Deputy Minister for Research, Innovation and Digital Policy, Kyriacos Kokkinos has held a series of important meetings in New York and Washington aiming to promote cooperation with the US in the fields of research, innovation and technological development, in the framework of the 10-year Agreement for Scientific and Technological Cooperation signed between the two states in February 2022.

According to a press release by the Deputy Ministry, Kokkinos held a series of separate meetings with  Erika Olson Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Bureau of European and Eurasian Affairs, Roland de Marcellus Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for International Finance and Development, Jennifer Bachus, Senior Bureau Official and Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary for the Cyberspace and Digital Policy Bureau, and Allison Schwier, advisor of the US Secretary of State on Science and Technology.

He also visited the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), where he discussed among other issues the promotion of Cypriots participating in the NIST research programs and laboratories, as well as the prospect of targeted cooperation in the fields of cyber security and artificial intelligence.

The Deputy Minister noted that the agreement signed sets the foundations for planning tangible actions of mutual benefit for both countries, while there is suitable ground for extensive cooperation both at government level and between research and business communities of the two countries.

Kokkinos said that in cooperation with the US Embassy in Cyprus, we have taken initiatives both to link and expand cooperation between the two ecosystems and to promote Cyprus as an attractive investment destination for US technology companies and startups, in particular in the context of the government's new strategy for attracting investments, and specific incentives such as the Digital Nomad Visa and the Cyprus Startup Visa Scheme.

On the sidelines of his US visit,  Kokkinos attended a  reception hosted by the Ambassador of Cyprus in Washington, in the presence of Minister of Defence, Charalambos Petrides, US businessmen and government officials.