The Investment Fund of the United Arab Emirates (TAQA) has expressed interest in investing in the Great Sea Interconnector project, as well as in a number of other investment opportunities that are opening up in Cyprus, the Director of the Press Office of the President of the Republic of Cyprus, Victor Papadopoulos, announced on Friday.

The managing director of TAQA’s Group Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director, Jasim Husain Thabet, and members of the company, had a meeting with the President of the Republic, Nikos Christodoulides, on Friday morning, at the Presidential Palace. Minister of Energy, Commerce and Industry, George Papanastasiou, participated via video conference.

In his statements, after the meeting, Papadopoulos noted that the presence of the head and members of TAQA in Cyprus, and their meeting with the President of the Republic, was a continuation of the visit to Cyprus last summer of the Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of the UAE, responsible for economic and commercial matters.

“The purpose of their presence is to explore investment prospects in Cyprus, a fact that the Government welcomes because it is these investments that the country needs in order to keep our economy on a growth trajectory, a growth that is one of the largest in the EU”, he said.

During the meeting, he added, TAQA’s interest to invest in the Great Sea Interconnector project was expressed, but also in a series of other investment prospects that are opening up in Cyprus. Towards this goal, he noted, it was agreed that the investment fund, in collaboration with the Ministry of Commerce, is to, within a month, examine a list of projects, which are mature or close to maturity, from which the investment fund will be able to choose for investment.

Replying to a question, he said that these projects concern infrastructure and development projects in Cyprus in general.

The Great Sea Interconnector project concerns the electricity interconnection between the grids of Israel, Cyprus, Greece through a subsea cable.