To date the Ports of Genoa lead the way: 30% of Italy’s trade with China is currently channelled through the Ligurian port, and the market share is set to increase with the forthcoming completion of the new Calata Bettolo Container Terminal in Genoa and the APM/Cosco Terminal in Vado Ligure, the result of mixed public-private investment programmes.
This is the focal point of the keynote speech of Marco Sanguineri, Secretary General of the Western Ligurian Sea Port Authority, at the seminar “The Silk Road in the New Perspective of Eurasian Connectivity”, hosted at Palazzo San Giorgio, headquarters of the Port Authority, on 23 March 2018. The event was organised by the CLAS Group, led by Professor Lanfranco Senn of The University of Bocconi in Milan.
Guest speakers included Professor Qiyu Tu and Assistant Professor Yubo Liu of the prestigious Institute of Urban and Demographic Studies in Shanghai, who highlighted details regarding the identification of the strategic nodes and cities along the Maritime Silk Road, key component of the One Belt One Road initiative launched by the Chinese government. Whilst Guido Bichisao of the European Investment Bank and Fabrizio Zucca of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development indicated the financial support schemes available for major international infrastructure investment programmes.
Professor Senn, who chaired the panel discussions, underlined that, “The New Silk Road should not be perceived only as the establishment of a linear trade route, but as a network of interconnections in Central Asia, a region which to date is underdeveloped and consequently provides a great opportunity for growth.” The eminent Bocconi professor is convinced that, “The Italian companies operating not only in the transport infrastructure industry, but also in the energy sector and in the field of urban development, will have the potential to capitalise upon the wide-ranging benefits which will ripple out across the new Eurasian Connectivity.”
Genoa, Shanghai and the new Silk Road
