Cyprus is to kick start its euro communications campaign on March 9, ahead of the full adoption of the common currency in January 2008 at a cost of CYP 1 mln or EUR 1.72 mln.
Finance Minister Michalis Sarris and Central Bank Governor Christodoulous Christodoulou told a press conference that the euro campaign, the largest and most expensive ever undertaken by the Republic of Cyprus internally will aim to raise awareness among the public regarding the introduction of the euro as official currency of Cyprus as of January 1, 2008.
The PR and media campaign has been entrusted to Mediacom Ltd, a joint venture between advertising company Partners/Y&R and the PR company pr:partners Ltd. The Director General of the Ministry of Finance Christos Patsalides signed the agreement with Mediacom Director Loucas Gregoras.
The campaign, which will be done in four phases will aim to inform the public on the changes as well as benefits that will arise from the introduction of the euro. During the campaign, special consideration will be given to the socially vulnerable groups, such as small businesses, people living in the rural areas, the retired and the elderly, foreigners residing in Cyprus and Turkish Cypriots, said Tasia Yiannara of Mediacom.
On concerns that the introduction of the Euro will mean an increase in prices, Sarris said that experience from other countries shows that these concerns “are unfounded and exaggerated.â€
Past experience, especially in Ireland which had the most successful euro introduction have shown that price rounding up was avoided and the impact on inflation was minimal. Cyprus has based its euro adoption campaign on the Irish model and wants to avoid the mistakes made by other countries such as Greece, where the majority of the public still blames the euro for many of their woes that naturally have been caused because of other issues.
The island`s largest party, AKEL, wants to delay adoption of the Euro by one year to ease the burden of transition on lower income earners, but is not expected to torpedo the campaign.
Sarris stressed the importance of introducing the euro in Cyprus. He reiterated that the target date is 1st January 2008 and that the active participation of the private sector is of utmost importance for the successful formation and implementation of the communications strategy which is a vital element in the national action plan to introduce the euro.
Among the benefits that arise from adopting the euro, Sarris said, is the creation of a basis for economic and social progress, lower interest rates as well as lower loan costs, eliminating exchange risks, immediate access to eurozone capital markets for businesses, greater transparency in prices and strengthening investment activity.
Central Bank Governor Christodoulos Christodoulou stressed the responsibility of the Central Bank in achieving accession to the Eurozone the soonest.
He said the Central Bank supported with consistency that Cyprus has every economic and social interest to adopt the euro the soonest, noting that today`s launching of the euro campaign has special significance.
Yiannara said the euro awareness campaign that starts on March 9 has been split 50:50 between media advertising and promotion. The first phase commences from March until May, the second phase from June until the Cyprus pound is locked with the euro, with the third phase starting from the day the currency is locked until January 1, the euro day when the currency will become official tender and the fourth phase from January 2008 and after.
She revealed that the 89% of Cypriots are familiar with the euro but 49% admit that they don’t like change. However, Yiannara noted that Cyprus has on many occasions managed to go through change without experiencing any problems. Cyprus has changed from mills to cents, changed to decimal and gone metric without any problems.
Central Bank Governor Christodoulou reminded journalists how Cypriots were loathe to accept the liberalisation and the removal of the maximum ceiling of 9% on interest rates, but after the change, everybody adjusted accordingly and now everybody enjoys lower rates on borrowing costs.
“At first, its natural for the public to react negatively to change, but Cypriots have shown time and time again that they can adapt and move on. I’m sure that the euro changeover will be smooth,†said Christodoulou.
The government has ordered 250.000 euro converter calculators to be distributed free to every household and plans to have a brightly coloured yellow bus to tour the villages and rural areas to inform the public. The awareness campaign marked for Turkish Cypriots will be made at the crossing points, and through Turkish language programmes hosted by the Cyprus Broadcasting Corporation.
