The win-win story of the "the Belt and Road" in Greece

This year is the 13th year that Effi Valera has worked in Port of Piraeus, Greece (referred to as Piraeus Port for short). Valera was born and raised in Port Bihar, witnessing both the decline of Greece's largest port many years ago and the rejuvenation and vitality of the port by Chinese companies.

According to Xinhua News Agency, Valera has been working at COSCO Shipping Port Piraeus Terminal Co., Ltd. (PCT) since 2010. With the help of the "the Belt and Road" initiative, PCT has continuously increased its investment in ports. The upgrading of port infrastructure has improved the competitiveness of ports, and promoted Port Bikong to become one of the leading container ports in the Mediterranean region.

In 2008, COSCO Shipping signed a 35 year franchise agreement with the Greek side, and based on this, PCT was established in 2010, helping to usher in explosive growth in the container business of the port. PCT Executive Vice General Manager Wang Jihang told Xinhua News Agency that the annual operating container volume of the port has exceeded 5 million TEUs in recent years, ranking among the top 30 container ports in the world, creating about 3000 direct employment opportunities, and making outstanding contributions to the economic and social development of Greece.

Like Valera, the head of PCT's engineering department, Anthony Apegis, is also a veteran employee of the company and has been working at PCT for 11 years. In his view, Chinese companies have achieved a win-win situation compared to Hong Kong's investment, providing more job opportunities and promoting local economic development; On the other hand, the superior geographical location compared to Hong Kong also brings advantages to the company's development, benefiting both Greece, enterprises, and employees.

Valera has benefited from the continuous development and growth of Bigang and achieved personal growth with the support of the company. Among them, the "Education Assistance Fund" program has had the greatest impact on her and is also highly praised by the company's Greek employees.

PCT HR and Administration Manager Han Wei introduced to Xinhua News Agency reporters that the company has always attached great importance to the development of employees' abilities and personal growth, providing them with a large number of training and development opportunities. When we learned that some employees had a need for further education, we launched an education subsidy program in 2018 to help in-service employees pay 50% to 80% of their tuition fees. Since the program was launched, a total of ten employees have participated and gradually completed their studies

With the support of this plan, Valera, who works in the company's finance department, chose to pursue a Master's degree in Business Administration in the shipping industry. She saw the development and progress of the port and realized that it would bring more opportunities and changes to the Greek shipping industry. Therefore, she hoped to integrate into this trend and enhance her capabilities through further education.

Although the requirements for the graduate program were high, Valera received strong support from her family and colleagues, and PCT company provided funding to her from the beginning. She hopes to use the knowledge she has learned in the future to help and achieve further development in Hong Kong, making more contributions to the country's development.

Apegis is also a beneficiary of the company's policy. He told Xinhua News Agency reporters that he strongly supports the company's approach of supporting employees' lifelong learning. In 2021, he chose to pursue a Master's degree in Business Administration, hoping to improve his work efficiency and continuously improve his work methods. The company paid a significant portion of his tuition fees.

The company's culture based on teamwork and employee well-being has made me very satisfied with this job, "Appegis said." The good work environment provided by the company and the support we receive from it have enabled us to cope with future challenges

Han Wei also stated that the implementation of education funding projects, on the one hand, helps employees to further their studies and improve their abilities; On the other hand, the improvement of employee abilities can also create greater value for the company, thereby achieving the common development of the port and employees.