Centres of Excellence should pursue commercialisation aiming at self-financing, the President of the Republic, Nikos Christodoulides said at the inauguration of the project "Business Innovation Center-Creative Industries Quarter-Restoration and Expansion of the Old Municipal Market", which took place on Tuesday afternoon at the old building of the Old Municipal Market, in the centre of Nicosia.

The building houses the CYENS Centre of Excellence and its premises will be offered for research workshops, conferences, exhibitions and businesses in the field of innovation and research.

The President said that CYENS Centre of Excellence, along with the rest Centres of Excellence in Cyprus, are substantially supported by the government through institutional funding and they play an important role in the effort to broaden the productive base of the economy.

"The contribution of the Centres of Excellence to our country is essential and adds greatly to our targeted policy for the strengthening and development of research and innovation, objectives that correspond and are in line with the objectives of the European Union", he noted.

He noted that the government has consciously set high targets for development in the areas of technology and the linking of research with the productive economy, the labour market and business innovation. "What is important at the same time is the commercialisation of research and innovation", he noted, stressing that at some point the Centres of Excellence should be able to be self-financed. "This is the goal of the EU and that is why it is important to use the first years to reach the goal of commercialisation and, by extension, self-financing", he highlighted.