Very significant international investors are now looking to Cyprus, said Espen Barth Eide, the UN Secretary-General`s Special Adviser on Cyprus, urging both the people and the leaders of Cyprus to “sell the story” of a future united Cyprus as an attractive destination for public and private funds.
He also spoke of a strong international support, displayed in the Security Council resolution extending the mandate of the UN peacekeeping force, that was adopted unanimously earlier today, but said that there is still a lot of work to be done.
On Thursday evening, Eide had an hour and a half long tête-à-tête with President of Cyprus Nicos Anastasiades, at the Presidential Palace, in Nicosia, ahead of a meeting on Friday morning between the Cyprus leaders, in the framework of UN-led settlement talks.
The task for tomorrow`s meeting, he said, is to organize the sequencing of the coming months.
As Eide stated, it was a “long, constructive and comprehensive meeting” which focused on the practical work ahead. He explained that together with President Anastasiades, they took stock of various developments that have taken place recently abroad, both in the Security Council in New York, as well as in Davos.
“The international support for the process that is taking place here is in my view stronger than ever before” said Eide. This, he noted, was confirmed this evening by the Security Council, which issued a unanimous resolution on UNFICYP “underlining the unanimous support for the work that is being done by the two leaders” in Cyprus.
He reiterated that the process is Cypriot-owned and said that they agreed that in tomorrow`s meeting they would organize “the sequencing of the coming months”. “We still have some political issues that have to be agreed upon”, he pointed out, adding that there is a lot of work that relates “to the preparations for a potential implementation.” “We have to work on the legal aspects and so on”, he added.
Leaders are expected to provide their guidance on Friday and “it is up to them to decide how to organize this”.
Asked if he is optimistic about a Cyprus solution in the coming months, he said that this is not up to him, but up to the leaders, who in their New Year`s statement, as well as in Davos, expressed the same hope, optimism and a shared vision.
On the financing of the solution, Eide referred to serious work that is going on, both by the relevant technical committees, as well as the World Bank, the IMF and the EU.
Eide said that private sector investors are also being engaged.
“Do we have the funds ready and all the money in the bank? Of course not” he said, but added that good work is being done on that. “Davos was helpful in that respect” he noted, adding that it has mobilized an even higher degree of interest.
He said that there is a lot of private capital in the world, with investors looking for new opportunities.
“What all Cypriots should now do together with the leaders is to sell the story that a future united Cyprus – if it happens – is a very attractive place to come with some of that money. There is an economic opportunity and you have to mobilize international support, public and private,” he concluded.
UN-led peace talks are currently underway to find a negotiated settlement that would reunite Cyprus, divided since the 1974 Turkish invasion.