President Demetris Christofias has said that Cyprus’ economy, in spite of the world economic crisis and in comparison to other countries, has proven to be resilient, adding that the government does its utmost to ensure that the fallout from the global crisis will be restricted to the minimum.
Addressing the Annual General Meeting of the Cyprus Employers and Industrialists Federation (OEB), the President said that the economy has been affected by the world economic crisis, and will continue to be affected, noting that important sectors of the economy, like tourism and the property and construction fields, have been worst affected.
“However, in spite of the world economic crisis, our economy, compared to the economies of other countries, has proven to be resilient. We have done what we can and we will continue to do whatever possible to ensure that the present crisis will affect us at little as possible”, he stressed.
The President said that the government aims to maintain the credibility of the economy by limiting the negative impact of the world economic crisis, as well as by promoting Cyprus as an international financial center.
He referred to attempts to attract foreign capital, especially immediate investment, saying that this could play an important role in the effort to render the economy more competitive.
The President said that the recent agreement between Cyprus and Qatar for a joint venture for a major project in Nicosia, which will include a five – star hotel, apartments, offices and a commercial center, constitutes tangible example of this strategy.
He noted that apart from the immediate benefits emerging from Qatar’s investment, this will attract the interest of other business people from Qatar and the region, upgrading at the same time, Cyprus’ image as a credible investment location.
President Christofias said that the government will continue its efforts to create a favorable business environment by implementing support projects.
He recalled that the action plan for 2007 – 2013 includes various projects financed by European Funds and the Republic of Cyprus worth 58 million euro, while other measures and actions are mainly financed by the government.
The Cypriot President said that the government attributes great importance to the promotion of services, which are of “very high standard”, adding that Cyprus exports services to Central and Eastern Europe, the Middle East, as well as the US.
The services sector’s contribution to the GDP reaches 80%, he added.
Referring to tourism, the President said that 2010 is expected to be a difficult year, noting that despite the fact that the first three months of the year recorded an increase in tourist arrivals by 3,5%, the Icelandic volcano’s eruption and the cancellation of flights have led to a decrease in tourist arrivals of 8,2% in April.
Concluding, he referred to the importance of great infrastructure projects in the tourism sector, like the two modern international airports of Larnaka and Pafos.
CNA/AAR/MM/2010
