Determining maritime silk road strategies for ports along the route of belt and road initiative: A case of eastern Aegean ports

Abstract

The Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) is notable for its endorsement of free trade agreements and an international economy founded on open regional cooperation. BRI intends to facilitate trade and investment by establishing a transportation corridor connecting China with participating countries. BRI comprises the Silk Road Economic Belt (SREB) and the Maritime Silk Road (MSR). It is anticipated in the literature on strategic port planning that ports will update their strategies in response to substantial developments in the business environment. In this respect, one of the issues that have to be examined and looked into in the long-term port policies for the succeeding ten to thirty years is the MSR. The objective of the study is to ascertain alternative strategies that could be implemented in the ports located in the eastern Aegean region with regard to MSR. The selection of a semi-structured interview was made in order to ascertain the Swot sub-factors pertaining to the eastern Aegean ports. In order to determine the best alternative strategy given the findings of the TOWS study, the Analytic Network Process method was preferred in the analytical phase of the research. The findings of the study indicate that the best strategy for ports in the eastern Aegean region is “Trying to be the main port along to MSR route”.