The Government of Cyprus is committed to turning the Cypriot economy into a knowledge-based economy and to rendering our island into a regional centre of excellence for educational services, Cyprus President Tassos Papadopoulos underlined here today, after a meeting he had with the Trustees of the Cyprus Research and Educational Foundation (CREF).
Papadopoulos said that this commitment is in line with the respective EU policy which is known as ”the Lisbon goalsâ€, supports and promotes a series of measures which will contribute to the development of the research infrastructure and human resources of the country at top level.
Furthermore he noted that the Government’s target is to make available government funds for research, reaching the EU level of 1% of GDP by 2010, of course with a corresponding contribution of the private sector, adding that ”the establishment of the Cyprus Research and Educational Foundation constitutes an integral and important part of this policy.”
Papadopoulos said that among the significant developments mentioned during the meeting was the conclusion of a co-operation agreement between the Energy, Environment and Water Centre of the Cyprus Foundation, the Cyprus Research Promotion Foundation and the world-known Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).
He noted that ”the agreement covers the development of common educational and research activities, both in
Moreover, I was very pleased to hear that following an extensive head hunt, the Board of Trustees has made the meritocratic selection of the scientists who will take up the position of the President of CREF as well as that of the Director of the Energy, Environment and Water Centre, Papadopoulos said.
He noted that their names will soon be announced and it is expected that they will take up their duties in the near future.
Papadopoulos said he was also informed that the procedures for detailed planning have been set in motion regarding the establishment of Research Centers for Science and Technology in Archaeology and for Biology Science in Human Health.
Top level Institutes such as the Research and Conservation Centre in
Papadopoulos noted that the Government and the Cyprus Research Promotion Foundation, through substantive measures such as the gradual transfer of the Higher Technology Institute’s facilities to the CREF as well as the signing and the financial support of the agreement with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, have supported the creation of the Foundation and helped in creating the international trust which CREF enjoys today.
”Making the CREF a European Centre for Excellence in the region and beyond is a prospect our neighbours in the Middle East countries share too,” he said and added: ”I underline the key words ‘Centre for Excellence’. This is the standard we have set, as a matter of policy for the Research Centres we are establishing. Not just ‘very good’, not just ‘internationally acceptable’, but centres of excellence.”
Papadopoulos said that all activities of the Foundation, either as an education centre, a centre for specialization or research, aim at ”excellence” or else they are not undertaken at all.
”A small country, like
Furthermore he said that the Government and himself personally were committed to helping ”such worthy and impressive efforts”, noting that ”the Cyprus Foundation is becoming one of the important regional and European institutions with excellent prospects.”
The Board of Trustees of the Institute consists of distinguished personalities of the international, academic, political and business world, including Presidents of Academies, three ministers as well as the two former Presidents of Cyprus Glafcos Clerides and George Vassiliou.
