The economy is in a positive momentum, having succeeded significant levels of recovery, but this must not lead to complacency, Finance Minister Harris Georghiades told the annual meeting of PwC Cyprus, one of the Big Four audit and advisory firms on the island.
At the same event, Bank of Cyprus CEO John Hourican said that the “broken” banking sector is now ready to stand and compete again and that what is needed is to get back to looking at the future while fixing the problems of the past.
Announcing the firm’s results for the financial year 2016, PwC Cyprus CEO Evgenios Evgeniou said that the organisation achieved revenues of EUR 79.8 mln and contributed EUR 28.5 mln in taxes and government fees.
Evgeniou took stock of the past year, noting the significant successes achieved by the organisation. In addition, he referred to the goals and strategic priorities set out for next year, expressing the organisation’s intention to invest in new technologies and services, as a response to the needs of the market.
During the annual meeting, Finance Minister Georgiades said: “Obviously, Cyprus has the competitive advantages necessary for the sector, which has contributed in the Cyprus economy’s recovery. We shall keep collaborating with the private sector and the services sector in particular to constantly improve this competitive advantage. As an economy, we are now in a positive momentum, having succeeded significant levels of recovery. However, we must not be led to complacency. We should keep on facing the difficulties and expand our advantages. Our collaboration with PwC towards this direction is and will remain important”.
Bank of Cyprus CEO Hourican added: “The banking sector in Cyprus has been through a thousand days of what I would describe as transformation. It was broken but it is now ready to stand and compete again. What we need to do is get back to looking at the future while fixing the problems of the past. That is what we all need to do and that is what Cyprus needs to do; to phase into a competitive landscape and compete on the world stage, not on its own stage”.
