Greek Prime Minister seeks to woo Chinese investors

Greek Prime Minister Antonis Samaras invited Chinese enterprises over the weekend at a business forum attracting them to invest in Greece and join the country's long-delayed privatization program, amid cautious optimism about Greek economic prospects.

Antonis Samaras noted that 28 projects of his country's privatization program, which cover key areas like airport and port construction, are now in progress, and he welcomed Chinese enterprises' investments through ensuring its "political and social stability is secure."

The Greek Prime Minister, who led a team of high officials in charge of business affairs and delegates of enterprises, arrived in Beijing Wednesday for a five-day visit in China.

To survive the debt crisis, Greece passed a privatization bill in 2011, formulating a timetable for the sale of State assets including the gas and lottery industries, and promised to raise 50 billion euros ($64 billion) from the sales by 2015.

However, the privatization process has been delayed and its sales goal has also been slowed to 11 billion euros by 2016, Xinhua News Agency reported in April.

Compared to various investment methods, "foreign direct investment is the one from which we expect the most," Stephanos Issaias, CEO of Invest In Greece Agency, said at the forum.

Stephanos Issaias also highly praised Chinese shipping company COSCO Pacific taking over the management of Greece's largest container port, Piraeus, "as very successful."

COSCO Pacific, a subsidiary of China's State-owned shipping giant China Ocean Shipping (Group) Co, signed a 35-year lease in 2010 with Piraeus Port.

Around 120 delegates from Greek enterprises and 135 from Chinese companies attended the forum.

But some Chinese enterprises still have concerns about Greece's economic prospects and are sticking with a wait-and-see attitude.

"It is a good opportunity to invest in Greece as asset prices are relatively low now, however, potential risks are unavoidable," the executive vice president of a Chinese shipbuilder, who preferred to remain anonymous, told the Global Times at the forum.

China and Greece inked a basket of business agreements during Samaras' visit, including an agreement between China Development Bank and Invest In Greece Agency.