With the support of the Italian Trade Agency, the Western Ligurian Sea Port Authority, flanked by a delegation of Genoa and Savona-Vado’s vibrant port cluster, met with Turkish government and industry association officials in Istanbul.
The trade mission kicked off with a visit to Istanbul’s Harbour Master Headquarters: the delegation was received by Engin Erat, Vice-Director and Head of Maritime Traffic Control Management of the Bosphorus Strait, and participants welcomed the opportunity to explore the models of port governance in Turkey and Italy, with a focus on terminal operating concessions.
The delegation also met with President Basaran Bayrak and Board Members of the Istanbul Maritime Chamber of Commerce, where the Italian envoys illustrated the characteristics and sizable infrastructure investment programme underway across the Ports of Genova and Savona-Vado. Both parties are open to exploring areas of possible mutual cooperation to boost traffic to/from Turkey’s major industrial and consumer areas, across the use of the Ports of Genoa as major southern maritime gateway into Europe.
Finally, the Ports of Genoa cluster was received by TURKLIM, the Port Operators Association of Turkey, represented on-site by Secretary General Faruk Dogan and by Vice-President Erhan Ciloglu. The dialogue initiated with the industry association is set to pave the way for a consolidation of the relations already underway between both countries, with a focus on possible new forms of collaboration in areas of mutual interest, namely, technological and digital innovation, administrative simplification and clean energy transition.
