(ANSA) - TRIESTE - The two deals signed on Monday by the president of the Port System Authority of the Eastern Adriatic Sea, Zeno D'Agostino, aim to increase rail links with central and eastern Europe and strengthen links with the European rail network, in order to enhance intermodal services with central and eastern European maritime and land terminals. The first agreement was signed by the CEO of the Austrian railways OBB-INFRA Andreas Mattha, and Christian Colaneri, commercial director of Italy's RFI; the second deal was signed with Rail Cargo Austria (RCA). Both agreements were signed in conjunction with the beginning of the celebrations for the 300th anniversary of the foundation of the Free Port of Trieste, created by Emperor Charles VI. According to D'Agostino, ''these agreements will allow us to better plan the future development of the port of Trieste, offering guarantees to those who already work there, and to potential future investors''. Andreas Mattha is convinced that Trieste is ''a model to follow in terms of effective interconnectivity between different modes of transport''. ''RCA is the largest operator in our port with almost 3,000 trains last year out of a total of 9,700'', Zeno D'Agostino said after signing the memorandum. ''Today we signed two agreements - he continued - the first focuses on services because we will design new intermodal services not only in the port of Trieste but also Fernetti, FreEste, Cervignano, that is the whole system, whereas the second agreement involves RFI, System Authority and OBB''. In the agreement with RCA, the port is considering a partnership ''for intermodal terminals both in Villach and in Budapest, which is one of the most important markets for the port of Trieste''. (ANSA).

Ports: Austria invests in Trieste, the trade will grow
Celebrations for the 3rd centenary of Free Port are underway

(by Cristiana Missori) (ANSA) - TRIESTE, MAR 18 - ''We want to invest more in the Adriatic-Baltic axis, improve rail link between Austria, Carinthia, and Friuli Venezia Giulia''. That is what the vice president of the Austrian Federal Chamber of Economy, Jurgen Roth, Jurgen Roth, said at the conference ''Trieste City-Port: 300 years of free port''. The meeting opened the celebrations for the foundation of the Free Port, recalling the close ties between Austria and Italy. The trade between the two countries totaled almost 20 billion euros (up 5.6%) in 2018. Austrian export to Italy, Roth underlined, ''grew by 4.7 %, reaching 9.8bn euros; Italian exports to Austria reached 9.9bn euros. Italy is our second- biggest trading partner after Germany and also the trade volume between Fvg and Austria has good results''. In this context, the past and present of the port of Trieste are intertwined. Since the reign of the far-sighted Emperor Charles VI, who established the Free Port on March 18, 1719, Austria intends to play a leading role. ''The port of Trieste is a great opportunity for bilateral growth. There are 25 Austrian companies interested in investing in the port of Trieste'', said Roth. Zeno D'Agostino, president of the Port System Authority of the Eastern Adriatic Sea (Trieste), announced the signing of two memoranda of understanding with the Austrian Railways, OEBB, and Rail Cargo Austria (RCA), this afternoon at the Authority's headquarters. The president of the Land Carinthia, Peter Kaiser, pointed out that ''Austria and Carinthia aim to strengthen the link with Italy but also the duty-free areas'' and the Austrian Railways CEO, Andreas Mattha, promised: ''My goal is also to establish direct rail links between the Fvg area and Vienna''. The honorary consul of Austria for the Fvg, Sabrina Strolego, said that ''Trieste is undoubtedly a point of reference for Austria and for all of Central Europe, the East and beyond''. The trade between Fvg and the neighboring country recorded a balance of around 1.3bn euros in 2018, supported by a good performance of Fvg exports, totaling about 92m euros (up 12%). (ANSA).