Int’l demand for marine equipment
A new sector worth some 1 billion euros a year is expected to emerge thanks to a new strategy being adopted by Greek marine equipment manufacturers and exporters to boost their international profile, according to industry experts, provided their recent export-oriented policies bear fruit.
In past years, companies producing commodities ranging from ship lights to maritime environment protection products, were maintained thanks to purchases by Greek shipowners, who were able to extensively upgrade their fleets thanks to high revenues from the global chartering market. More recently, however, such expenditures have been drastically reduced.
The solution has come from the creation of an association by 15 marine equipment makers, HEMEXPO, which has now paved the way for companies to tap into international markets, mainly the big shipyards of China, South Korea and Japan.
“Our aim has been to enter the supplier lists of the big Asian shipyards, starting by approaching Greek shipowners who had their ships built there but had no Greek equipment products available to date,” HEMEXPO head Eleni Polychronopoulou told Kathimerini.
