Minister of Interior Nicos Nouris has invited the international investment and business community to choose Cyprus, stating that the country’s government has “a clear vision on how to develop business”, with the aim to establish Cyprus “as a prosperous, reliable and competitive destination, keen on providing the conditions under which any investor can thrive.”

As the keynote speaker at an international business conference in London on Tuesday, titled ‘Business Orientation: Cyprus 2021’,  Nouris presented the comparative advantages that Cyprus boasts in the race to attract investors and businesses in the post-pandemic era.

He started off by highlighting the country’s geostrategic location as a “gateway” to connect the European Union to high growth markets in the Middle East, Eastern Europe, North Africa, Asia and beyond. 

He then detailed a number of advantages offered to investors by Cyprus, namely, inter alia, the strong economic outlook pointing to a more that 5.4% of GDP growth for the current year; the excellent regulatory status, including an attractive and business-friendly tax system; the strong business support services; the low cost of doing business; the access to high-quality talent; some specific high-return sectors recording growth, such as hospitality and tourism, shipping, real estate, energy, higher education, investment funds, ICT and research and innovation, as well as the professional services sector; an established tech and research ecosystem; quality higher education; and key incentives for foreign companies such as the newly announced Business Facilitation Unit that will provide services for the establishment of corporate entities, and a fast-track New Development licensing policy.

Summing up Cyprus’s offer, Minister Nouris said: “Cyprus is a modern, cosmopolitan and transparent business centre, offering opportunities for investment across a wide range of sectors, such as technology, shipping, innovation, research and development and much more. Capitalizing on its competitive advantages, we continuously improving the business sector, increasing competitiveness and ensuring a stable and robust economic environment, which is business-friendly, with a highly skilled multilingual workforce, where doing business is simple, fast, and efficient.
At the same time, life is of the highest quality, shaping an ideal business environment, to invest, prosper and grow.”
 
The conference, organised for the fourth year by the ‘Great Britain – Cyprus Business Association’, brought together professionals and experts on various areas of investors’ interest who were able to demonstrate how Cyprus can satisfy such interest.

Speaking to the Cyprus News Agency on the sidelines of the event, Nouris said that Cyprus has tried, and to a large degree managed, to “turn the pandemic crisis into an opportunity”.

On Monday evening the Minister held a meeting with representatives of the organised Cypriot diaspora, the National Federation of Cypriots in the UK and NEPOMAK UK, which represents the Cypriot youth living abroad.

Their discussion covered the latest developments on the Cyprus issue, the migration policy, as well as the government’s measures on issues relating to housing and the refugees.

On the Cyprus issue Nouris told the CNA that is has reached an impasse due to Turkey’s intransigence. Addressing the gathering on Monday, he told the diaspora members that “it is a time in which we all need to realise there is an imperative for concord and unity in this historical front, because there is one enemy, Turkey, who attempts to impose its expansionary plans.”

He also commented that the released documents relating to the Crans Montana 2017 settlement talks show that the President of the Republic Nicos Anastasiades has been unfairly criticised for not being consistent with the agreed settlement of a bizonal, bicommunal federation.

On the migration issue, he noted that Cyprus has for the fifth year been the EU member country with most migrant arrivals per population head.