The government supports rural areas and their residents, Cyprus’ Transport Minister, Yiannis Karousos said on Sunday evening, stressing that it has adopted in 2019, for the first time since the establishment of the Republic, the National Strategy for the Development of Mountain Communities.

The Minister was addressing a festival in Ayios Amvrosios, a mountain village in the Limassol district.

In his speech, he said that this Government has identified the need to support rural areas while “the aim of the President of the Republic himself is the revitalisation of these areas,” to create the conditions that will attract young families but also investors and entrepreneurs for business activity.

Karousos noted that, towards that goal, in 2019, and for the first time since the establishment of the Republic of Cyprus, the Government adopted the National Strategy for the Development of Mountain Communities, with the aim of providing actual support to mountainous and remote areas in order to be able to develop in terms of tourism, but also culturally, socially and economically.

The Minister said that the budgeted amount for development projects in rural and mountainous communities for the 2022-2024 period, exceeds €370 million, an amount increased by €125 million compared to 2019-2021. He added that important road network projects that were standing requests of the residents of rural and mountain communities totaling €350 million are now on their way to be implemented.