China is Buying Greek Assets as the IMF Forces the Nation to Privatize

State Minister of Greece: Greece Welcomes Chinese Enterprises to Participate in Privatization of State Assets

April 12, 2011

21st Century (China Hourly) - The Pembroke Lakes, State Minister of Greece, arrived in Beijing to start a four-day visit. Pembroke Lakes is an important cabinet members of the Greek Government, unified management of national economic affairs. He is deeply involved in debt crisis and economic recovery and is also responsible for Greece's foreign investment affairs.

He accepted a written interview with our reporter.

Greece welcomes Chinese enterprises to join the privatization of state assets

Pembroke Lakes important information revealed in the interview: the Greek government welcomes China's participation in the Greek capital privatization of state assets. The investment areas include tourism, energy, information and communication technology. Soon after, Greece will open up a substantial privatization of state assets.

Late last year, Greece adopted a "strategic investment to accelerate the implementation and transparency" of the Law No. 3894 for the strategic investment of foreign investors in Greece.

"I welcome and encourage Chinese enterprises to invest in Greece," in order to accelerate the repayment of IMF's debt arrears, but also to honor debt commitments when the Greek government is waging a large-scale privatization of state-owned assets operations, Pembroke Lakes told this reporter.

Pembroke Lakes in the interview also revealed that Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou will visit China in the near future.

Greece is the gateway to Europe of Chinese goods

"21 century": Greece is the gateway to Europe of Chinese goods for China Shipping Group, COSCO Group. Is there any new room for cooperation [between Greece and COSCO] for the expansion of Chinese goods in Greece?

Pembroke Lakes:

COSCO President Wei Jiafu and I met today and held a conversation; the atmosphere was good. The Greek government supports investment in Cosco. These investments will increase Hong Kong's competitiveness in the South-Eastern Europe.

[Concerning] COSCO Group's investment in Greece, I and Greek Prime Minister Papandreou will fully support this investment success, making it a model for China's investment in Greece.

"21 century": In addition to shipping, what other areas of Greece should be between the development of close bilateral cooperation? You will be taken to encourage Chinese investors to the Greek investment?

Pembroke Lakes: Our transport, tourism and telecommunications, banking and other areas are open to Chinese enterprises. We hope to see China move closer to us. Greece trade surplus has remained there in China, which means that Chinese enterprises are in the Greek market, and there are great potentials to be tapped.

The Greek government will announce a significant privatization of state assets to attract potential investors. I welcome and encourage investment in China to come to Greece.

"21 century": [During] Premier Wen's visit to Greece, Greece has pledged that China would buy bonds. Will the Greek government maintain investor confidence?

Pembroke Lakes: The goodwill of the Chinese Government and the Prime Minister are encouraging. Wen Jiabao made a speech in the Greek Parliament Greek, and people were moved. The purchase of Greek bonds will help our economy to overcome the crisis and regain international confidence in the market. It will also help the euro zone stability. The stability of the euro zone will also help China's economic stability.

Greece's Deputy Foreign Minister Visits China

May 18, 2011

Xinhua - The Greek economy is showing signs of picking up speed and the country is pushing programs of privatization to avoid debt defaults, Deputy Foreign Minister Spyros Kouvelis said on Tuesday.

Kouvelis made the remarks during his three-day visit to China, thanking China for its vote of confidence and calling it one of the most important during a period of economic difficulty.

He was referring to Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao's announcement during his visit to Greece last October that China would continue to participate in the purchase of Greek treasury bonds.

When asked how Greece can ensure investors that the country's finances are under control, Kouvelis said Greece is making certain that its reform programs will work effectively.

Greece has cut public spending by 50 percent, proceeded with reforms of both the tax system and the labor and pension schemes, and is implementing a program of privatization, Kouvelis said.

He said that Greece's export rose by 10 percent last year.

The EU and IMF agreed on a 110-billion-euro (158 billion U. S. dollars) bailout package for Greece in May last year, but one year later, the debt-laden country was rumored to need an additional rescue of 60 billion euros (86 billion U.S. dollars) over the next two years.

A German magazine said Greece was considering exiting the euro and returning to the drachma as its currency, which led to Standard and Poor's (S&P's) downgrade of Greece's sovereign credit rating from BB- to B. Kouvelis dismissed that as "speculation," and he cited IMF and EU reports that say the reform program is going well.

"All these discussions of disaster scenarios have nothing to do with the reality," Kouvelis said. "The reality is that everyone in Greece is working hard to fight through difficult times, and we are confident that we will make it."

The deputy foreign minister, who is in China for a three-day visit to boost tourism between the two ancient civilizations, is present to see the reopening of flights from Beijing to Athens and the signing of a joint statement to simplify visa procedures. The flights from Beijing to Athens via Munich is operated by Air China. The duration of the flight is 13 hours and 25 minutes, and there are two flights a week. The Greek government hopes to boost the number of Chinese visitors to Greece each year from 10,000 to 100,000 in one or two years, Kouvelis said.

On Greece-China economic cooperation, Kouvelis said he was confident that the two countries can realize an annual trade volume of 8 billion dollars within five years. He said in addition to ocean shipping, the two countries can also cooperate more in environmental technology, new energy technology, pharmaceutical industry and air transport.

The two countries also are trying to expand the capacity of Piraeus Port, which has investment from Chinese shipping giant COSCO, to make it a major distribution and transit center.