Chinese want to invest in Port of Rijeka
Cosco, the state-owned China Ocean Shipping Company is interested in the Croatian Port of Rijeka, told Cosco chairman Wei Jiafu after meeting with Croatian PM Zoran Milanovic and transport minister Hajdas Doncic.
It is interesting for us in terms of getting a concession to manage the north Adriatic port and Rijeka could serve as China’s main link with Central and East Europe and significantly shorten transport time for Chinese products destined for the region, said Jaifu.
PM Milanovic said that he and his government would do all it can to remove obstacles to Chinese investments.
The enlargement of Rijeka’s port will cost up to 1 billion euro and Cosco is also interested in railway linking the port via Zagreb with the Hungarian border. This investment is worth another 3 billion euro and that link would cut the transit period of Chinese goods to Europe by 10 – 14 days.
Chinese investors would take part in the railway construction and the expansion of the Port of Rijeka after being granted a concession. It takes at least two years to prepare documentation for this kind of developments, said transport minister Hajdas Doncic.