With continued instability in Greece it isn’t often we hear good news of inward investment, especially from the tech industry for which the southern Mediterranean country remains something of a no-go area. Good, then, that Hewlett-Pakard has chosen Piraeus, the port of Athens, as the site of its central distribution centre for Central Europe, the Middle East, North Africa, the Mediterranean area and the former Soviet republics.
The Centre will be based at the Chinese-funded Dock II project. It will give a much-needed injection of new business to Greece’s troubled national train operator, OSE, which will handle the bulk of onward shipments. Sources say that the high cost of fuel, which has led to a reduction in the speed of ships, has made the current distribution centre, at the port of Rotterdam, too expensive: From Piraeus to Rotterdam the trip used to take six days but now runs to eleven days because of the fuel savings.
Now all we need is for Apple to set up in Greece, one of the few European countries currently spurned by Cupertino.
by Mike Evans, 15 November 2012