Cypriot Minister of Commerce, Industry and Tourism Antonis Paschalides met on Wednesday with Chief Executive of the UK Trade and Investment Programme Andrew Cahn, with an aim to strengthen and improve bilateral trade relations, and especially relations for investment, tourism and energy.
In statements to the press after the meeting, which was attended by British High Commissioner Peter Millet and Energy Director at the Ministry of Commerce Solon Kassinis, both Paschalides and Cahn said their meeting was constructive, fruitful and productive.
Cahn said ''we have discussed a variety of issues about how we can increase the amount of trade and investment and tourism between Cyprus and Britain, we have looked in particular at the energy sector, where there are important developments in Cyprus both in the area of renewable and in the area of liquefied natural gas.''
''We have discussed about how we can ensure that tourism is sustained,'' he said, noting that this sector ''is vital for the economy of Cyprus.''
He pointed out that ''British tourists are the largest component by far of tourists coming to this country and we want to work together to ensure that that continues.''
Cahn said they also discussed how British experts ''can help contribute to the development of the Cypriot economy.''
Asked about the financial crisis in the UK, Cahn said ''its is wrong to say there is an economic crisis in England,'' noting that ''certainly globally we had a financial crisis'' and that ''Prime Minister Gordon Brown a week ago led the way for the world on how we can solve that financial crisis.''
Cahn referred to the package of measures proposed by Brown and adopted by the EU and followed by the US. ''I believe this package will bring some calm and stability back to the financial market,'' he added.
Paschalides said he presented to Cahn the various stages of Cyprus' energy policy, noting that British companies were interested in the project manager position, and possibly the Energy Centre.
He added that they exchanged views and discussed ways to strengthen and improve commercial ties, and in general relations in the fields of investment, tourism and energy.
''Both sides agreed that there are prospects for the further improvement and strengthening of these relations, and there is political will on both sides to do everything necessary to improve and strengthen these relations,'' he added.
Referring to tourism, Paschalides said the largest number of visitors comes from the UK and ''we must present an improved tourist product'' in order to convince British tourists to return to the island.
Replying to questions, he said ''in general there are huge investments on behalf of England in Cyprus,'' adding that the UK is ''one of the largest investors in the world and we will try to increase Cyprus' share.''
Asked if there was special interest on behalf of the UK for Russian capital in Cyprus, Paschalides said there was interest in all capitals, including those from Russia, by the UK and other countries.
