Conference focused on reinventing Cyprus and restoring confidence
PwC Cyprus was the Gold sponsor of the Economist Conference organised on Tuesday, 4 November in Nicosia. The conference focused on the priorities for Europe, current developments in the euro area and efforts to restore confidence in Cyprus. It also examined investment opportunities that could contribute to reinventing the island’s economy, as well as the recent developments in the energy and technology sectors.
The conference was addressed by the President of the Republic, Mr Nicos Anastasiades, who assured participants that the State will implement more radical economic reforms. He also referred to the hard and brave decisions made, and the actions taken since March 2013 aimed at strengthening the financial sector. Furthermore, Mr Anastasiades mentioned that for the first time in years, the primary balance for 2014 was projected to be positive and stressed that this is related to the growth rate of the economy.
The conference was attended by a number of distinguished speakers from the European Parliament, European Central Bank, European Stability Mechanism, International Monetary Fund, European Union and United States of America
Mr Evgenios Evgeniou, CEO of PwC, referred to the decline of Cyprus rankingin the recent “Doing Business Report” by the World Bank, which he said should motivate us to proceed with the necessary reforms in order to create a friendlier business environment for foreign investments, companies wishing to set up a base in Cyprus and start-ups. Mr Evgeniou also referred to the efforts of young people to create innovative businesses, stating that we should support them in order to build a new and productive economy.
In relation to the energy sector, Constantinos Taliotis, Partner, In charge of Energy Team at PwC Cyprus analysed the most important developments in the gas industry on a global and regional level, making particular reference to the increasing importance of the time to market of any new gas commercialisation project, in the current market conditions. He also presented existing and future potential investment opportunities in the energy sector in Cyprus and further pointed out the importance of the discovery of natural gas reserves in the Cyprus Exclusive Economic Zone, which are indigenous energy reserves of the European Union.
