Red tape hinders growth, say Cyprus developers

The results of the World Bank’s “Doing Business Report 2014” reaffirm the views and concerns of the Association of Large Scale Development Projects over the negative impact red tape has on business activity in Cyprus and how it blights the country’s efforts to attract investments.
The report, presented by the Cyprus Investment Promotion Agency (CIPA) last Friday, indicates how easy it is to do business in a total of 189 countries.
While Cyprus ranked 39th in the report’s overall standings, it held 103rd place in the field of property registration and 108th in providing building permits. Compared with 2013, the performance waned when it came to indexes such as, “performance contracts" and "starting a new business". Furthermore, in order to secure building permits one must go through nine procedures, while the time needed to secure the permit is estimated at 677 days. In the report’s ten indexes, Cyprus improved its ranking in only three, remained steady in one and declined in six.
The Association, that represents 25 of the island’s major developers, is calling on the government and all stakeholders to move ahead with all the necessary measures that will contribute to reducing bureaucracy, update and speed up the procedures, so as to create a more business friendly environment.
“Growth and bureaucracy are two incompatible concepts,” said Association press spokesman Andreas Demetriades, adding that “if we want to attract investors, we must as a state create the business friendly environment required and offer the necessary incentives”.
He explained, “Competition is intense; in many cases, bureaucratic dysfunctions and onerous conditions have led foreign investors to seek other, more business friendly destinations”.