own is the Piraeus Container Terminal, mentioned above, in Greece, reports wnp.pl.
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