NAPA – North Adriatic Ports Association

Europe is Getting Closer!

Japan’s visit of NAPA ports

22.01.2015

Rijeka, 22nd January 2015 – The delegation from Japan Research Institute, accompanied by the Head of the Overseas Projects Unit of the Japanese Ministry of Infrastructures and Transports (Mr. Kosuke Fujita – engineer) has visited the four ports members of North Adriatic Ports Association (NAPA). The objective of the visit was to increase the knowledge, the expertise and the commercial offer of North Adriatic ports as an alternative to North European ports as a gateway to markets of Eastern and Central Europe.

The Research Institute will prepare an analysis – ordered by the main Japanese companies and of interest to the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism – on the potentials of the ports of North Adriatic region for their export from Japan to European markets. Such analysis will focus on the existing shipping lines together with the port and railway services offered by the NAPA ports.

During the meetings at the ports of Venice, Trieste, Koper and Rijeka, environmental and time-related costs, the routes via Northern Europe and via Northern Adriatic as well as the existing and potential railway infrastructures and services were compared, also in the light of the relevant European policies and programmes.

The delegation was particularly interested in learning the position of the EU toward investments in transport facilities, in the development plans of each NAPA port as well as in maritime connections between Japan and North Adriatic already connected with direct container lines.