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The need to promote the ‘Made in Cyprus’ branding for goods within the current financial crisis, the urgency to attract tourists from alternative markets and the unique opportunity to market the island’s quality services, is increasing the demand for a stronger Cypriot presence at international markets, exhibitions and centres of decision-making.
Even the upcoming European parliament elections has shown that with 10,000 or more registered voters living overseas, Cyprus has an untapped potential of as many ambassadors who will support any effort to promote the island’s economy – from the halloumi trade to financial services, from shipping to tourism.
What needs to be done right now is to fast-track the government policy to open up new embassies which is moving at an extremely slow pace. It should furthermore consider recruiting more people to ensure that an embassy is not just manned by a solitary civil servant, but by a fully-fledged team of diplomats, commercial and cultural attaches. Even sharing accredited ambassadors or chef de missions who live or are posted in another country, often several hundred kilometers away, is a policy that needs to be revised.
These diplomatic missions should not only act as the eyes and ears of the Foreign Minister, who is expected to be in several places at the same time, but should also seek to promote business in Cyprus.
Hiring at least 50 more people could double our diplomatic presence in any given country, or at least ensure that there is one official posted in more capital cities than ever before. A recent recruitment drive for more than a dozen mid to high-ranking civil service jobs shows that Cyprus has a healthy and even booming labour market, at least in the public sector. Creating new posts would also encourage many graduates to seriously consider a government post, even under the revised terms of employment for new civil servants.
Where Cyprus does not have an embassy, the Trade Offices could also double up as a diplomatic mission, as has been the case of the handful of such representations that have been under constant stress in past years, making it less attractive to recruit people for overseas posting.
Our trade missions need to be manned with as many bright young graduates as possible, armed with any marketing and media tools available to them, in order to help them promoter Cyprus – politically, commercially and culturally.
Adding another 50 or 100 to the bloated civil service will not change an iota in the adminsitration’s payroll, while reassigning civil servants to new duties could also help contain the size of the government machine and better utilise the human resources we have sitting idle in many public offices.
