Greece: tender for the privatisation of Egnatia highways soon to be launched
Greece will soon launch a procedure to grant a long-term license (35 years) for 670 kilometres of Egnatia tollway connecting, from west to east, the port of Igoumenitsa to the Greek-Turkish border. Taiped, the Hellenic Republic Asset Development Fund, is expected to begin the procedure shortly. It will start with a period of public consultation continuing till the end of December 2016. It is during this period that Taiped plans to meet with potential investors and have an informal exchange of opinion with them, with a view to understanding how to best develop the following formal part of the procedure, entailing the opening of an expression of interest until the end of January 2017.
Finland: Technology to develop the country’s maritime sector
Finland’s maritime cluster has many opportunities to grow: namely, in Arctic know-how, in the battery technology field and in the business of new hybrid energy solutions. This was reported in the study entitled “The Finnish maritime cluster: towards the 2020s” conducted by the University of Turku. The study portrayed a robust and flourishing sector with a total turnover of 12.7 billion euros in 2014. New phenomena could be identified and developed, bringing about major changes primarily in the field of high-value added products linked with marine bio-economy, industrial symbiosis or an innovative combination of production and service chains. Researchers believe that digitalisation is growing strong across all sectors and activities of the maritime sector, from shipbuilding to load handling, while at the same time creating new investment opportunities. The relevance of the IT sector has also increased, which represents the new trend in the maritime sector. Minister of the Economy, Olli Rehn, said that promoting the digitalisation of the sector is one of the key-projects on the government’s agenda and plays an essential role in increasing the competitiveness of the industry. A primary goal is the establishment of an autonomous maritime ecosystem, through the collaboration with innovative startups, for the creation of a global independent shipping system
