Cyprus and Britain sign MoU on research

Cyprus and Britain signed on Monday a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) in the fields of scientific research and development.

The Memorandum was signed by Cyprus Minister of Education and Culture Andreas Demetriou and British High Commissioner to Cyprus Peter Millett.

The Memorandum provides for the establishment of a joint committee composed of officials from the two countries aiming at identifying fields of cooperation, cultivating a favourable climate to facilitate communication between academic institutions and at promoting exchanges of researchers and the exchange of optimum practices and the encouragement of joint research projects.

The Cyprus Research Promotion Foundation and the British High Commission will coordinate the implementation of the Memorandum.

Speaking during the signing ceremony, Demetriou described the memorandum as ''an important development'' regarding research and development.

''This is a big step which institutionalises the very close relations between Cyprus and Britain and provides a framework which will enable these relations to develop further, so that research in Cyprus moves onto new fields and of course through joint projects we can achieve attracting even bigger EU funding,'' Demetriou added.

Millett said the Memorandum is based on three factors, namely the MoU signed last June by Cyprus President Demetris Christofias and British PM Gordon Brown, the close ties between Cyprus and Britain in the field of education and the fact that Cyprus and Britain are EU members.

''Therefore, what we did today constitutes a mere declaration of our intentions. We must make this deal to work and to yield clear benefits in the operation of Universities and research foundation for the sake of all of us,'' the British diplomat concluded.